Princeton University Students Launch Hunger Strike for Palestine


A group of students taking part in a protest in solidarity with Palestine at Princeton University launched a hunger strike on Friday.

"This strike is a response to the administration's refusal to engage with our demands for dissociation and divestment from Israel," one of the students participating in the protest said in a video posted on X as five students each read out parts of a joint statement.

"We refuse to be silenced by the university administration's intimidation and repression tactics. We struggle together in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We commit our bodies to their liberation," she added.

It is unclear how long the students are planning to stage the hunger strike, but a sign-up sheet for newcomers to join says people can join for the "Full 7-Day Hunger Strike." The students who made the announcement said they would carry out the protest "until the following demands are met."

Participants can also opt for a 24-hour shift where they will not eat. Water and electrolytes are allowed to be consumed.

The demands include meeting with students to discuss "disclosure, divestment and a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel," a complete amnesty for protesters, and the reversal of "all campus bans and evictions of students."

The latest stage in the protest comes after 13 students, including 12 from Princeton University and one from the Princeton Theological Seminary, were arrested on April 30 and charged with trespassing while staging a sit-in on campus in an administrative building.

Nationwide demonstrations gained momentum last month after Columbia University asked the New York Police Department to forcibly evict a group of students who staged an encampment on a campus lawn. Over 100 people were arrested, but the protesters quickly adapted and formed another sit-in that was cleared Tuesday.


Related Suggestions

 
COMMENTS DISCLAIMER & RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
The opinions expressed herein, through this post or comments, contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those of IslamiCity. These are offered as a means for IslamiCity to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of being an educational organization. The IslamiCity site may occasionally contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. IslamiCity is making such material available in its effort to advance understanding of humanitarian, education, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and such (and all) material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.