During one of the hottest stretches of the summer so far, a half-dozen members of the Chicago chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) participated in an eighteen-day hunger strike to bring attention to the ongoing starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.
“In a way, this is the most acute phase of the genocide so far,” said Seph Mozes, a volunteer with JVP Chicago, which characterizes itself as a Jewish, progressive, anti-Zionist organization. “I think because of all of the domestic crises that are happening in this country, a lot of people just aren’t as aware as they were last year, so part of our goal was simply to get public attention.”
After the first phase of ceasefire talks between the Israeli government and Hamas collapsed in early March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a total blockade of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government claimed, without evidence, that the Hamas militants were looting supplies. The blockade dragged on for eighty days, pushing the Palestinian people to the brink of famine. After UN leaders condemned Israel, the state eased its blockade in mid-May.
But months later, both UN leaders and activists argue Israel’s promises to allow the delivery of crucial food and supplies to Gaza have fallen short. In a July 11 briefing following his latest visit to Gaza, UN World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told journalists that active military operations have made it increasingly difficult for humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to the 90,000 starving people in the region. The UN was engaging with Israeli authorities to make sure the Israel Defense Forces were not around humanitarian convoys, Skau added.
In Chicago, JVP members hoped their hunger strike would bring light to the ongoing starvation in Gaza and convince Illinois’s U.S. senators and representatives to stop authorizing weapons shipments to Israel. Six JVP members joined the hunger protest, along with a volunteer care team of doctors and other medical professionals. The strikers consumed zero calories, though they drank water with some electrolytes, said Audrey Gladson, a JVP member.
“Every day is different; your bodily autonomy is very reduced, your energy is gone, and it was something that constantly reminded us of Gazans’ daily experience, especially in the heat,” Gladson said, noting that they still had access to resources that people in Gaza do not. “Our care team was providing us with rides and wheelchairs, it was a privileged experience.”
The protesters did not set an end date to their strike and not every member was able to go the full eighteen days. Gladson completed the entire strike and ended July 3, but Mozes was tapped out by day eight, adding that members knew the risk of permanent damage to their bodies.
In Gaza, the months-long Israeli blockade could impact an entire generation, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO warned in May that the severe lack of nutrition could stunt Gazan children’s physical and cognitive development.
The strike kicked off with a rally in Federal Plaza on June 16 that included U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL-3), who introduced her “Block the Bombs” bill earlier that month. The proposal sought to prohibit the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel. Among JVP’s demands was for members of Illinois’ Congressional delegation to sign that bill and a similar proposal from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Both bills had failed to pass in the House and Senate during an April vote.
“Netanyahu continues to use American-supplied weapons to murder hungry children waiting for humanitarian aid,” Ramirez said in a statement to the Weekly. “Congress needs to assert its oversight authority. Enough is enough. By introducing the Block the Bombs Act, a broad coalition is listening to the American people who don’t want their taxpayers’ money to continue supporting gross violations of US, international, and humanitarian law.”
Cook County is home to the largest population of Palestinians in the country. Given that, Mozes argued the ongoing genocide constitutes a domestic rather than foreign policy issue for elected officials.
“These are domestic policy issues because they’re affecting people in our own communities,” Mozes said. “One of the commitments we want to get from them [elected representatives] is that they meet with their Palestinian constituents, right? It’s great for them to meet with us as Jewish anti-Zionists and anti-Zionist allies, but they really should also be meeting with their Palestinian constituents.”
The protesters met with several members of Congressional staff and some representatives themselves. As of publication, Rep. Mike Quigley had not signed the bill, but Gladson appreciated her meeting with the congressman.
“He listened very intently,” she said. “He didn’t ask any questions in particular, but I think what I heard was a gratefulness about our dedication to this issue.”
Several representatives from the Illinois delegation had already signed onto Ramirez’s bill, including Reps. Jonathan Jackson (IL-1) Chuy Garcia (IL-4), Danny Davis (IL-7), and Jan Schakwoski (IL-9). Last month, JVP members met with Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-2) and Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11), said volunteer organizer Joy Wang. Wang noted that those in-person meetings were important, even if she and other members understood they might not get the Block the Bombs bill passed.
“For two years there has been no red line. At no point has the U.S. Congress stepped in to say ‘no more,’ to stop arming Israel,” Wang said. “It’s important that Ramirez is creating what progressive policy should look like.”
These conversations with lawmakers “were able to happen because of the hunger strike,” Gladson said.
Though Illinois Senator Dick Durbin voted in favor of Sanders’ bill to stop military aid to Israel earlier this spring, Senator Tammy Duckworth, who sits on both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, did not.
JVP Chicago members were able to meet with Duckworth’s constituent services staff, but noted that they wanted to speak with her legislative staffers. When protesters showed up at Duckworth’s office at the Kluczynski Federal Building downtown on July 3, they were arrested. A spokesperson for Duckworth said that when strikers arrived, the office was teleworking without any staff present.
“Any arrests or removals from the building were not made at the request of, or in coordination with the Senator or her office,” said Duckworth spokesperson Courtney Jacquin McManus. “Senator Duckworth’s staff has been responsive to JVP and recently met with JVP members in Chicago.”
Leigh Giangreco is a freelance reporter based in Chicago. You can follow her work on Twitter/X @LeighGiangreco and at leighgiangreco.com.