Three young Fresnans—Ant, Adrian and Justice—began a hunger strike for Gaza on March 16. They are members of palirev.web on Instagram. Following is their hunger strike statement.
This public hunger strike is:
- To be in solidarity with people who are made unhoused and starved by the ruling class from Fresno to Gaza.
- A demonstration of the ugly reality that is normalized and pushed aside.
- A call to action to build mutual aid, decolonize education and fight for justice.
This hunger strike is NOT to change the minds of politicians.
We know they don’t care if we die of exposure or starve to death, because if they do, they would not have supported Israel stealing and destroying Palestinians’ homes, starving them and killing them since 1948.
If they care for the unhoused and starving people around them, they wouldn’t have the time and money to run for office. That’s why we cannot rely on politicians to feed and shelter people.
We cannot rely on the government to keep us safe. We cannot rely on the ruling class for justice!
We feed and shelter each other.
We keep each other safe.
We define and uphold justice.
Currently, we are funding genocide and you’re conditioned to watch from a distance.
Americans need to snap out of normalization and take action.
We interviewed the three hunger strikers at a demonstration for Palestine on March 16.
Ant noted, “21 years ago today, Rachel Corrie got run over by an Israeli bulldozer.” Corrie was a young American crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer operator while trying to protect a Palestinian house from being demolished.
Ant previously engaged in a hunger strike in Washington, D.C. “I did a seven-day hunger strike in front of the White House in response to a call for a global strike by Palestinian journalists in Gaza,” she said.
“I wanted to do the hunger strike to motivate people to join the global strike. My hunger strike lasted seven days, and we reached tens of thousands of people. Five other people joined my hunger strike.”
Did you get a response from the media? “I was interviewed by The Hill, and the response on social media was great.”
How long will you fast? “I understand that it is very exhausting, so a three-week hunger strike. We’re planning it for three weeks, and I don’t know if [everyone] will be going the whole time, of course.”
As to his motivations for taking part in the hunger strike, Adrian said, “It’s about Palestine. Palestine is the fundamental pursuit of freedom. Palestine is what connects all of us.
“And our goal, really, with palirev.web is to get the youth more involved in more radical actions and to show that there are more than just the two [political] options of liberal and conservative.”
Justice said, “That’s why we think it’s very important right now for people to practice mutual aid and direct action because global warming is here, fascism is here.
“And if we don’t know, if we’re not familiar with the practice of taking care of each other, we’re over. We can’t depend on the government to save us. They never have, and they never will.
“They don’t see us as people. They see us as workers, and the whole education system is also based on making workers, not intellectuals.
“I mean, look at how they’re trying to erase Palestine’s existence. Jesus was Palestinian, if you want to get biblical; you know, liberation is a collective battle.”
For more information on the hunger strike, visit palirev.web on Instagram.
