53 Days Without Food: Prisoners On Hunger Strike As A Last Resort

May 21, 2013

hunger_strike_poster.jpg

A poster in support of the hunger strike in the H-blocks of Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison

Credit:

Republican Movement

53 Days Without Food: Prisoners On Hunger Strike As A Last Resort

Produced by:

Rachel McCarthy

Play

In the fall of 1980, imprisoned members of the Irish Republican Army demanded to be recognized as more than common criminals by the British government. They refused to wear the prison uniform, refused to do prisoner work, and, eventually, refused to leave their cells.

But they were making little progress. So IRA members at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland decided to refuse to eat.

"We tried every possible way we could to undermine the prison authorities," one former inmate, Tommy McKearney, says. "Ultimately, when we decided we couldn’t move the situation forward, we the prisoners decided we had no option but the last resort of a prisoner to go on hunger strike."

McKearney was one of seven IRA members who stopped eating. In this conversation with host Dick Gordon, he says that – like the Guantanamo Bay detainees on hunger strike today – they were demanding fairness. The following year, ten prisoners starved themselves to death, and Tommy himself came within hours of it.

Music:

"Mbadehou" by Boubacar Traore; "Esclavo Triste" by Marc Ribo

and

You might also like…

From The Military Base To The Marshlands: A Soldier Returns to Iraq

Helicopter pilot Carina Roselli faced enemy fire in Iraq. Recently, she returned as an environmental worker.

Listen

Afghanistan: From the Ground Up

A reporter immerses herself in domestic life in war-torn Afghanistan.

Listen

On Leaving A Soldier

Courtney Cook is a writer who recently tackled the taboo subject of leaving a soldier in wartime. Shortly after they met at Dartmouth College, Courtney and John were in love, pregnant, and married - in that order. Courtney can chart the major events of her twenties by her husband’s deployments - Haiti, Somalia, Korea and eventually Iraq in 2003. Before he left on that tour, Courtney told John it would probably mean the end of their marriage. They broke up through a series of letters while John was at war. Also in this show: Booming Business: Iowa Wine

Listen

Behind The Wall

Birgit Lindemann grew up behind the Berlin Wall. Her uncle would cross the border from West Germany, risking detection by the Stasi, in order to see Birgit's grandmother in the East. Birgit remembers sneaking to her grandmother's house to see her uncle and to take in the smells of cologne and chocolate - things that could not be bought easily in the East. Also in this show: Lessons From Retail

Listen

On This Side

Moussa El-Haddad lives in Gaza with his wife. The bombs have fallen as close as 100 meters from his home. Two nights he was sitting at his desk and the reverberations from a nearby bomb knocked him right out of his chair.

Listen

Crossing Over

Maha Mehanna talked with Dick Gordon one month ago when Israeli air strikes were hitting near her home in Gaza. Since then, Maha has been focusing all her energy on bringing her nephew Mohammad over the border to Israel to receive treatments for his life-threatening illness.

Listen

On The Border of Libya

As the civil war continues in Libya, refugees are flooding into camps along the Tunisian border. At Camp Choucha, Tunisian therapist Rim Ben Ismail counsels refugees. Also in this episode, when Libyan American Hussein Elkhafaifi heard his mother was dying, he booked a flight and went to Benghazi.

Listen

Back From Iraq

When Sergeant Jesse Leach and Lance Corporal Juan Valdez set out on patrol near Fallujah, Iraq last October 31, they had no idea a sniper would be waiting, and his single shot would nearly claim Juan's life. Juan and Jesse join Dick Gordon in the studio to talk about Juan's premonitions and both mens' bravery. Juan and Jesse are joined in their conversation by Captain Mark Broekhuizen. All are from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, and just back from the volatile Al Anbar province.

Listen

Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi

The Burmese leader delivers her Nobel Peace Prize speech, and we share some of her words.

Listen

After Innocence: Exoneree Christopher Scott Fights To Free Other Innocents Behind Bars

Christpoher Scott was put behind bars for a murder he did not commit in Dallas in 1997. There was no DNA evidence implicating him, just a mistaken eyewitness identification. Years later, however, another man confessed to the murder, and Scott was exonerated. He now works to help other exonerees.

More from 53 Days Without Food: Prisoners On Hunger Strike As A Last Resort (5.21.2013)

Music & Show Details»

Weenie Royale

When Japanese Americans were freed from World War II internment camps, the government surplus foods they’d been fed - hot dogs, ketchup, spam - found their way into their kitchens.