In the US, a group of local politicians, activists and actors started a 5-day hunger strike in front of the White House demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The hunger strikers are protesting the attacks and hunger in Gaza.
American actress Cynthia Nixon, along with local politicians from states such as New York and Delaware and activists from prominent Muslim and Jewish civil society organizations, launched a hunger strike in front of the White House to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
“UNPRECEDENTED”
Nixon said that Americans were distracted from Gaza, first by Thanksgiving and then by the Christmas holidays, and that he was concerned that the momentum gained in calls for a ceasefire in Gaza was being lost. Describing the killing of 15,000 people, 70 percent of them women and children, in the last 7 weeks by Israeli attacks in Gaza as “unprecedented,” Nixon said, “We launched this hunger strike to emphasize that Palestinians are being killed, bombed, but also starved.”
“WE WILL SHED A LITTLE LIGHT ON THE HUNGER THAT THE PALESTINIANS ARE EXPERIENCING DUE TO BIDEN’S POLICIES”
Zohran Mamdani, a member of the New York state House of Representatives, said in a statement that they welcomed the extension of the humanitarian break in Gaza for another 2 days, “But we need a permanent ceasefire. We are fighting for a world where all families live together. The way to achieve this is not bombings or war, but a ceasefire.”
CALL FOR A PERMANENT CEASEFIRE
In his speech at the strike, Mamdani invited US President Joe Biden to call for a “permanent ceasefire” and said, “With the 5-day hunger strike here, we will shed a little light on the hunger that Palestinians are experiencing due to the policies of our President (Biden).”
“WE FELT THAT THE AMERICANS WHO TOOK TO THE STREETS WERE NOT LISTENED TO”
Writer and activist Sumaya Awad, Director of Strategy and Communications for the Palestinian human rights advocacy group “Adalah Justice Project”, said that Biden is not listening to the voice of the majority in the US on the “Gaza ceasefire”. “The reason we’re on hunger strike here, the reason we’re going down this path, is because we feel that the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have taken to the streets across the country are not being listened to,” Awad said.
