“We oppose genocide, we support the Palestine Action prisoners,” a declaration of solidarity with prisoners in the United Kingdom long detained on remand on charges relating to activism for the proscribed direct-action group Palestine Action, appeared today 12 January 2026 on Protest is not terrorism and Prisoners for Palestine. Several of the prisoners have been on hunger strike for weeks, including — as of the time of writing — Heba Muraisi (71 days), Kamran Ahmed (64 days) and Lewie (50 days). For more information on the hunger strikers and the rest of the prisoners, please read “A Hunger for Justice,” by George Monbiot, and “Imprisoned hunger striker linked to Palestine Action tells friend: ‘I’m dying’,” by Haroon Siddique.
We oppose genocide, we support the Palestine Action prisoners.
Signed as of 12 January 2026, 8 am GMT, by
Umberto Albarella, Professor of Zooarchaeology, University of Sheffield
Tariq Ali, writer and historian
Sandra Babcock, Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
Étienne Balibar, Professor emeritus of Philosophy, University of Paris X, Nanterre
Moazzam Begg, Senior Director of CAGE International and former Guantanamo Bay prisoner
Chetan Bhatt, Anthony Giddens Professor of Social Theory, London School of Economics
Patrick Bond, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centre for Social Change, University of Johannesburg
Ray Brassier, Professor of Philosophy, American University of Beirut
Donna Brown, Royal Holloway UCU branch chair and NEC member
Wendy Brown, UPS Foundation chair, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Susan Buck-Morss, Distinguished Professor, CUNY Graduate Centre
Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School, Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley
Alex Callinicos, Emeritus Professor of European Studies, King’s College London
John Chalcraft, Professor of Middle East History and Politics, London School of Economics
Tanzil Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer in Public Law, Queen Mary University of London, Co-Director of the Centre for the Critique of Law and Society
Emilios Christodoulidis, Chair of Jurisprudence, University of Glasgow
Rebecca Comay, Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature, University of Toronto
Tim Crosland, Co-founder Defend Our Juries
Angela Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Jodi Dean, Professor of Politics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York
James Dickins, Emeritus Professor of Arabic, University of Leeds
Jennifer Doyle, Professor of English, University of California, Riverside
Deepa Driver, Trade unionist and academic, vice-chair of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Haidar Eid, Associate Professor of Postcolonial Literature, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine
Harriet Evans, Emeritus Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster and Visiting Professor in Anthropology at the London School of Economics
Peter Evans, West London College, Vice Chair UCU LGBT msc
Patrick ffrench, Professor of French, King’s College London
Des Freedman, Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Goldsmiths University of London
Verónica Gago, Professor of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires
Neve Gordon, Professor of International Law, Queen Mary University of London
Ian Gough, Visiting Professor, London School of Economics
Penny Green, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London
Greg Grandin, Peter V and C Vann Woodward Professor of History, Yale University
Peter Hallward, Professor of Philosophy, Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University
Vanja Hamzić, Professor of Law, History, and Anthropology, SOAS University of London
Michael Hardt, Professor of Literature, Duke University
Sudhir Hazareesingh, CUF Lecturer in Politics and Senior Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford
Marion Hersh, Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Engineering, Glasgow University; UCU Glasgow equality rep
Owen Jones, Journalist
Ronnie Kasrils, Author and former minister in the government of South Africa
Rashid Khalidi, Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University
Laleh Khalili, Al Qasimi Professor of Gulf Studies, University of Exeter
Naomi Klein, Associate Professor of Climate Justice, University of British Columbia
Darryl Li, Associate Professor of Anthropology & associate member of the Law School, University of Chicago
Frédéric Lordon, Research director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Ibbo Mandaza, Global Pan African Movement and Executive Chairman of the Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust
Tracy McNulty, Professor of Comparative Literature and Romance Studies, Cornell University
Lina Meruane, Distinguished Writer in Residence, New York University
Sandro Mezzadra, Professor of Political Theory, University of Bologna
China Miéville, Salvage
George Monbiot, Journalist and environmental activist
Vittorio Morfino, Professor of Philosophy, University of Milano Bicocca
Karma Nabulsi, Professor Emerita of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford
Eva Nanopoulos, Reader in Law, Queen Mary University of London
Saul Newman, Professor of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London
Aisling O’Beirn, Associate Lecturer in Fine Art, University of Ulster, UCU Ulster Anti-Casualisation and NEC member
Abdaljawad Omar, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Birzeit University, Palestine
Ellen Owens, University of Reading UCU branch secretary and NEC member
Christina Paine, London Metropolitan University UCU secretary and NEC member
Ilan Pappé, Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies, and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter
Paul Patton, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales
Matt Perry, Branch Chair, Newcastle UCU and NEC member
Regine Pilling, Branch Secretary Westminster Kingsway College UCU and NEC member
Lucia Pradella, Reader in International Political Economy, King’s College London
Rolando Prats, Chief Editor, Communis Press
Nicola Pratt, Professor of the International Politics of the Middle East, University of Warwick
Rahul Rao, Reader in International Political Thought, University of St Andrews
Bruce Robbins, Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University
William I. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Sally Rooney, novelist
Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities and co-director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London
Catherine Rottenberg, Professor of Feminist Media Studies, Goldsmiths University of London
Lynne Segal, Professor Emerita of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London
Richard Seymour, Salvage
Kamila Shamsie, Novelist
Issa Shivji, Professor Emeritus of Public Law & First Julius Nyerere Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, St Antony’s College, Oxford
Nikhil Pal Singh, Chair, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University
Panagiotis Sotiris, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of the Aegean
Elettra Stimilli, Professor of Philosophy, Sapienza Università di Roma
Rei Terada, Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine
Alberto Toscano, Emeritus Professor of Critical Theory, Goldsmiths University of London
Salim Vally, Professor and National Research Foundation Chair in Community, Adult and Worker Education, University of Johannesburg
Françoise Vergès, Senior research fellow, Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation, University College London
Sean Wallis, University College London UCU branch secretary and NEC member
Jeffery R. Webber, Professor of Politics, York University, Toronto
Saira Weiner, London John Moores University UCU branch chair and NEC member
Lynn Welchman, Professor of Law, SOAS University of London
Richard Wild, Principal Lecturer in Criminology, University of Greenwich, UCU Branch Co-Chair and NEC member
Jessica Whyte, Scientia Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales
Jim Wolfreys, Reader in French and European Politics, King’s College London
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If you would like to add your name to this public statement and/or keep abreast of the updated list of signatures, please click here to sign on Action Network.
Featured image: Heba Muraisi, a Palestine Action prisoner on hunger strike for 71 days as of the time of writing. Photo courtesy of Sky News.
