Sex In The City actress begins hunger strike over Gaza
Pressure internationally from a number of EU countries and most Arab states for Joe Biden to be more bold and enforce a permanent ceasefire in Gaza has been building up for a number of days. But it’s in the US where film stars have been publicly lobbying the president to stop the war which is probably having the most impact, given that in recent days he has changed his views entirely about Gaza and is calling for the war with Hamas to end.
Just recently it was Sex In the City actress, Cynthia Nixon, who joined left-wing activists in their hunger strike outside of the White House, urging Joe Biden to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, according to The Guardian.
Activists came together on Nov. 27th, to express their strong disapproval of Joe Biden’s role in permitting the bombing and loss of civilian lives in Gaza. This strike coincides with reports about the growing discord inside the Biden administration regarding his endorsement of Israel’s offensive with deaths surpassing 15,000 individuals, with nearly half of them being children.
READ: Lawsuit filed against Biden administration over Gaza stance
In her speech, Nixon made a personal appeal to Biden, stating, “I want to earnestly request a connection from a president who has faced profound personal tragedies. I urge him to tap into the empathy he has acknowledged, to envision the children of Gaza as if they were his own. We plead with him to ensure the ongoing ceasefire persists.”
As a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Nixon introduced herself as “the mother of Jewish children with grandparents who are Holocaust survivors.” She additionally drew attention to the rising death toll among Palestinians, drawing parallels to the casualties in Afghanistan over the 20-year U.S. military mission.
Nixon remarked, “I’m sick and tired of people explaining this away by saying that civilian casualties are a routine toll of war. There is nothing routine about these figures. There is nothing routine about these deaths.”
Subsequently, she stated that should the bombing persist, there would be no Palestinian homes standing by Christmas Eve.
She posed a direct question, asking whether, in the event of a terrorist cell in Maryland, comparable extensive measures akin to those witnessed in Gaza would be taken. Would there be a resort to bombing civilians simply because terrorists might be hiding in a residential area?
She said, “ It doesn’t make sense”, referring to the prevailing message that Palestinian lives are deemed less valuable. Yet, she emphasized that if you replace them with other nationalities like British or American, the ongoing bombardment would be seen as absurd.
The five-day fast aligned with the conclusion of the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel. During this period, Hamas released 110 hostages out of 240, as reported by The Washington Post. In parallel, Israel released 150 Palestinian prisoners, including 117 children and 33 women, according to Al Jazeera. Additionally, the truce was extended by an extra two days following negotiations facilitated by Egypt and Qatar.
The Guardian
