Mike Ferner, former director of Veterans for Peace, protested by spattering cow's blood over the US Mission to the UN and leading a march to the Israeli consulate. This action marked the end of a 40-day fast demanding Israel permit humanitarian aid to Gaza and the US to halt weapon supplies to Israel. Over 800 participants joined in various fasting activities to symbolize solidarity, with some activists adhering to a near-starvation diet akin to conditions in Gaza. Gaza faces regular famine amidst an ongoing conflict, resulting in significant humanitarian crises.
Over almost two years of genocide, Gaza has descended into famine and near-famine conditions on a semiregular cycle: people starve to death; after sufficient international outcry, Israel allows food to trickle in; the situation abates a little, until aid is cut off again.
The blood spattering, march, and die-in marked the end of a 40-day fast organized by Veterans for Peace to demand that Israel allow the UN to distribute full humanitarian aid to Gaza and that the US stop sending Israel weapons.
The Veterans for Peace activists are careful to distinguish their fast from an indefinite hunger strike. But there are still risks.
Over 800 participants conducted various types of fasts in solidarity, but the core group of Veterans for Peace activists restricted themselves to 250 calories per day - at one point the average daily caloric intake in parts of the Gaza Strip, which doctors consider to be a starvation diet.
Collection
[
|
...
]