This week, six San Francisco State University students started a hunger strike in response to the blocking of all humanitarian aid to Gaza by the Israeli government. The indefinite strike calls for the CSU system to divest from companies providing technology and weapons to Israel. KALW’s Kristal Raheem has more.
Here at San Francisco State, organizers from the General Union of Palestine Students, or GUPS, are gathered on the lawn to raise awareness about the hunger strike.
Kailey Flores is a member of GUPS and started the strike on May 5th with other students.
“First and foremost, there has been no aid or food entering Gaza for over 60 days now and so we are striking in solidarity with people of Gaza who are starving. We're not eating any food. We are only drinking water and electrolytes. And we'll continue to be doing that until our demands are met.”
Another participant of the strike is Israel Gordan, a Race and Resistance Studies major.
”Here at SF State and at Sacramento State we have gotten divestment from, um, Israeli weapon manufacturers and companies, but, you know, we're not done. We hope to see a CSU wide, um, change in this and divestment for all schools. “
For many of the students, this is their first hunger strike and they are asking the community for support. Here’s Kailey again.
”Asking for hand warmers, Pedialyte, liquid IV, water, blankets, jackets, as we're out here from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM for our programming all day. I would love to see more community members stopping by checking in, and also just spending some time with us during our programming that we plan every day.”
While this is their first week of the hunger strike, students say their goal is to draw more attention to Israel’s ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza since March. Israel had this to say.
”The main thing I want people to take away from this is that the people of Gaza are experiencing far much worse. So, it's important that we're not complacent in it, especially as Americans when it's our military, our tax dollars that are funding this genocide.”
This indefinite strike is part of a larger collaboration with other CSU students at the San Jose, Sacramento and Long Beach campuses.