Thread by @MansoorAdayfi

Hunger Strike Thread:
1/8
We had no rights at #Guantanamo. We had no power. We had nothing but our bodies and our lives and we had to use them to bring about change. Going on #hungerstrike is like entering a dark tunnel & the light at the end is death.
#artfromguantanamo

2/8
In the beginning, your stomach growls & begs for food. You dream of food. I dreamed of meals my father made after Ramadan--lamb mandi that melted in my mouth. I regretted every grain of rice left uneaten.

3/8
Days later, your stomach shuts down. Your body consumes your fat, then muscle. You feel pain in every cell consumed. You don’t sleep. You can’t concentrate and feel confused. Your vision blurs. Your heart beats so fast it’s hard to breathe.

4/8
In 2 weeks, you can’t walk or stand. Your cheeks hollow. Your mouth dries out; it smells nasty and tastes worse. Your head aches. Your ears close. Your voice squeaks and you sound like you’ll cry but you don’t.

5/8

4 weeks in, the hallucinations begin. Strange voices. Your current life blends with your past and you don’t know what is real. Your hair falls out. Your joints swim in their sockets. But the hunger is gone.

6/8
They said we were waging Jihad with our hunger. So, they forced thick tubes up our nose, ripping flesh until went into our stomachs. Then filled us with cases of #Ensure.

7/8
Please understand, none of us wanted to die. We had no choice. We could do nothing and die forgotten or we could die trying to bring attention to our indefinite detention and #torture.

8/8
I wouldn’t wish this choice on anyone. When you go down that tunnel, you’re not the same person when you come out. I wrote about hunger strikes in my book, #DontForgetUsHere.