McGill Students Hunger Strike Indefinitely for Gaza for Over a Month

McGill students have been taking part in a hunger strike to protest against Israel’s war in Gaza and demand for McGill to divest from their ties with Israel and boycott companies affiliated with Israel.

McGill has invested at least $7 million in companies that manufacture arms and technology for the Israeli military. 

These investments uphold apartheid in Palestine, including their investment in Safran which supplies biometric technology to conduct surveillance in the West Bank. McGill also invests in BAE Systems which produces parts for F-35 fighter jets and Lockheed Martin – which provides the Israeli military with F-35 fighter jets, the Hellfire 9X Missile, and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System.

These activists have shown up to host a sit-in outside of the James Administration building on McGill campus to spread awareness and pressure McGill to meet their demands.

Activists say they have been in contact with McGill and have asked for an open-door meeting and a 1-week notice ahead of a planned meeting. However, they say McGill has only offered a closed-door meeting with 48 hours' notice. 

They say this does not meet their demands and will not meet McGill unless they agree to their conditions for a meeting.

In response to a request for comment to McGill’s media relations team, an unnamed communications officer said McGill respects “students’ rights to pursue political objectives and express political convictions. Our priority remains the health and well-being of the students participating in the hunger strike. We offered to meet directly with those students at the earliest possible date, but that offer was refused.” 

They added that the McGill administration understands this is an incredibly difficult time and continues to work daily on this issue, “to ensure that the health and safety of students remains at the forefront of our efforts.”

There is currently no meeting set up between the hunger strikers and McGill for the university to hear their demands.