Many faculty, staff and students at the University of Oregon have been participating in the UO Gaza Hunger Strike, which began on May 19. Campaign members held a call to action rally outside the Eugene Federal Building on May 23, which marked day five of the ongoing hunger strike.
Around 30 people attended the “urgent call to action” event at the Eugene Federal Building for roughly 50 minutes.
Speakers spoke to the crowd regarding the situation, the reasons for the hunger strike and a call to action with demands toward local and federal leaders in Oregon and UO to get involved in efforts to end the siege on Gaza.
“About a dozen off and on” have been formally fasting, and many have been involved in the campaign who are not actively fasting, according to Kaleigh Bronson-Cook, the main speaker at the event and an implementation coordinator for UO’s College of Education.
According to Bronson-Cook, hunger strikers are protesting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza experiencing mass starvation. “A symbolic length for the average person in Gaza right now who’s experiencing the genocide is only eating every two to three days, so I fasted for two to three days,” Bronson-Cook said. “Others are striking indefinitely until they’re no longer physically able.”
Dahlia Fomley, a member of the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, is on day five of the hunger strike and said he will be going on strike indefinitely until their demands are met.
Fomley demands that local, state and federally elected leadership to stop sending aid to Israel and to get involved in ending the Israeli blockade.
“The genocide in Gaza is constantly on my mind as a result of not only hunger, but just on the incredible importance of the situation as it has been developing,” Fomley said. “It is one of the most, if not the most, important issues of our time, and I do think future generations will judge us based on how we act in this moment of conscience.”
Bronson-Cook said that to maintain the well-being and health of those participating in the hunger strike, each person was assigned a buddy responsible for ensuring their partner has regular health checks, stays hydrated and maintains vitals through taking vitamin and glucose tablets, electrolyte products and fresh water.
There are also medics from local community groups who have volunteered to do blood glucose checks and health check-ins, two of whom were present during the event.
“We’re incredibly privileged to be able to have access to support, to be able to choose to fast as a political act and as an act of protest, rather than acts out of being forced to fast,” Bronson-Cook said.
Hunger strikers at UO, along with other students at college campuses across the US will continue to “stand in solidarity” through fasting, hoping to bring awareness and attention to the cause and for leaders in government positions to take action.
“What I’ve been thinking about this week is that it’s not just being hungry, it’s like you’re trying to exterminate culture,” Bronson-Cook said. “It’s very emotionally difficult to imagine what people in Gaza who are experiencing genocide must be feeling and experiencing, having this gone on.”
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