Pro-Palestinian students in Princeton University begin hunger strike

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A group of pro-Palestinian Princeton University students began a hunger strike Friday at the Ivy League school, New Jersey, to pressure administrators to meet their demands.

"This strike is a response to the administration's refusal to engage with our demands for dissociation and divestment from Israel," one of the students participating in the protest said in a video posted on X as five students each read out parts of a joint statement.

"We refuse to be silenced by the university administration's intimidation and repression tactics. We struggle together in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We commit our bodies to their liberation," she added.

It is unclear how long the students are planning to stage the hunger strike, but a sign-up sheet for newcomers to join says people can join for the "Full 7-Day Hunger Strike." The students who made the announcement said they would carry out the protest "until the following demands are met."

Participants can also opt for a 24-hour shift where they will not eat. Water and electrolytes are allowed to be consumed.

The demands include meeting with students to discuss "disclosure, divestment and a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel," a complete amnesty for protesters, and the reversal of "all campus bans and evictions of students."

The latest stage in the protest comes after 13 students, including 12 from Princeton University and one from the Princeton Theological Seminary, were arrested on April 30 and charged with trespassing while staging a sit-in on campus in an administrative building.

Nationwide demonstrations gained momentum last month after Columbia University asked the New York Police Department to forcibly evict a group of students who staged an encampment on a campus lawn. Over 100 people were arrested, but the protesters quickly adapted and formed another sit-in that was cleared Tuesday.