Yale students begin hunger strike to demand divestment amid Gaza war
Yale University graduate students have initiated a hunger strike to protest against the institution’s investments in companies that provide “Israel” with arms and military equipment amid its months-long genocidal war on Gaza.
Jesse Goldblum, representing two of the 12 Palestinian organizers set to go on a hunger strike at Yale, read in a statement at a press conference addressed to Yale President Peter Salovey, “We want to acknowledge our position as Yale University students adopting these revolutionary tactics, and we emphasize that in doing so, we wish to amplify and draw attention to the ongoing plight of Palestinians.”
The hunger strike of some members of the Yale Graduate Students for Palestine group is set for Saturday, April 13. The group of 12 students engaging in this revolutionary act of support for Palestine have named themselves Hunger Strikers for Palestine, according to their statement.
The letter urged the University to divest from weapons manufacturers involved in the Israeli occupation’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip. The students set Friday as the deadline after which they are to begin their hunger strike.
“We must look at the privileges and access and opulence of our university with disgust and shame,” Goldblum’s statement read.
According to an organizer who preferred not to be named due to fears of reprisal, the hunger strike group is primarily made up of Graduate Students for Palestine members, with the possibility of some undergraduates also participating.
