Sign in Subscribe
Palestinian Arabs

UC Berkeley Lecturer Goes on Indefinite Hunger Strike in Support of Palestinians in Gaza

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Peyrin Kao, a lecturer in the University of California, Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department, has declared an indefinite hunger strike to protest the war on Gaza and the use of tech in Israel's genocide. Kao's strike is aimed at drawing attention to the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, with the lecturer consuming only 250 calories a day, the average amount available to Palestinians. This diet has consisted solely of plain pasta, causing Kao to experience fatigue, which he claims is "nothing" compared to the conditions faced by Palestinians. Kao's demands include campus acknowledgment of Israel's occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians, as well as ownership over UC Berkeley's role in creating technologies contributing to the war.

Key Takeaways:

  • Peyrin Kao, a UC Berkeley EECS lecturer, has gone on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the war on Gaza and the use of tech in Israel's genocide.
  • Kao consumes only 250 calories a day, the average amount available to Palestinians in Gaza, as reported by Oxfam in April 2024.
  • The diet has solely consisted of plain pasta, causing Kao to experience fatigue, which is nothing compared to the conditions faced by Palestinians.
  • Kao demands campus acknowledgment of Israel's occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
  • UC Berkeley EECS faculty and students organized a joint statement in support of Kao's strike, citing the use of high-tech weaponry against Palestinians.
  • Brooke Lober, a lecturer in the Gender and Women's Studies department, has joined Kao in a one-day solidarity strike.
  • UC Berkeley Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine, and EECS for Palestine are hosting a panel to discuss the strike and its implications.
  • The incident is not the first occasion where Kao has spoken out in support of Palestine, with the lecture in Computer Science 61B in the fall of 2023 resulting in campus administrators asking him to refrain from discussing the genocide in the classroom.

Statistics:

  • 250 calories: The daily intake consumed by Peyrin Kao, the lecturer on hunger strike.
  • April 2024: The month in which Oxfam reported that 250 calories is the average amount of nourishment available to Palestinians in Gaza.
  • 1-day: The duration of Brooke Lober's solidarity strike with Peyrin Kao.
  • Fall 2023: The term in which Peyrin Kao ended his last Computer Science 61B lecture with a statement of solidarity with Palestine.

Sources:

  • Joint statement authored by UC Berkeley Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine, and EECS for Palestine
  • Email from Peyrin Kao to students
  • Email from Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley campus spokesperson
  • Report by Oxfam, April 2024 (exact date not specified)

Read more