• Over 60 Jordanians have initiated an open-ended hunger strike, demanding an end to Israel’s siege on northern Gaza.
• In the UK, Lizzie Greenwood has been on a hunger strike for 24 days, protesting the UK government’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
At least 60 Jordanian men and women have embarked on an open-ended hunger strike to demand the cessation of the Israeli siege on the northern Gaza Strip. These activists aim to exert pressure on the Jordanian government to facilitate the delivery of aid to the devastated region and thwart Israel’s plan to permanently expel the Palestinian population.
“We demand the closure of Jordanian crossings to goods destined for the Israeli occupation until adequate medical and humanitarian assistance reaches the northern Gaza Strip,” Mohammed Awda, one of the strikers, stated.
He further emphasised their demand for at least 500 aid trucks to be permitted entry into Jabalia, Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and the Kamal Adwan hospital. The northern Gaza towns have been enduring an intense Israeli blockade and military assault for over a month.
Human rights organisation have expressed concerns that this offensive is part of a broader strategy aimed at ethnically cleansing northern Gaza and transforming it into a “closed military zone.” The hunger strikes began with a small group of protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Amman on November 1, but the movement steadily expanded as it garnered attention online.
The participants voiced a singular objective: to compel the Israeli occupation to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Most are striking from their homes, subsisting solely on water and salt. Several participants have been hospitalised due to severe drops in blood sugar
Approximately 12 men have convened in an apartment in Amman, pledging to continue their protest until aid reaches northern Gaza.
“We are resolute and will not end our strike until humanitarian aid is allowed into the northern Gaza Strip,” one participant, who preferred to remain anonymous, asserted.
The campaign, entitled “Throw Your Stick,” references Yahya Sinwar’s symbolic final act of defiance, in which he hurled a stick at an Israeli drone, embodying resilience against overwhelming adversity, according to the campaign’s organisers.
The Government’s Inaction
The activists have sharply criticised the Jordanian government for neglecting their demands, even after weeks of protesting. Their deteriorating health and the disregard for their humanitarian conditions prompted them to stage a sit-in outside the National Council for Human Rights. On multiple occasions, they attempted to present their demands to government officials, but were met with resistance and threats of arrest. On one such attempt, they were told to return during official working hours.
Azem al-Qaddoumi, head of the Professional Associations’ council, explained that the strikers were prevented from staying inside the building due to a lack of prior coordination but assured that their request to utilise the facilities was under consideration.
Since the onset of Israel’s brutal and barbaric bloodbath of Palestinians, Jordan’s leadership is faced with backlash from its citizens in relation to their inaction and their ongoing diplomatic ties with Israel. Jordan is home to a significant Palestinian population (an estimated 80%) and a significant refugee population. Many of whom are descendants of those displaced during the 1948 Nakba. Jordan regularly witnesses mass protests in solidarity with Palestine.
Hunger Strikes in the UK
Meanwhile, in the UK, 27-year-old Lizzie Greenwood’s hunger strike has now reached 24 days, during which she has been subsisting on just 250 calories a day— emulating what Palestinians are expected to survive on.
Greenwood is a former parliamentary candidate and a youth ambassador for the Holocaust Education Trust. She has undertaken this drastic measure to protest the UK government’s ongoing support for Israel’s inhumane actions in Gaza, declaring that this was the only remaining course of action to express her profound opposition and ‘disgust of our Government’s actions.’
“I am willing to die for this cause, to ensure that nothing as unspeakably evil as these events ever occur again,” she declared in a video posted on social media.
She has vowed to continue her strike until the UK government ceases all arms sales to Israel and ensures that aid flows unhindered into Gaza and the West Bank.
Greenwood’s protest is part of a larger wave of hunger strikes in the UK, which has seen participants such as a man from Bristol, who was hospitalised after a three-month strike, and students in Edinburgh who maintained their protest for over 20 days.
Greenwood, who began her protest on October 27, has criticised the UK government for its unwavering stance, despite widespread public opposition to its complicity in Israel’s military actions.
“After a year of protests, direct actions, and petitions, our Prime Minister stood on national television and said, ‘the UK stands unequivocally with Israel.’ He lied. If everything so far has fallen on deaf ears, I am forced to use the last form of resistance available to me,” Greenwood stated.
Greenwood remains resolute, declaring that her protest will continue until her demands are met. She has recounted in various interviews experiencing exhaustion, accompanied by stomach pains, chest pains, body aches, and brain fog.
After contacting over thirty politicians regarding her hunger strike, MP Afzal Khan has been the only respondent.
