Pro-Palestinian protesters taking part in an encampment at Princeton University began a hunger strike to raise awareness for starving people in Gaza.
The Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD) student organization posted a series of photos on Instagram announcing that pro-Palestinian protests would be launching a hunger strike “in solitary with Gaza.”
“PRINCETON STUDENTS LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA!!” the group wrote.
PIAD explained that as part of the hunger strike, protesters would “abstain from all food and drink” except for water until their demands were met.
“We commit our bodies to their liberation of Palestine,” the group continued. “PRINCETON, hear us now! We will not be moved!”
The PIAD added that they would strike until their demands were met.
PIAD is demanding that the university’s administration meet with protesters and “discuss their demands for disclosure, divestment, and a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel,” and grant students who have been arrested or faced academic disciplinary action full amnesty.
🚨 Princeton students are going on a HUNGER STRIKE for Palestine
The protestors say “we will abstain from all food and drink except water” until the following demands are met:
• Complete immunity from criminal charges
• Full cultural boycott of Israel (???)
• Divestment from… pic.twitter.com/mFWcDtbybZ— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 3, 2024
“The Princeton Gaza Solidarity Encampment announces the initiation of a hunger strike in solidarity with the millions of Palestinians in Gaza suffering under the ongoing siege by the State of Israel,” the group said in an online statement. ” The Israeli occupation has deliberately blocked access to basic necessities to engineer a dire famine for the two million residents of Gaza.”
Since April 17, when the first pro-Palestinian encampment was established at Columbia University, encampments and protests have sprouted up across the nation on various college and university campuses such as at Harvard University, the University of Southern California, George Washington University, Miami University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and others.
WATCH — “The Occupation Has Got to Go”: Harvard Pro-Palestinian Protest Outside Student Dorms:
Protesters at the various encampments and protests have issued various demands, which include divesting from Israeli companies, ending academic ties with Israeli educational institutions, ending academic student trips to Israel, providing full amnesty to protesters who have faced criminal charges or academic disciplinary action, and a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, among other demands.
In the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left 1,200 people dead and more than 200 people taken as hostages, Israel launched a self-defense operation in the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza.
As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, people in northern Gaza are reportedly facing famine.
A United Nations Global Report on Food Crises released in April found that more than 281 million people in 59 countries “experienced high levels of acute food insecurity” during 2023.
Nearly 576,600 people in Gaza were estimated to be facing catastrophic hunger, according to the report.