As food in Gaza becomes increasingly scarce, activists are pushing their bodies to the limit in solidarity.
By Emmet Fraizer, The Nation
On June 30, Mike Ferner spattered a gallon of cow’s blood over the US Mission to the UN as portraits of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance looked on from behind the glass façade. “Here, United States, have some blood!” he said as it dripped down the windows. “You like shedding it all over the world so much? There you go!”
Ferner, the former national director of Veterans for Peace, then led members and supporters in a march around the block to the Israeli consulate, where the protesters lay down in the street, blocking traffic.
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. 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.
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. This spring, the longest total blockade yet—over 11 weeks—once more prompted warnings about the risk of famine. Over the past month, the IDF has lured starving people to outposts of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, only to gun them down. Hundreds have died.
Recent Posts
ICC Targets Smotrich For War Crimes— He Responds by Promising More War Crimes
Take Action Now Smotrich reportedly bragged about helping create more than 100 new settlements and 160 farming outposts, while the U.N. has reported…
Establishment Democrats Still Don’t Get Why They Lost in 2024
Take Action Now No amount of messaging acumen could have plastered over the gaping hole in Harris’ campaign: a total dearth of popular policies.By…
The CIA Goes to Cuba
Take Action Now After decades of covert operations, the CIA director has given the Cubans an overt ultimatum for change on the island.By Peter…
Minnesota Officials Charge ICE Agent Who Shot Venezuelan Immigrant & Falsely Reported What Happened
Take Action Now “That is what democracy looks like. It looks like separation of powers and getting material consequences [for] wrongdoing,” she……