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Participants in the People’s Hunger Strike for Gaza called on Massachusetts senators to introduce anti-bomb legislation.
Hunger strikers and protesters gathered Wednesday outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in support of the People’s Hunger Strike for Gaza.
The coalition prepared to deliver 1,000 letters from Massachusetts taxpayers to Sen. Ed Markey and Sen. Elizabeth Warren calling on them to introduce a version of the House of Representatives’ Block the Bombs Act — which would limit the sale of weapons to Israel — into the U.S. Senate. Though Markey and Warren were not present, the protesters were joined by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who gave a speech in support of the legislation.
“What brings me to this movement is that I’m a woman of faith, I’m drawn to this movement as a mother, and I’m drawn to this movement as a U.S. lawmaker who is very clear about the role that we’re playing in this,” Pressley said to the press after her speech. “We have to speak out vigorously in condemnation of the Israeli government.”
Pressley previously led more than 100 representatives in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to demand a surge of infant formula and other humanitarian aid into Gaza. The effort followed an official United Nations declaration of famine in Gaza.
“Every parent here knows the pain of a hungry baby’s cry,” Pressley said in her speech. “Now imagine that basic instinct to feed and protect your child being blocked by military blockade. Imagine fumbling for a bottle and finding nothing to give, watching your baby grow weaker, knowing the suffering is not from illness or accident but from preventable political barriers.”
The event was led by Dr. Miriam Komaromy, a physician at Boston Medical Center who initiated the People’s Hunger Strike, and Dr. Lara Jirmanus, a family physician and founder of the Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity.
Several hunger strikers, physicians, and pro-Palestine activists also spoke, including Sam Stein, a Jewish activist and Cambridge resident who spent six years engaging in “protective presence” activism in Palestinian territory. Stein, who had participated in the hunger strike for several days, expressed faith that Markey and Warren would respond positively to the coalition’s action.
“It’s not a lofty goal to get them on board with this bill,” Stein told Boston.com. “They’ve both spoken out against what’s happening. They’ve both even called, in so many words, for limiting military aid, so they just need to put their pen where their mouth is.”
At Wednesday’s event, Stein wore a keffiyeh — a traditional Middle Eastern headdress — given to him by a friend and a farwa — a type of Bedouin coat — he bought with him while in the West Bank for his activism. In August, that same friend was killed in the ongoing war.
“Something that I said at a vigil that we had for him is that the bare minimum he deserves is that the history books say that his martyrdom led to the end of the occupation,” Stein told Boston.com. “To me, to wear this keffiyeh that he got for me and wear this farwa that he came with me to buy is my channeling of that.”
Adnaan Stumo, a Sheffield resident sailing aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla with humanitarian aid for Gaza, spoke at the rally by phone. Stumo said he appreciated what Markey and Warren have done so far but asserted that it was not enough, calling for more drastic action.
“Some of the initiatives that they’ve supported, we appreciate those as baby steps, but the real work is in mobilizing, not just working through the bureaucratic Byzantine rules of the Senate and of Congress, but actually taking the power of the people who voted for them and bringing that to Washington,” Stumo told Boston.com.
Since the rally, Stumo and his brother Torleif, along with hundreds of other flotilla volunteers, have been detained by the Israel Defense Forces for their participation.
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