Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Man’s 3-month hunger strike for Palestine ends
AMAN who began a hunger strike nearly three months after his sister and her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike has vowed to start eating again.
Wael Arafat stopped eating on October 21 when he heard that his family’s home in Gaza was bombed.
He was later admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath. The 28-yearold, who is originally from Palestine, has lost significant muscle mass and currently uses a wheelchair.
His foster mum Patricia Thomas, who has looked after Wael since he arrived in the UK at 14 years old as a child refugee, has been doing everything she can to persuade him to eat again and had managed to get him to agree to having fluids with vitamins.
Wael said that he is grateful for the support of his family in Bristol and for those who have been protesting for Palestinian freedom and hopes he can now recover and join them.
He has lost around five stone since being admitted to hospital and now faces the challenge of gradually building up his calorie intake. He is meeting consultants and a dietician at the hospital to draw up a plan and work towards returning home.
Wael said that he is overwhelmed by the personal support he has received through visits, cards, messages and gifts and via the continuous protests in support of Palestine in the past three months. His most treasured gift is a signed copy of a book he received from the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who spoke to him on the phone, inviting him to join him to read a poem at an event in Bristol Mr Corbyn is attending in February.
Wael said that when he learned about the killing of his sister and her four children in an airstrike, carried by the Israeli army in Deir Al Balah in Gaza on October 21, he completely shut down. He has woken up every night with night terrors of the ongoing war. He had only discovered his sister three years ago, having lost both his parents at the age of five.
They had built up a relationship and she had asked him to visit her. Wael’s grandmother told him when he left, ‘if you miss me come back and visit me’ but she died several years after he arrived in the UK.
Wael said: “I can’t even visit my grandmother’s grave now because they’ve demolished all the graves. Why do they have to take all our
memories? Why do they have to take everything? I never wanted to be involved in politics but I will never stop being involved now. Maybe we Palestinians have lost a lot of family but we got a lot of family back. Everyone out on the street saying ‘we are all Palestinians’, they are all our family now.”
Patricia said: “My husband and I are relieved that Wael decided to end his hunger strike. As parents we know that what Wael tried to do to force a ceasefire was courageous and we always believed that our son should be heard but it was needless for him to die.
“We know that Wael wanted to do this because he was traumatised by the war unfolding in Palestine and high loss of life, including children. We want to thank everyone who has supported Wael in his hunger strike and found the time to come and sit with him and encourage him to live.”
Mr Corbyn said: “Wael is an absolute inspiration and I’m so pleased he is getting the support and solidarity he deserves. I am looking forward to meeting him in Bristol, and I’m hoping he will come and read Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry – Jerusalem.
“The Palestinian people deserve peace, deserve justice, deserve freedom and the killing of 30,000 people in Gaza is an abominable crime. Thank you to Wael for your continued courage and determination to bring about a more peaceful world for all.”