Princeton students complain of being ‘starving’ amid anti-Israel hunger strike

US News

By Isabelle Keane

An anti-Israel protester at Princeton University has spoken out about how she was “starved” during a self-imposed hunger strike and accused the prestigious university of deliberately “physically weakening” students.

The video shows the protester and other demonstrators shouting into a megaphone about the New Jersey Ivy League school’s refusal to divest from Israel following Hamas’ unprovoked attack on the Jewish state on October 7.

“It’s absolutely unfair. My peers and I are starving. We are physically exhausted. I’m literally shaking right now, as you can see. the protester says into the megaphone in a video widely shared on.

A student-led hunger strike began Friday, with protesters demanding that the school meet with them to discuss divestment and drop criminal and disciplinary charges against two students who were arrested for erecting tents and 13 other classmates who were arrested for trespassing in a university hall last month. , Princeton’s student newspaper, the Daily Princetonian, reported Monday.

After meeting with administrators Monday, the students indicated they had no plans to stop their protest, which left them “immune-compromised,” according to the protester whose rallying cry went viral online.

“We are both hot and cold. We are all immunocompromised and based on the university’s meeting yesterday with some members of our negotiating team, they would like to continue to weaken us physically because they cannot bear to say no to an unjust murder,” declared the protester to cheers and drums.

Despite the complaints, the protester in the video admits that going on hunger strike was his choice.

“I will say that I really don’t feel like I’m doing anything special. It’s my choice, and I wouldn’t spend my birthday doing anything other than being here,” the protester said.

“No matter how physically weak we are, united, we have never been stronger,” they added as the crowd began chanting: “The united people will never be defeated!” »

According to the student newspaper, at least 15 students were participating in the hunger strike on Sunday evening.

It is not immediately clear how this figure may have changed during the week.

School President Christopher Eisgruber, Graduate School Dean Rodney Priestley and Amaney Jamal, dean of the School of Public and International Affairs, told students in an email Tuesday that administrators were working with the protesters.

“My colleagues and I are now in direct conversation with the protesters,” he wrote. “I told them we can consider their concerns through appropriate processes that respect the interests of multiple parties and viewpoints, but we cannot allow any group to circumvent those processes or exert particular influence. »