Yale activists cease hunger strike citing 'deteriorating health conditions'
Pro-Palestine Yale University activists have ceased their hunger strike protest efforts after ten days, with some citing physical problems such as weight loss and fatigue.
The protest officially ended on May 19, which initially began with approximately six students who were joined by a 'growing' number of participants.
Pro-Palestine Yale University activists have ceased their hunger strike protest efforts after ten days, with some citing physical problems such as weight loss and fatigue.
The Yale Daily News has reported that the protest officially ended on May 19, which initially began with approximately six students who were joined by a “growing” number of participants.
During the hunger strike, the organizer, Yalies4Palestine, demanded a meeting with President Maurie McInnis in hopes that the university would end its ties to Tel Aviv University and divest from Israel.
“With a heavy heart, yet out of precaution and due to deteriorating health conditions, we collectively decided to end the hunger strike,” Yalies4Palestine said in an Instagram post on May 24.
“Yale, we are ashamed that you would ignore the voices of your community to the extent of us needing to pursue an extreme action such as this strike,” the post continued.
On May 28, the group released another post saying that university administrators had been “harrassing” activists during their protest, including taking away chairs and forcing them to leave Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall, where McInnis has her office.
The protesters visited the building each day and held signs like, “I’m hungry for…” “Divestment,” “A Free Palestine” and “A Meeting with McInnis.”
One protester told the Yale Daily News that by the seventh day, she had lost 10 pounds.
Last month, university officials revoked the student group status of Yalies4Palestine over “disturbing” concerns about “antisemitic conduct.”
The group released a statement responding to the university’s move, saying: “We remain steadfast in our commitment to Palestinian liberation and to challenging Zionism in all its forms - whether at Yale, in the White House, or the settler colonial entity itself.”
Roughly a dozen Yale students started a hunger strike last year calling for divestment from weapons’ manufacturers that support Israel.
“We will risk our bodily health and wellbeing, in ways that mirror only a fraction of the absolute devastation that Palestinians are suffering right now,” the students said in a letter. “Yale’s complicity in genocide must end.”
Campus Reform has contacted Yale University and Yalies4Palestine for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
