On May 12, more than 20 students at Stanford University in California went on a hunger strike to demand that the university administration sever ties with companies that support Israeli genocide in Gaza and protect freedom of expression on campus.
One of the protesting students said, "We are here to pressure our university to stop funding the genocide in Palestine and end its investments that allow Israel to systematically kill and starve thousands of Palestinians and continue the siege that threatens the lives of 14,000 children."
For her part, student Saadia said she was "disappointed" with her university's approach to history, noting that 14,000 children in Gaza are at risk of starvation, according to a United Nations report.
Student Owen Martin emphasized that their demands also include "dropping the charges against 12 Stanford University students who were prosecuted in connection with last year's protests."
Stanford University students joined a hunger strike on campuses across the country in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
In April 2024, pro-Palestine protests erupted at Columbia University in the United States and spread to more than 50 universities across the country. Police detained more than 3,100 people, most of them students and faculty members.
With American support, Israel has been pursuing a genocidal war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, destruction, starvation, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The war left more than 175,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.
