Member of Louisville Coalition for a Ceasefire Begins Hunger Strike

Photo ActiveStills Archives: Gaza under attack, Khan Yunis, south Gaza Strip. Photographer: Mohammed Zaanoun 19 Nov 2023

​On Friday, December 1, when Israel resumed its bombing campaign in Gaza, Deanna Rushing began a hunger strike in protest and as part of the worldwide call for a permanent cease fire, negotiations, and humanitarian aid.

“When I learned the bombing had begun again, I had to take more drastic action,” states Rushing. “I made the decision to begin a hunger strike. I am in day 4 of not eating. It is imperative to demand an end to the horrific genocide being perpetrated with the financial and leadership directives my government makes in the name of my country, in my name. My state, Kentucky, contributes $9 million dollars per year, largely in military weapons, in support of the occupation that has led to the suffering.”

“We’ve been protesting for weeks and along with the majority of our country’s people and the people of the world we have been calling for an end to this genocide, but it has not stopped,” said Rushing “It must stop.”

Rushing is urging more members of the Louisville community to speak up and make a deeper commitment to ending the US-backed Israeli attack that has cost the lives of over 16,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.  This includes over 800 deaths since the bombing resumed.

She is asking people to contact their US representative for the first time, or again, if they have already called. She is asking people from Louisville to write to Joe Biden asking him to call for a permanent cease fire.

Rushing is part of the Louisville-based Coalition for a Cease Fire, and a member of Louisville Showing up for Racial Justice (LSURJ). She has been part of the protests for a cease fire since the US-supported assault on Gaza began.

To follow Deanna in this journey or to contact her, see her blog here.
​