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hunger strike
Bearing Witness to ICE Abuses at Delaney Hall
We must work together to keep the pressure on the Trump administration to meet detainees' demands for human rights, due process, and for their freedom.
Jun 10, 2026
The warehouses of human suffering are all around us. Filthy, inhumane prisons where immigrants are hidden away and brutalized. It's up to us to keep pushing to end these modern-day concentration camps. To expose them, empty them, and tear them down.
For months we New Jerseyans have mobilized to defend our brothers and sisters locked away in Delaney Hall in Newark. Many there are on a hunger and labor strike to protest the inhumane conditions inside—the rotted food, untreated illness, physical abuse and mental anguish—and the injustice of their detention in the first place. They are demanding their freedom.
Delaney Hall is just one part of a national network of immigrant abuse. It’s not about enforcing immigration laws—it’s about a paramilitary operation to attack and imprison immigrants and people of color, and keep them in inhumane conditions without the possibility of freedom until they give up their rights and accept deportation. In prisons all over the country—Adelanto, Dilley, Krome, Otay Mesa, Hutto, and others—corporate contractors like GEO Group are profiting from human isolation, sickness, and death. The Trump administration is supplying the bodies. And Congress is pumping billions of dollars more to feed this obscene, corrupt system.
Right now there is so much we can and must do to support the people suffering and protesting inside those walls. Some courageous fighters have already been released. But the struggle continues. We must work together to keep the pressure on the administration to meet their demands for human rights, due process, and for their freedom, starting first with the release of the most vulnerable, the elderly, young, pregnant, and sick.
We who are outside need to keep fighting and organizing to defend imprisoned immigrants and to support their families.
At a bare minimum, we must bear witness. The ICE Out of New Jersey collective has brought together several state and local community and grassroots organizations to be in the front lines to defend immigrants and expose and resist the administration's abuses. The groups are the New Jersey Immigrant Rights Program of the American Friends Service Committee, CATA - The Farmworkers Support Committee, Cosecha NJ, DIRE (Deportation and Immigration Response Equipo), El Pueblo Unido, Estamos Unidos NJ, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Resistencia en Acción NJ, and Semilla Roja NJ.
Also, Eyes on ICE is building a network of watchful vigilance and mutual aid. Community members, elected officials, faith leaders, students, unions—it's going to take all of us, all across the country. To show that we could be different. We must not look away. And we must not stop.
President Donald Trump and those enforcing his white-supremacist campaign of mass imprisonment and mass deportations want us to feel afraid and powerless. The police—like the New Jersey state troopers who attacked peaceful protesters at Delaney Hall—want to intimidate us. We need to work together to shift this narrative, at all levels, from the governor and state and federal representatives to mayors and grassroots leaders.
When we say, “No justice, no peace,” we mean it. We are neither afraid nor powerless. And we are not strangers. We are human, like those just inside those walls.
Our freedom out here is linked to their freedom inside. We must fight for the liberation of all. The attack on one is an attack on all of us.
We must be witnesses when we are ordered to leave and told there's nothing to see. Even when Immigration Custom Enforcement agents and state police officers beat, trample, and pepper spray us in the name of "keeping the peace."
We must keep saying no—not now, not ever, never again. We must not allow the Trump administration and its state and local partners to keep abusing their power and using our money to commit moral atrocities in secrecy.
We the people must hold firm to our humanity and reject their barbarism.
The administration's top goal is to dehumanize immigrants. But despite all their violence, they have failed. The men and women behind the bars of immigrant prisons like Delaney Hall refuse to be dehumanized. Those who are on a hunger and labor strike are asserting their human dignity, which can never be erased.
We who are outside need to keep fighting and organizing to defend imprisoned immigrants and to support their families. We must keep up the pressure, for as long as it takes and with all the power we have.
We must not let their inhumanity dehumanize us.
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Abolish Immigration Detention Centers
Depriving detainees of medical services, hygiene products, fresh food, and basic accommodations is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at maximizing profits for private prison companies as well as achieving the Trump administration's xenophobic goals.
Jun 09, 2026
For more than two weeks, hundreds of detainees at Delaney Hall immigration detention center have been on hunger and labor strike. They are protesting consistent medical neglect; being fed rotten, maggot-filled food; as well as overcrowded and poorly maintained living conditions. Outside the facility, protesters have clashed with federal agents, leading to dozens of arrests.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Geo Group, the private prison company that operates Delaney Hall, have severely restricted access into the facility. On June 8, they finally granted New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill a “closely controlled and limited tour of the facility.” This is unsurprising. DHS has unlawfully prevented elected officials from entering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Colorado, Mississippi, Texas, New York, and California.
Geo Group has likewise sought to restrict access to their facilities. In fact, on June 8, they filed a lawsuit against Colorado challenging a new law that requires all detention facilities in the state to undergo more regular inspections. The law further mandates that such facilities must always have medical and mental health professionals available on site. A spokesperson for Geo Group claimed that the new law has “the purpose of making it more difficult for federal immigration officers to carry out their responsibilities in Colorado and impose direct burdens and requirements on facilities used in immigration operations.”
Describing more oversight and requiring medical staff as “burdens” is a telling admission that ultimately points to the broader problem here. What is occurring at Delaney Hall is not an isolated incident. In fact, there is another hunger and labor strike currently happening at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. From April to mid-May 2026, hundreds of detainees at North Lake Processing Center in Michigan also went on strike. Both are operated by Geo Group.
The current system of mass deportation and detention is cruel, costly, and ultimately unnecessary.
Depriving detainees of medical services, hygiene products, fresh food, and basic accommodations is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at maximizing profits for private prison companies as well as achieving the xenophobic goals of DHS.
In addition to multimillion-dollar government contracts, private prison companies profit by exploiting the labor of detainees via the “Voluntary Work Program.” Participants are typically paid $1 per day regardless of the number of hours they work.
Despite the name, this program is far from voluntary. First, because basic amenities are not provided, detainees must rely on the company’s commissary and its limited assortment of overpriced goods. In 2019, the Adelanto facility charged $3.25 for a can of tuna, $7.12 for a 2.5oz tube of denture cream, and $11.02 for a 4oz tube of toothpaste.
Second, those who refuse to work may be subject to retaliatory measures. In 2022, detainees at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility and Golden State Annex—both operated by Geo Group—went on a labor strike. Like the detainees in Delaney Hall, they too were protesting inhumane living conditions. Those who participated in the strike reported being kept in prolonged solitary confinement and denied medical treatment due to their involvement.
This is the economics of detention: intentionally underserving detainees generates demand for overpriced commissary goods. Their desperation and vulnerability are exploited to force them to work long hours for meager wages. All the while the company generates millions in profits.
Amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation regime, Geo Group’s profits soared from $32 million in 2024 to $254 million in 2025. The company spent over $3.6 million on lobbying expenditures over the same period.
Geo Group is not alone here. About 86% of all detainees are held in facilities operated by for-profit companies, including CoreCivic, Lasalle Corrections, Ahtna Technical Services, and Management & Training Corporation (MTC).
This brutality also serves the interest of DHS. For instance, in 2025, a family from Venezuela was given permission to live and work in the US while their asylum case was pending. At their hearing, the judge immediately dismissed their case without even listening to their testimony. They were then detained by ICE and transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center—a privately-run facility operated by CoreCivic.
After a month, they were released, but the damage had been done. The psychological stress, trauma, and fear of being detained again drove the family to self-deport. As one of the parents put it, “As soon as we got out [of detention], I told my husband, we’re leaving this country, I don’t care where we end up, but we’re not staying here.” She even called other neighbors to warn them to stay inside. “I never want anyone to go through the same experience we went through inside the detention center.”
That’s the point. Deportations are expensive. In January 2026, DHS reported that the “current cost of a single enforced deportation is $18,245.” For this reason, DHS has adopted a practice of “attrition through enforcement”—the explicit goal here is making life so incredibly difficult that immigrants will decide to leave the US rather than endure the hardship. To this end, the Trump administration has abused its authority to cut off immigrants—both documented and undocumented—from jobs, medical care, financial services, tax credits, and even childcare.
Detention centers are also part of this strategy. Kamel Maklad, a former detainee who spent more than two years at the CoreCivic-operated Eloy Detention Center, explained that guards consistently tried to find excuses to put people in solitary confinement. “They do it so that the detainee, out of desperation, will hurry up and request voluntary deportation.” He further added that one guard explicitly told him: “It’s part of my job. I have to make your life miserable so that you request your own deportation.”
All immigration detention centers—and ICE more broadly—must be abolished. They are dehumanizing institutions born out of capitalist greed, xenophobia, and the callous indifference to the suffering of others.
A better path is possible. In fact, before Trump, the US was on a (relatively) better track. In 2017, he eliminated the Family Case Management Program (FCMP). FCMP paired immigrants with pending court cases with social workers who offered legal guidance. On average, 99% of participants complied with ICE check-ins and appointments, and 100% attended their court hearings. Out of 954 people, only 23 were reported as absconders. FCMP cost about $38 per family per day in 2017. By contrast, in 2019, DHS estimated that the average daily rate for family beds at a detention center was $318.79. This is one of many cost-effective and humane alternatives to the current system of mass detention.
It is worth stressing here that only 5% of people detained by ICE have violent criminal convictions—73% have none. Detention centers are not protecting the public from dangerous “foreign invaders.” The vast majority of immigrants meaningfully contribute to our communities—they pay taxes, drive innovation, and contribute to the economy. Even if they didn’t, however, they are still human beings worthy of respect and dignity.
The current system of mass deportation and detention is cruel, costly, and ultimately unnecessary. We can and must do better.
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Facing Imminent Death, Final Palestine Action Prisoner Ends Hunger Strike in UK
"If David Lammy wishes to see me dead, if Keir Starmer wishes to see me dead, they can come and do it themselves," said 22-year-old activist Umer Khalid.
Jan 28, 2026
After 17 days without food and three without water, the 22-year-old British pro-Palestine activist Umer Khalid ended his hunger strike after being hospitalized on Monday.
Khalid is the last of the eight young activists with the group Palestine Action to remain on hunger strike to protest their imprisonment without trial and the criminalization of pro-Palestine speech in the UK.
“At the hospital… I was given a choice between treatment and likely death within the next 24 hours due to kidney failure, acute liver failure, and potential cardiac arrest,” said Khalid, in a statement shared by the Prisoners for Palestine group, which is supporting the strikers. He said that he decided to end his hunger strike because, “I am too strong, too loud, too powerful… and there is so much we can do to effect change.”
The activists are being held in prison on remand, meaning they were denied bail and have not yet been given a trial for vandalizing military equipment used to support Israel's genocidal war in Gaza.
Earlier this month, several of the strikers, some of whom had refused food since November, ended their strike after the UK rejected a $2.7 billion contract for a subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons maker, Elbit Systems.
Four of them were arrested after allegedly breaking into an Elbit facility and destroying equipment. Khalid is among four others accused of trespassing at a British Royal Air Force base and vandalizing airplanes.
Khalid, who suffers from Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy and suffered multiple organ failure during the strike, ended his protest after Amy Frost, the governor of the Wormwood Scrubs prison where he is being held, agreed to meet with him to discuss the conditions of his confinement. After the meeting, he received mail and clothes that the prison had withheld from him, and restrictions on outside visitors that had been in place since July were lifted.
A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said Khalid "absolutely must have compassionate bail in order to heal, all the hunger strikers should."
In addition to protesting the restrictive conditions of their confinement, the strikers were seeking to draw attention to the criminalization of Palestine Action. The UK government, currently led by Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer, added the group to a list of banned "terrorist" organizations in July, meaning that even peaceful support for the group or identification as a member can result in imprisonment.
Since the ban went into effect, more than 2,700 people have been arrested across the UK over support for or involvement with Palestine Action, in many cases for actions like holding a sign or chanting a slogan in support of the group.
The British government has been repeatedly pressed to intervene on behalf of the strikers, who have alleged mistreatment and neglect while in confinement.
Khalid previously went on a 12-day hunger strike, which the Canary reported "made Khalid seriously unwell and unable to walk." According to the outlet, "the prison mismanaged his refeeding by giving him protein shakes and biscuits, dangerously unsuitable."
Other strikers have said recovery from weeks or months without food has been exceedingly difficult. Shahmina Alam, a healthcare worker and the sister of Kamran Ahmed, who refused food for 67 days, said the strike showed that "the prison healthcare system is not fit for purpose" and that "there are systemic failures to provide care which is dignified, timely, or even lifesaving."
"These prisoners are not treated as patients or even humans," she continued. "They are dehumanised, handcuffed in their sleep and in the shower, and are given no privacy, confidentiality, or respect."
Despite calls from medical experts and members of Parliament, David Lammy, the secretary of state for justice, has refused calls to meet with the strikers to discuss their demands, which have included immediate bail, an end to the censorship of their communications, and an end to the ban on Palestine Action.
Khalid said he made his decision to end the strike in part because members of the government "have shown without a doubt that they have no concern for our lives and they do not care if we die in these cells."
He said, "If David Lammy wishes to see me dead, if Keir Starmer wishes to see me dead, they can come and do it themselves."
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Global Intellectuals Voice Solidarity With Palestine Action Hunger Strikers 'At Death's Door'
Angela Davis, Naomi Klein, Sally Rooney, Tariq Ali, and George Monbiot are among the signers of a statement of support for the proscribed anti-genocide protesters, who have refused food for over two months.
Jan 12, 2026
More than 50 international authors and academics signed a declaration published Monday in support of hunger-striking activists allegedly linked to the banned Palestine Action movement, who are at imminent risk of death after refusing to eat for more than two months.
The brief statement—“We oppose genocide, we support the Palestine Action prisoners”—was signed by prominent figures including historian Tariq Ali; novelist Sally Rooney; former Guantánamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg; journalists Owen Jones and George Monbiot; and professors Angela Davis, Judith Butler, Naomi Klein, and Ilan Pappé.
The declaration echoes the message on a placard held by Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg when she was arrested last month in London protesting the imprisonment of people accused of being part of Palestine Action after the nonviolent direct action group was officially declared a terrorist organization in July by the UK government.
Since then, more than 2,000 people have been arrested for supporting Palestine Action, often while simply holding signs. Eight accused Palestine Action activists are awaiting trial for allegedly breaking into and damaging a British military base and a facility run by Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems. The defendants are facing at least 18 months behind bars before trial.
On November 2, a small group of imprisoned activists launched a hunger strike. Three people—Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, and Lewie Chiaramello—are still striking, despite imminent danger of death.
"She’s dying. She said it: ‘I’m dying,'" Francesca Nadin said of her friend Muraisi—who is on the 71st day of her strike—during a Monday interview with the Guardian.
Nadin said that the 31-year-old's body is "shutting down."
"I know mentally she’ll remain strong right to the last moment but she is dying," she added. "The government, by putting her in prison and denying her all her rights, they’re not just letting her die, they’re actively killing her.”
Ahmed, 28, has been refusing food for 64 days. Doctors have informed him that his heart muscles are shrinking and he is at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
"He’s skinny. I describe him a bit like a piece of paper,” Shahmina Alam, Ahmed's sister, told Al Jazeera last week. "It feels like now every time you see him, it could be the last.”
Chiaramello, 22, has Type 1 diabetes and has been fasting every other day for 44 days.
A fourth person, Umar Khalid, has reportedly resumed his strike following a 13-day pause.
Despite her dire condition, Muraisi is “intent on carrying on until the demands are met," according to friend Amareen Afzal.
The strikers are demanding immediate bail, an end to censorship of their communications, a fair trial, lifting of the ban on Palestine Action, and closure of Elbit Systems' UK facilities.
"The hunger strikers’ demands seem reasonable to me," Monbiot wrote last week. "All these things, I believe, should be happening anyway. And they are of course negotiating positions. Whether all would need to be met for the strike to end cannot be known until the government engages. Its refusal to talk could condemn the strikers to death."
Standing in stark contrast with the US military's torturous force-feeding of hunger striking Guantánamo Bay prisoners during the Obama administration, the UK follows recommendations in the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Malta, which advises doctors not to force-feed prisoners who choose to hunger strike and understand the consequences of their actions.
"Forcible feeding is never ethically acceptable," the declaration states.
In 1981, UK authorities allowed 10 imprisoned Irish Republican Army members, including former Member of Parliament Bobby Sands, to starve themselves to death in Northern Ireland. Their deaths occurred after between 46 and 73 days of refusing food.
A group of former hunger strikers from Palestine, Ireland, and Guantánamo on Sunday issued an urgent appeal to the UK government to save the Palestine Action strikers' lives, and condemning the terrorist designation.
Critics said that the government would be to blame should any of the hunger strikers die.
“The UK is now perilously close to full descent into authoritarian rule," said professor Peter Hallward, who signed the intellectuals' declaration. "Ministers won’t even meet with hunger strikers, who are now at death’s door."
Hallward added that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood "seem perfectly ready to let this country’s most committed and courageous opponents of an ongoing genocide waste away and die."
Israel's US-backed war and siege on Gaza following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023 has left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing in Gaza and most of the coastal strip in ruins. Around 2 million Gazans have been forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the current cease-fire took effect three months ago. Israeli authorities are still blocking or strictly limiting the entry of critical supplies into Gaza, where 2-month-old infant Mohammed Abu Harbid over the weekend became at least the fourth Palestinian baby to freeze to death since November.
More than a dozen Palestinians—including at least five children—have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza in recent days.
Israel is facing a genocide case filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations, where a panel of experts found last year that Israel was committing genocide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are also wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
On Monday, a court in Edinburgh held a hearing on a petition filed by human rights campaigner and former diplomat Craig Murray seeking to lift the ban on Palestine Action in Scotland, whose judiciary is independent from the rest of the UK.
“The impact of proscription of Palestine Action has been appalling," attorney Joanna Cherry told the court. "Scores of peaceful people of entirely good character have been arrested under the absurd pretence of terrorism.”
“We are dealing with human rights and liberties—some of the most fundamental in our society," Cherry added. "If people don’t have the right to express their views and assemble to express their views, they can’t really take part in civil society properly and adequately. It’s hard to imagine a more urgent situation.”
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UK Medical Professionals Warn Palestine Action Hunger Strikers 'Will Die in Prison'
“I hope it doesn’t have to come to that because these demands are very, very simple,” said a friend to one of the activists. “They are asking the British government to uphold international and national law.”
Dec 19, 2025
Eight Palestine Action activists in the UK are at risk of dying in prison as they remain on hunger strike to protest their detention, according to hundreds of medical professionals.
More than 800 doctors, nurses, and therapists wrote to Justice Secretary David Lammy on Thursday to warn that the detainees, who are all between the ages of 20 and 31, were not receiving adequate medical care. The activists are being held in five prisons on remand, meaning that they are kept in prison before trial without being released on bail.
"Without resolution, there is the real and increasingly likely potential that young British citizens will die in prison, having never even been convicted of an offense,” the campaigners said.
At least five of the hunger strikers have reportedly been hospitalized after refusing food for weeks. Two of the strikers, Amu Gib and Qesser Zuhrah, have refused food for 48 days, while another, Heba Muraisi, has refused for 47.
Ella Moulsdale, a fellow activist and friend of Zurah's, told ITV: "It's very hard to watch her walk right now. She has almost no energy to, so she walks extremely slowly, with her back hunched in pain. She still wants me to hug her, but she can't hug back at all."
"Any day after day 35 is considered final and severe, when your body essentially starts to eat itself," Moulsdale said. "Her body is clearly working overtime, and it doesn't have enough fuel to keep her alive."
The eight hunger strikers are among 33 people arrested in connection with two direct actions against entities they argue are taking part in Israel’s human rights violations in Palestine.
Four were arrested for alleged involvement in a 2024 break-in at a facility in Filton for Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms manufacturer and the primary supplier of weapons and surveillance technology used in the genocide in Gaza and Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
After breaking into the facility, activists are accused of having dismantled military equipment, including quadcopter drones, which have been used to kill and maim Palestinians in Gaza, sometimes reportedly playing the sounds of crying women and babies to lure them out of hiding. The activists also allegedly destroyed other weapons systems, computers, and manufacturing equipment, totaling over £1 million. In September, Elbit quietly closed down the site.
Four others are accused of trespassing at a British Royal Air Force base in Norton, where they reportedly sprayed red paint on the engines of two aircraft. According to one report, since December 2023, the RAF has conducted over 1,000 hours worth of surveillance over Gaza, communicating intelligence to the Israeli military.
The Labour Party government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, added Palestine Action to a list of banned "terrorist" organizations in July, which made membership in or support for the group a criminal offense.
According to Amnesty International, more than 600 people were arrested for peacefully supporting the group between November 18 and 29. In October, over 500 protesters were arrested on a single day, mostly for holding signs calling on British authorities to lift the ban.
Since the ban went into effect, more than 2,700 people have been arrested across the UK over support for or involvement with Palestine Action. The UK has seen a more than 660% increase in "terrorism" related arrests since September as a result of the ban.
Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, told ITV that the activists on hunger strike need specialist medical care that they are not receiving.
According to Smith, 200 members of the British Medical Association wrote a letter to the organization's leadership "to sound the alarm" about "substandard monitoring and treatment" for the prisoners.
"The hunger strikers are at imminent risk of irreversible damage to their bodies, and of death," Smith said. “It is my view, as [a National Health Service] doctor, that the complexity of the hunger strikers’ care needs must now be managed with regular specialist input if not continuous monitoring in hospital.”
"Put simply, the hunger strikers are dying,” he added at a press conference Thursday. “They are all now at a critical stage.”
Earlier this week, a group of 51 members of parliament and peers wrote a separate letter urging Lammy to meet with lawyers for the eight prisoners. UK Prison Minister Lord James Timpson dismissed the request, saying he would not meet with any of the prisoners or their attorneys: "I don't treat any prisoners any differently from any other," he said.
On Wednesday, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is now an independent MP, wrote Lammy another letter asking if he shared the minister's satisfaction, and reiterating that the eight prisoners are "at serious risk of death" amid "regular breaches of prison conditions and prison rules."
"The Ministry of Justice is still refusing to meet with the lawyers or families of hunger strikers being held on remand," Corbyn said in a post on social media. "This is a shambolic dereliction of duty. I have written to David Lammy, again, imploring him to do the right thing before it is too late."
Starmer responded to Corbyn's criticisms himself in Parliament that same day: “He will appreciate there are rules and procedures in place in relation to hunger strikes, and we’re following those rules and procedures."
The hunger strikers have demanded immediate bail and the right to a fair trial. They have also called for an end to the censorship of their communications, a lift on the ban against Palestine Action, and the closing of all UK sites run by Elbit.
Asked if her friend Zurah would continue to refuse food even as she reaches deadly stages, Moulsdale said, "That's ultimately her decision to make."
"I hope it doesn't have to come to that because these demands are very, very simple," she said. "They are asking the British government to uphold international and national law."
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Why I Am Joining the People’s Hunger Strike for Gaza
I have joined the hunger strike in grief at the annihilation of Gaza, and to protest the use of my tax dollars to transform the Gaza Strip into a graveyard for its people and international law.
Sep 25, 2025
On September 25 I will begin a weeklong water-only fast as part of The People’s Hunger Strike that was launched outside the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Federal Building in Boston on September 4.
Its goals are to raise consciousness about the deliberate starvation of the people of Gaza and to pressure Massachusetts senators, whose offices are in that building, to sponsor a version of the House "Block the Bombs" bill (HR 3565) that would stop the US from sending Israel the kind of high-impact weaponry being used against civilians in the Gaza Strip in violation of international law.
The Horror of Forced Starvation
The People’s Hunger Strike is the brainchild of a Boston physician Miriam Komaromy. She had not previously been actively involved in organizing for Palestine. But “when forced starvation was imposed on the Gaza population it brought me up short,” she told me. “I said this cannot be. The reality of parents starving and watching their child starve to death—I couldn’t bear it.”
Responding to a Palestinian call urging people of conscience around the world to join a solidarity hunger strike initiated in the West Bank, Dr. Komaromy reached out to members of Boston’s Doctors against Genocide and Healthcare Workers for Palestine-Boston as well as the Boston chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Soon they had numerous cosponsoring groups supporting the planned hunger strike, and some 35 people had pledged to undertake one-week fasts.
Many of those who joined the action were new to the issue; others had long been involved in organizing for Palestinian rights. All were affected by what Jeannie—a hunger striker whose Irish heritage taught her something about deliberately manufactured famine—described in the following way: “For almost two years, we’ve seen the images of the displaced, whose homes, schools, hospitals, water, and entire society have been bombed, as they walk through the rubble seeking food and shelter. The woman whose milk has dried up screaming with grief over her dead baby; the face of a skeletal child, crying and holding out an empty pot; a father weeping over the shrouded corpses of his entire family. These images don’t stop coming.”
The Gaza I knew
Those images and the unfolding genocide that has been meticulously documented by human rights organizations including Israeli groups, genocide scholars and, on September 16, the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry, have overwhelmed me. I have a personal relationship with the Gaza Strip going back to my first visit in 1988 as part of a human rights delegation when Israel was using “force, might, and beatings” (Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s phrase) to suppress the first Intifada, an unarmed uprising of the entire civil society.
"We have a duty to do all that we can to stop the genocide that is funded and promoted by our government.”
During the more than a dozen visits I subsequently made to Gaza as head of a foundation supporting its mental health services, I made many friends and experienced this tiny piece of land as a place of extraordinary hospitality. I saw firsthand how its population was demonized by Israel, imprisoned in what has been called an "open air prison" since 2007, and subjected to repeated sustained military bombardments well before the seismic events of October 7, 2023.
I have joined the hunger strike in grief at the annihilation of Gaza, and to protest the use of my tax dollars to transform the Gaza Strip into a graveyard for its people and international law.
Our Duty to Stop Genocide
Several people I work with in the Boston-based Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine have also joined the fast. Judy, who recently finished her week without food, says she fasted because “I am angry and heartbroken watching the people of Gaza endure forced starvation and seeing what it does to their bodies, spirit, and to their future. I joined the strike to pressure our government to stop sending Israel weapons.”
Jude, who is in treatment for cancer herself, hopes to personalize and make visible the impact of the Israeli-created famine and the long-term harm it is causing. She adds: “I can retreat from this strike at the first sign of harm. This is not true for our counterparts in Gaza who are exhausted; without food, water, medicine, or shelter; and under constant attack. We have a duty to do all that we can to stop the genocide that is funded and promoted by our government.”
Kathy hopes that the hunger strike will send a loud message to her elected representative, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), who has not signed onto the House "Block the Bombs" bill despite “countless calls from her constituents over the last two years concerning the weapons the US has sent to Israel with Massachusetts tax dollars. The result has been the extermination of entire generational families living in Gaza, as well as the killing and maiming of massive numbers of civilians including babies, children, courageous journalists, and doctors. We want her to stand with the Congressional Progressive Caucus which has endorsed the Block the Bombs Act.”
It is too late to save the lives of more than 65,000 Palestinians, many slaughtered with US weapons and 83% of them civilians according to the Israeli army’s own data. It is too late to bring back the hundreds of children who have already died from forced starvation. But we hope that the hunger strike will amplify our message: Let Gaza Live!
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Palestinian Women on Hunger Strike to Demand Israel Return Body of Peace Activist Killed by Israeli Settler
"Whatever the occupation forces will do, whatever the settlers will do, we will persist," said the mother-in-law of slain activist Awda Hathaleen.
Aug 04, 2025
More than 60 Palestinian women have launched a hunger strike to demand Israel return the body of a peace activist killed by an Israeli settler last week in the occupied West Bank.
The body of Awda Hathaleen, who was shot and killed on Monday as Israeli settlers moved in to bulldoze his village, is still being held by Israeli authorities.
Meanwhile, his killer—Yinon Levi, a notorious settler who has been sanctioned by several governments, at one point including the United States before President Donald Trump lifted the sanctions—has been set free after a brief period of house arrest.
Hathaleen, who appeared last year in the documentary No Other Land, was highly regarded among peace advocates in Palestine, Israel, and the United States—where he was scheduled for an interfaith speaking tour before he was abruptly deported by the U.S. government in June.
Israeli police have refused to return Hathaleen's body to family members for a burial unless his family agrees to hold a quick funeral under cover of night, outside the village, with no more than 15 people in attendance.
The family refused these restrictive conditions, saying: "Awda is not a thief. We will not bury him in the dark."
Following Hathaleen's killing, Israeli forces have also arrested at least eight others from the village—including Hathaleen's brother.
According to Middle East Eye:
Israeli forces have raided family homes in the village each night since the killing, arresting their husbands and brothers and beating other family members.
"A woman would be not properly dressed, lying in bed, and they would come in and open the door and say, 'We want your husband, we want your brother'," Ikhlas Hazalin, Hathaleen's sister-in-law, told Middle East Eye on Thursday.
"Whenever they didn't find whom they were looking for, other family members would be beaten–his brother, or one of his family members—until the wanted person was brought in."
Hazalin added: "I've never seen such brutality."
On Thursday, 60 women from Hathaleen's village of Umm al-Khair launched a hunger strike, demanding the Israeli military occupation release his body and free the eight others currently being held in detention.
"I found him soaked in his blood," Hathaleen's mother told Al Jazeera. "I started calling his name: 'Awdah!...Awdah!' But he wasn't responding."
"I am on hunger strike until they hand me my son's body," she said. "I want to smell him."
Hathaleen's wife, Hanady, said that their three children—none of whom is older than five—have spent recent days crying for their dad.
"The moment his father was killed, Mohammed was next to him, shouting, 'My God! My God!'," she said. "Mohammed is only two-and-a-half years old."
Her husband's death was the result of the government-backed settler violence he'd spent years attempting to resist. Since October 2023, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the military and settlers in the West Bank, while Israel has demolished nearly 3,000 family homes, according to the United Nations.
In 2025 alone, there have already been more than 750 documented attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians or their property, which the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says is a 13% increase from the previous year. Home demolitions ordered by Israeli authorities forcibly displaced over 1,200 Palestinians in the first half of the year.
The eight people from Umm al-Khair currently being held in detention are among more than 3,000 being held without charges by the Israeli military under administrative detention. Meanwhile, according to the human rights group Yesh Din, 94% of settlers who wage violence against Palestinians walk away without even facing criminal charges.
Allegra Pacheco, head of the West Bank Protection Consortium, described the attack on Umm al-Khair as a microcosm of this grave power imbalance.
"The people who were injured are in prison. The people who tried to prevent this are in prison. The people who acted in self-defence are in prison," she told Middle East Eye. "And the guy with the smoking gun—the guy who shot the gun on video—is sitting at home and drinking coffee."
Hathaleen's family says the military's refusal to let him have "the proper funeral that he deserves" is yet another indignity that they intend to resist.
On Thursday, his wife and nieces announced that they would not eat until his body was returned. Dozens of other women soon joined them across the village—ranging from teenagers to those in their 70s.
Many men in the village have said they will also join if the military continues to hold Hathaleen.
Israeli peace activists have joined in calls for Hathaleen's body to be returned to his family and for other Palestinian prisoners to be freed. Over the weekend, dozens of protesters marched through West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, leading to four arrests.
(Video: International Solidarity Movement)
"He was a great activist and a great man," said Hathaleen's mother-in-law, Fatme, in a video posted by the International Solidarity Movement. "Our hearts are in pain for him."
"We already had dizziness and fainting from hunger and thirst. Doesn't matter," she said. "Whatever happens to us, we will continue until he is returned to us."
The hunger strikers say they hope their sacrifice will put enough international attention on the Israeli authorities that they'll be pressured to return Hathaleen's body and free their friends and family without conditions.
"We will persist," Fatme Hathaleen said. "Whatever the occupation forces will do, whatever the settlers will do, we will persist."
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Dispatches From the CUNY Hunger Strike for Gaza
For two-and-a-half weeks, the strike created a vibrant pro-Palestine space in the heart of empire, with an effusion of political education and community building.
Jul 13, 2025
Note: On 27 May, students, staff, and faculty from across the City University of New York system began a 16-day hunger strike, with the demand that CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez and the CUNY Board of Trustees immediately divest from Israel and from all weapons and technology manufacturers equipping the Israeli-U.S. genocide in Palestine. It was part of a wave of hunger strikes called in solidarity with Gaza, including an ongoing 40-day hunger strike by Veterans for Peace and those by students at California State University, Stanford, and Yale, among others. Establishing an ongoing presence outside the CUNY Graduate Center in midtown Manhattan, strikers and their supporters organized a series of political education events while also fundraising for families in Gaza, with whom they have been in close contact, ultimately raising more than $30,000. Below are excerpts from daily dispatches from the first week of the CUNY Hunger Strike for Gaza, including updates from Gaza.
Day Two
Hunger strikers and supporters were out on the steps of the Graduate Center [GC] today from 12-6:00 pm ET. We are devastated by the news out of Gaza but strengthened by the beautiful solidarity that has gathered around the steps. Not only did many, many GC faculty, staff, and students stop by to join the strike or camp out for the day, but we received a lot of support from passersby (including a group of high school juniors who stopped by to talk and donated to Gaza), and our fundraiser reached $3,486 in less than 24 hours.
UPDATES FROM GAZA
The news out of Gaza this week is devastating. Over the past 10 days, the intensifying Israeli onslaught has displaced 180,000 people. As people of conscience around the world reel at news of the massacre of Dr. Alaa al-Najjar's nine children, Israel continues to murder Palestinians as they attempt to receive life-saving aid, killing Mohammad Imad Abdel-Hadi, Khalil Ashraf Mousa, and Ashraf Anwar Khalil Mousa and injuring over 46 people on May 27, the day we began our hunger strike. Since the beginning of the genocide Israel haskilled over 400 people waiting for aid in Gaza. In the first few hours of today, 36 Palestinians were killed by intensified Israeli bombing, including eight killed in an attack on the home of Gaza journalist Osama al-Arbid in the northern strip. This comes just two days after israel's massacre at Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City, killing 36 people including children and seriously injuring many more. An injury in the Gaza Strip can be a death sentence, as 22 out of Gaza's 38 hospitals are out of service, the Health Ministry has said, with those still operating facing a "catastrophic" shortage of supplies. There is an urgent (and deadly) shortage of oxygen, particularly in intensive care units, operating rooms, pediatric nurseries, and emergency departments. Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have also bombed Yemen's Sanaa airport for the second time this month, and one person was injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle in the town of Abbasiya in southern Lebanon. The U.S. is not only complicit in these crimes—it is funding, materially supporting, and politically enabling them. On May 27, the day we began our hunger strike, the U.S. sent its 800th planeload of weapons to Israel since October 7. CUNY must divest NOW!
Day Three
Day three of our strike saw an outpouring of solidarity. After some harassment by Zionists while setting up this morning, we had a day full of support. The fundraiser for Gaza has now reached $7,000. We are heartened by this incredible show of solidarity from our community. In the course of the day, two passersby—separately—stopped to tell us that they had participated in prison hunger strikes and wished us well; both had achieved their demands. Their solidarity meant a lot to us, but is also a stark reminder of how deeply affected our community is by mass incarceration. Later on, a driver jumped out of their car across 5th Avenue while stopped at a red light to get our fundraiser flyer; another person leapt out of their car and delivered a ton of water bottles to us. Hunger strikers are tired, but in good spirits and very buoyed by the solidarity. No word from the chancellor yet, though the vice chancellor was present at yesterday's strike.
Again and again, we have been humbled by the amount of support shown to the strike from passersby in Midtown Manhattan, in the belly of the beast under the shadow of the Empire State Building.
UPDATES FROM GAZA
The Gaza Media Office has adjusted the death toll of Palestinian journalists killed by Israel to 221 to include the assassination of Moataz Rajab, a cameraman and editor for Al-Quds al-Youm TV channel. Rajab and others were targeted in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Wednesday, May 28, the 600th day of the U.S.-Israeli genocide. Facing unabated starvation, desperate Palestinians broke into the World Food Program's warehouse in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza where the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot and killed two people. In the panic caused by Israeli gunfire, two others were crushed and dozens injured. At least 23 people were killed on Thursday in a series of Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, on the same day that the Israeli government fast-tracked the establishment of 22 new settlements (the largest one-time approval) on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank.
Day Four
The fourth day of our hunger strike was marked by connections across labor efforts, movement strategies, and political struggles. Fellow hunger strikers from Veterans for Peace stopped by and extended their solidarity. They have undertaken a 40-day "Fast for Gaza" outside of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations demanding "full humanitarian aid" in to Gaza and "no more weapons to Israel." Brooklyn College comrades held a campus organizing strategy meeting on the steps of the GC and invited supporters from other campuses who were on site. In a rally at the strike, the PSC-CUNY's rank-and-file "Fight to Win" caucus ratcheted up the energy, tapping speakers from Columbia and United Federation of Teachers. The literal "shaking off" we did throughout the "Learning with Intifadas" teach-in left strikers and supporters properly invigorated. The fundraiser for Gaza has now reached $9,745. We are truly overwhelmed by the material support that our community has extended. Hunger strikers were grateful for the sun today, and their health was tended to by healthcare worker comrades who visited and checked their vitals. Still radio silence from the CUNY chancellor who we've been bombarding with calls and emails demanding that CUNY DIVEST!
UPDATES FROM GAZA
As we reach day 602 of the genocide, U.N. spokesperson Jens Laerke stated that Gaza is the "hungriest place on Earth." Laerke stated that 100% of the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped by the siege of Gaza now face imminent "catastrophic hunger." The only aid not blocked by Israel from entering Gaza is coming from the so-called "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" (GHF), a neo-imperialist capitalist venture sponsored by theUnited States and Israel. But this supposed "aid" is increasingly being referred to as a death trap, with more and more Palestinians routinely attacked and killed while seeking aid from GHF distribution points: Today 20 people were shot by Israeli soldiers while they tried to collect supplies at the Netzarim Corridor GHF aid point. Throughout Gaza, 30 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the day with attacks in Deir el-Balah, northern Jabalia, and eastern Khan Younis. Over the last two weeks 200,000 people have been displaced into a constantly shrinking "safe zone." Roughly 80% of the land in Gaza is under an evacuation order, pushing 2.1 million people into an area of approximately 73 square kilometers. In Jerusalem, Sanaa Salameh Daqqa was arrested near to Bab al-Amoud, following calls by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to deport her. Daqqa is a translator and the widow of Walid Daqqa, a revolutionary Palestinian leader who was affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and who was martyred in an Israeli prison in April 2024. The Palestinian Prisoners Club are claiming that Sanaa Daqqa is being targeted as part of a campaign of revenge against Walid Daqqa's family. But resistance remains strong in Gaza. The Qassam Brigades, which currently number 40,000 fighters, the same as in October 2023, have undertaken seven operations against the IOF this week. Elsewhere, Ireland has become the first Western state to officially declare that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. While this an important step in challenging Israel's fallacious claim that it uses violence legitimately, this announcement comes far too late and with little material action yet tied to it.
Day Five
The fifth day of our hunger strike saw our community in support of Palestine continue to grow on the steps, with the strikers remaining steadfast in their demand that CUNY DIVEST NOW. Meanwhile, in just five days, we have reached our first goal of $10,000, which will be distributed to over a dozen families in Gaza. In fact, the fundraiser for Gaza has reached $11,734! We've now doubled our goal to $20,000, which will allow us to extend more direct material support to Palestinians as Israel continues to prohibit the entry of food and medical supplies, as prices skyrocket, and as indiscriminate israeli bombing escalates. Today, we had our first Letter Writing to Prisoners session and wrote to Rodney Hinton Jr. Nurse Mina came by to check on the strikers accompanied by her partner, her therapy dog, and her 7-year-old daughter who handed out stickers and made our day. Strikers are resolute but headed into the more difficult days of striking, so she'll keep an eye on them. Later in the day, a comrade who teaches high school gave a brilliant teach-in, "Un-Erasing Palestine in K-12 Education." Together we poured over and critiqued the K-12 curriculum around Palestine and a practice Regents exam. We agreed upon the necessity of teachers taking it upon themselves to teach Palestine (and Western imperialism) honestly and factually in their classrooms, despite the career risks this may pose. We were joined by a big contingent of folks fasting under the demand that the U.S. stop arming Israel, including legendary longtime organizer and writer Sam Husseini. Throughout the strike other brilliant movement elders such as Laurie Arbeiter, organizer and sailor on the first Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, and Former SEEK counselor and participant in the 1969 CCNY takeover Fran Giteles have stopped in to spend time talking with us and share stories. Still radio silence from the CUNY chancellor who we've been bombarding with calls and emails demanding that CUNY DIVEST!
UPDATES FROM GAZA
Today, Hamas submitted a response to the U.S.-backed Israeli cease-fire proposal. They have offered to release 10 Israeli captives alongside the bodies of 18 deceased Israelis, in return for the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas is calling for a permanent cease-fire; the U.S. and Israel have rebuked this proposal and are currently offering a temporary cease-fire for 60 days only, at which point we can assume they will renew their campaign of genocide and extermination. In the course of the day, the IOF murdered at least 60 Palestinians across Gaza. In the past 48 hours, the IOF has bombed 60 homes in northern Gaza and has issued an evacuation order for all residents of Khan Younis, Bani Suheila, and Abasan, while the Qassam Brigade continues to resist the IOF. On May 27 Qassam Brigades engaged in combat with Israeli soldiers in the al-Atatra area of Beit Lahiya (northern Gaza). The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Quds Brigade, also released a statement detailing an attack it undertook against the IOF in Shujayea neighborhood in Gaza City. Elsewhere, in another imperial heartland, fans of Paris Saint-Germain football club raised a large banner reading "Stop Genocide in Gaza" at the Allianz Stadium in Munich during the Champions League final. Germany is the second largest supplier of arms to Israel, accounting for roughly 30% of its arsenal. Middle East Monitor reported that on the day we began our strike (May 27) Israel received its 940th shipment of arms from the United States since 7 October 2023. And, in Italy, the Emilia-Romagna region has formally cut ties with Israel.
Day Six
Today was marked by much warmth and support from passersby, which buoyed the spirits of strikers and on-the-ground supporters. Again and again, we have been humbled by the amount of support shown to the strike from passersby in Midtown Manhattan, in the belly of the beast under the shadow of the Empire State Building. All over the world, support for Palestine is growing. The fundraiser for Gaza has now reached $13,114! Countless people extended cash donations today, including a taxi driver who leapt out of his car and dashed over to greet us! Strikers are depleted and exhausted on their SIXTH day of NO FOOD, yet still firm in their demand that CUNY DIVEST NOW. Earlier today, strikers were successfully able to have a video call with a comrade on the ground in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis; together, we watched the sun set over the Mediterranean. Later, The Red Snare joined us for an enlivening protest drumming workshop that drew in many neighbors (including children!). We were told that our collective drum beating and chanting was heard throughout the Graduate Center library. Closing out our day of political education, the "Eviction as Censorship: Housing Rights for Student Organizers" teach-in yielded some productive and engaging conversations on the housing precarities faced by movement workers and organizers, as participants shared and collectively strategized around their own immediate housing realities. Still not a peep from the CUNY chancellor who we've been bombarding with calls and emails, demanding that CUNY DIVEST!
To contact the CUNY chancellor and amplify our demand for divestment call 646–664–9100 or email felo@cuny.edu.
UPDATES FROM GAZA
Today, we received news that Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, husband of Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, has died of his injuries. This comes after the death of 9 of the couples' 10 children in an israeli attack on their home. The death toll in Gaza today has risen to 54, following a series of Israeli attacks throughout the strip. Thirty-one of those reported dead were murdered while waiting for food near two of the Gaza Humanitarian Aid Foundation supply points in Rafah and close to the Netzarim Corridor. Elham al-Qudra described the murder of her brother-in-law: "He went to get food for his children. His children were dying of hunger. He said, 'I want to go.' He left his three children behind and died. Three little children. One of them is still breastfeeding. He's nine months old." In the north of Gaza, Israel blew up Nouri al-Kaabi Dialysis Hospital, the only site in Gaza still able to provide lifesaving treatment for patients with kidney issues. In al-Mawasi, Khan Younis—a designated humanitarian zone—three people were killed during sustained bombing; one of the victims was a disabled child. In July 2024, at least 90 Palestinians were murdered in the same immediate area by Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, despite the cease-fire signed in November, Israel continues to bomb Lebanese territory. Today, it killed two people in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon. And in the Occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers, under military protection, assaulted and badly injured two brothers near Ramallah, Ghassan and Imad Mohammed Issa Abduljabir. Elsewhere, Yemen's Ansar Allah launched another rocket toward Ben Gurion airport; although it was intercepted, it grounded flights entering and leaving the airport. A spokesperson for Ansar Allah stated, "Our operations will not stop until the war on our brothers in Gaza stops and the complete siege on them is lifted." Yemen has been one of the few Arab states that has remained steadfast in its support of Palestinians since October 2023.
Day Seven
It's been seven days since we launched our hunger strike, and the energy outside the Graduate Center was infectious. Today was filled to the brim with public programming and visits from longtime organizers and movement workers. The fundraiser for Gaza has now reached $14,704. One passerby donated $500 in cash to the campaign! Others came to sit with us and listen in to the teach-ins. The support for Palestine on the street has been huge and visceral. For our public programming, port workers from Elizabeth, New Jersey shared updates on their "Don't Move Zim" campaign and their ongoing efforts to block Israeli shipping and weapons transportation in and out of the port. A CUNY professor gave a teach-in on Frantz Fanon's concept of decolonization and it was great to take some of Fanon's bigger questions and think through them together in a comradely space. At the end of the day, Chandra Mohanty and Angela Y. Davis came through and gave encouragement to the hunger strikers, echoing our solidarity with all those enduring genocide in Gaza. STILL no word from the CUNY chancellor as our hunger strikers go their seventh day WITHOUT FOOD. We have ONE DEMAND: that CUNY DIVEST!
UPDATES FROM GAZA
At least 51 Palestinians have been murdered and 503 injured across Gaza by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours. Most of those killed were in northern Gaza, including six children who died after their home was bombed in Jabalia. Since Israel broke the cease-fire agreement on March 18, 2025, it has murdered 4,201 Palestinians. In Beit Lahiya, IOF soldiers stormed the Indonesian Hospital, forcing 55 critically ill patients, including a child in intensive care, to flee or be evacuated from the facility. Given previous targeting of the site, there are fears from patients and doctors that the Israelis may soon destroy the hospital. Since the U.S.-backed GHF commenced its work last week, at least 75 Palestinians have been murdered at aid sites. Doctors Without Borders have called GHF's operations "dehumanizing, dangerous, and severely ineffective." Mohammed Abu Deqqa described the massacre on Sunday at a GHF aid site in Rafah: "At first, we thought they were [firing] warning shots. But it didn't take long before the shooting intensified. I began to see people lying on the ground, covered in blood. That was around 5:30 am. People started running, but many couldn't escape. The bullets were chasing people even as they tried to flee." UNRWA's acting director Sam Rose described the dehumanization of GHF points as treating Palestinians like "herded animals in pens." Two days ago, the Qassam Brigades undertook an attack on IOF soldiers east of the town of al-Qarara, in southern Gaza; on the same day, they also targeted the IOF military site in Ein al-Thalatha, launching three short-range missiles.
Day Eight
Today was as heartening as it was challenging. Recent media coverage has spread the word about our hunger strike, which has amplified our support for Palestine but also resulted in greater exposure to Zionist groups who came out to the strike today, harassing strikers and supporters. Luckily, there was a large crowd gathered at the strike when Zionists showed up and by forming a protective circle around the strikers while chanting, "In our thousands in our millions, we are all Palestinian!" we eventually drove them away. The day was also filled with rich conversations and movement collaboration across each teach-in and public programming events. Comrades from Pal-Awda joined us and extended updates on their Stolen Land campaign, a large-scale effort to disrupt the illegal sale of occupied Palestinian land to settlers here in New York City. Later, during a teach-in on "Tracing the Debt Economy of Higher Ed," a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War shared his outrage over what's happening in Gaza and how it reminds him of the atrocities perpetrated by the American war machine in Southeast Asia. The fundraiser for Gaza has now reached $16,484! The hunger strikers are physically struggling: lightheadedness, weakness, and exhaustion have really set in, but the ongoing waves of support have been crucial to maintaining their energy and resolve. STILL silence from the CUNY chancellor who we've been bombarding with calls and emails demanding divestment as our hunger strikers go their eighth day WITHOUT FOOD! CUNY DIVEST NOW!
UPDATES FROM GAZA
For the third day in a row, IOF soldiers have killed Palestinians waiting to receive aid at GHF aid points: At least 27 people were killed and 90 injured at the Rafah site. Hind Khoudary, a journalist for Al Jazeera, reported, "The Israeli forces just opened fire randomly, shooting Palestinians… using quadcopters and live ammunition." Seven Palestinians were killed while sheltering in a camp in the Port of Gaza, as well as three in Deir el-Balah and four near Khan Younis. Across the West Bank, the IOF and settlers have attacked Palestinians in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and destroyed olive trees in Kafr Malek, east of Ramallah. Soldiers have also raided archaeological sites in Qarawat Bani Hassan and leveled land in Deir Jarir, close to Ramallah. Matthew Miller, U.S. State Department spokesperson under former President Joe Biden, admitted today that Israel is, "without a doubt," committing war crimes in Gaza—after spending years denying any wrongdoing in Gaza and justifying the continued shipping of U.S. arms to the apartheid state. We did not need Miller's admission to recognize the duplicity and lies of the U.S. administration, which has spent almost two years funding, arming, and politically supporting the genocide in broad daylight. Yemen's Ansar Allah has promised further escalation if Israel does not end its genocide and occupation of Palestine. They made this announcement following another rocket attack on Israel. Yahya Saree, spokesperson for Ansar Allah, stated that Israel will only get "more missiles and drones" from Yemen, "in rejection of the crime of genocide." Throughout the genocide Yemen has been one of the few countries to enact their obligations under international law by blocking shipping in the Red Sea in defense of the Palestinian people. The newly-formed Mohammed Deif Brigade based in Syria has likewise promised further attacks, firing two rockets at Israeli targets today, even as Israel continues its colonial campaign in Syria, having just launched rockets from fighter jets over southern Syria and bombing other sites in the Deraa countryside.
The CUNY Hunger Strike for Gaza paused on June 11 due to concern for the health of strikers after 16 days of no food and a decision to collectively reorient our efforts toward direct action campaigns targeting weapons manufacturing in NYC. For two-and-a-half weeks, the strike created a vibrant pro-Palestine space in the heart of empire, with an effusion of political education and community building. Relationships and connections forged at the strike continue to nurture collaboration between CUNY organizers and local campaigns throughout the city, including Veterans for Peace 40 day fast demanding a full arms embargo on Israel, the campaign to demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Pal-awda New York's campaign to stop the sale of stolen Palestinian land here in NYC. Two separate fundraisers associated with the strike raised over $31,000, which has been sent directly to people surviving on the ground in Gaza.
We continue to demand that the CUNY administration DIVEST IMMEDIATELY from its complicity in Israeli-U.S. genocide. As the genocide across Palestine escalates, the U.S. joined Israel to launch a bloodthirsty war on Iran, and domestic attacks on pro-Palestine activists continue we DEMAND that our university divest. We join millions of people around the world—from the crew of the Madleen to the Sumud convoy to those preparing to set sail from Malaysia to those flooding the streets of every major city in every nation—rising up in a tsunami of humanity for Gaza and insisting that Zionism will fall and that Palestine will be free, within our lifetime.
As Chancellor Matos is scheduled to appear before the house committee on antisemitism this month, CUNY students and faculty continue to be persecuted for their support for Palestine and CUNY continues to refuse to disclose its investments in Israel and in weapons and tech manufacturers participating in Israeli war crimes (which we know total at least $8.5 million and likely much more). To contact the CUNY chancellor and amplify our demand for divestment call 646–664–9100 or email felo@cuny.edu.
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The Active-Duty Airman Refusing to Eat While Gaza Starves
Airman Larry Hebert, who began a hunger strike at the White House on Easter Sunday, says he was inspired by the self-immolation of active-duty Airman Aaron Bushnell.
Apr 03, 2024
An active-duty Air Force airman is on a hunger strike in front of the White House, in solidarity with the children of Gaza, who are being deliberately starved to death.
Larry Hebert, a senior airman with six years in the Air Force, began his hunger strike at the White House on Easter Sunday. He says he will be present at the White House from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, April 1-6, and will then move to the House of Representatives, beginning Monday, April 8, when Congress is back in session.
Airman Hebert, who recently joined the organization Veterans For Peace, says he was inspired by the self-immolation of active-duty Airman Aaron Bushnell.
"When Aaron Bushnell took his own life at the Israeli Embassy for the people of Gaza, that had a profound impact on me. I felt and resonated exactly with how he was feeling, and so that was really powerful and influential," Hebert said. "But what really infuriated me was the response afterward. Leadership within the military and within our government were just silent. There was utter silence surrounding Aaron Bushnell and what he did."
"We anticipate that other active-duty military and veterans will be following his example."
"I knew I had to raise my voice in opposition to the U.S. government supplying Israel the bombs and rockets to commit genocide in Gaza," said Hebert. "Active-duty members are afraid to speak out, and I hope my example and that of others, like Aaron, can change that."
In mid-March, Hebert, from rural New Hampshire, took an authorized leave from his assignment at Naval Station Rota, Spain. Since then he has participated in demonstrations demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and visited several congressional offices to press for an end to U.S. weapons shipments to Israel, which violate several U.S. laws.
Hebert is standing outside the White House this week with a sign that reads "Active-duty airman refuses to eat while Gaza starves."
He is not wearing a military uniform, which might be considered a violation of military regulations.
"I am on Day 4 of my hunger strike in solidarity with the civilians that are being deliberately starved in Gaza," said Hebert on Wednesday.
Hebert told
Task and Purpose that he currently works as an avionics technician assigned to Naval Station Rota, Spain. The NAVSTA base provides cargo, fuel, and logistics support to military units in the region and supports U.S. and NATO ships with three active piers.
Hebert plans to continue the hunger strike—limiting himself to water and a juice supplement—for as long as he physically can.
He told Military.com, "I don't have a stop or an end for it right now. I'm going to go until my body cannot go any longer or we get the cease-fire and the end of unconditional aid to Israel."
Hebert joins many hundreds of current and retired military and civilian government officials urging U.S. leaders to stop fueling Israel's war that has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, nearly half of whom are children. Starvation and disease are rapidly becoming as deadly as the war itself throughout Gaza, where Israel has bombed hospitals, mosques, and residential neighborhoods to rubble.
"We applaud and wholeheartedly support the courageous action of this young Airman," said Mike Ferner, national director of Veterans For Peace. "We hope he will inspire other military personnel and veterans to take similar actions."
Veterans For Peace supports military personnel who act in good conscience and refuse to participate in genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, whether directly or in support roles. For example, orders to load or transport U.S. weapons to Israel are illegal, under both U.S. and international law.
Veterans For Peace recommends that military personnel who want more information about their legal rights, or who wish to be discharged from the military, contact the GI Rights Hotline.
Airman Hebert's protest is gaining national and international notice. On Tuesday alone, he was interviewed by Democracy Now, The New York Times, The Guardian, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, WMUR-New Hampshire, and The Katie Halpern Show on YouTube.
"Larry Hebert's bold action is having an impact," said Ferner of Veterans For Peace. "We anticipate that other active-duty military and veterans will be following his example."
List of U.S. Laws Violated by the Biden Administration When Sending Arms to Israel
For active-duty members of the U.S. military considering following in Herbert's footsteps, or anyone who seeks more information, here are some of the laws the U.S. is currently breaking. In a February 12 letter to the U.S. State Department inspector-general, Veterans For Peace detailed the U.S. laws currently being violated by U.S. officials every time weapons shipments to Israel are authorized to include:
- The Foreign Assistance Act, which forbids the provision of assistance to a government which "engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights."
- Arms Export Control Act, which says countries that receive U.S. military aid can only use weapons for legitimate self-defense and internal security. Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza goes way beyond self-defense and internal security.
- The U.S. War Crimes Act, which forbids grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including willful killing, torture, or inhumane treatment; willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; and unlawful deportation or transfer. All of these crimes are perpetrated daily by the Israeli Occupying Forces.
- The Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces when there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.
- The Genocide Convention Implementation Act, which was enacted to implement U.S. obligations under the Genocide Convention, provides for criminal penalties for individuals who commit or incite others to commit genocide
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'Heartbreaking News': Palestinian Activist Dies in Israeli Prison After 87-Day Hunger Strike
"Beyond the medical, professional, and ethical failures, Khader Adnan's story demonstrates Israel's fear of addressing the main issue against which Adnan protested for so many years—the injustices of the occupation," said one human rights group.
May 02, 2023
Resistance fighters in Gaza launched a volley of rockets at Israel amid protests and a call for a general strike after Palestinian activist Khader Adnan, who had been on a nearly three-month hunger strike, died in an Israeli prison early Tuesday.
Adnan, a 45-year-old father of nine and member of the resistance group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, died in Nitzan Prison in Ramle on the 87th day of a hunger strike to protest the Israeli practice of administrative detention—indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial.
"My flesh has melted, my bones have gnawed, and my strength has weakened from my imprisonment," Adnan said in his will, written a month ago. "My dear Palestinian people… do not despair. Regardless of what the occupiers do, and no matter how far they go in their injustice and aggression, our victory is close."
Palestinian media report hundreds of people gathered outside Adnan's home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Arraba. Randa Musa, Adnan's widow, urged Palestinians to remain peaceful.
"We do not want a single drop of bloodshed," she said. "We do not want rockets to be fired, or a following strike on Gaza."
The Associated Press reports Palestinian militants launched 22 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel after Adnan's death, wounding three people—all foreigners—at a construction site in Sderot.
"This is an initial response to this heinous crime that will trigger reactions from our people," a coalition of Gaza-based Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas said in a statement.
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees Palestinian prisoners, responded to Adnan's death by ordering the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to show "zero-tolerance toward hunger strikes."
According to Middle East Eye, Adnan spent a total of 316 days on hunger strikes in various Israeli prisons over the past two decades:
Growing up under Israeli military rule, Adnan became involved in anti-occupation work from a young age.
He was first arrested by Israeli forces while he was still a student at Birzeit University in Ramallah, where he graduated with a degree in economic mathematics in 2001.
His first detention lasted four months without charge or trial. He was then rearrested and held for another year.
Over the next two decades, Adnan was arrested 10 more times, spending a total of eight years behind bars.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), an umbrella advocacy group, called Adnan a "true fighter" who waged "long battles with his empty stomach to gain his freedom."
"Today we lost a true leader," PPS said in a statement, adding that Adnan "carried the voice of Palestinian prisoners to the world."
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) tweeted: "When he was arrested for the last time, Adnan again protested his detention. The hunger strike was Adnan's last resort to nonviolently protest the oppression he and his people face every day. These strikes were a protest not only against his own administrative detentions but also against its decadeslong use as a tool of political oppression against Palestinians."
PHRI continued:
For weeks, following a severe deterioration in his condition, we tried to convince the Health Ministry, Kaplan Hospital, and the Israel Prison Service to keep Adnan hospitalized. The IPS clinic was not equipped to monitor Adnan and could not provide emergency intervention in case of sudden deterioration. After visiting Adnan a few days before his death, PHRI chairperson Dr. Lina Qasem-Hassan published a medical report warning that he faces imminent death and must be urgently transferred to a hospital for observation. Unfortunately, our efforts to raise these concerns judicially and individually fell on deaf ears. Even the request to allow Adnan's family to visit him in prison—when it was clear this may be their final meeting—was denied by the IPS.
"Beyond the medical, professional, and ethical failures, Khader Adnan's story demonstrates Israel's fear of addressing the main issue against which Adnan protested for so many years—the injustices of the occupation," the group added.
PPS said Adnan is the 237th Palestinian since 1967 to die while imprisoned by Israel. According to Middle East Eye, at least seven other Palestinians previously died while on hunger strike in Israeli prisons; the last such death occurred in 1992.
"By incarcerating him in the first place and purposely subjecting him to medical neglect the Israeli regime is responsible for Khader Adnan's death. But it is important to understand hunger strikes as acts of resistance in a context where prisoners are stripped of all agency," Palestinian academic Yara Hawari tweeted.
"Whilst it may seem that by inflicting damage on the body is oppositional to liberation, hunger strikes allow prisoners to seize back the power of life and death from the incarceration regime," she added. "This is why they have long been used as a tool of resistance around the world."
According to the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian advocacy group, Israel currently imprisons nearly 5,000 Palestinians, including more than 1,000 administrative detainees and 160 children.
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