Brown University student group on day 6 of hunger strike, demanding school divest from pro-Israel businesses

A small group of Brown University students are on day six of a hunger strike in an effort to pressure their school to divest their endowment from pro-Israel corporations.  

The strike was organized by Brown’s Palestine Solidarity Caucus and Jews for Ceasefire Now ahead of the University Corporation’s meetings Thursday and Friday to vote on a resolution to divest from certain companies the strikers say are involved in the Israel-Hamas war.  

The group says this will be the longest-running hunger strike in support of a Gaza cease-fire since the start of the war, following a five-day strike some participated in outside the White House.

The hunger strike, which The Guardian reported involves 19 students, is meant to bring attention, the strikers say, to starvation that is happening to Palestinians from the war, pointing to data from the United Nations that says most of those in Gaza are eating less than one meal a day.

University leadership previously denied that the school’s endowment is going to harmful entities, saying the ethics around the endowment includes a “rejection of violence.” 

“Brown University’s endowment is almost entirely invested through external specialist investment managers, all with the highest level of ethics and all whom we believe share the values of the Brown community. This includes the rejection of violence,” Brown spokesman Brian Clark had said after dozens of students were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest in December.  

The Hill has reached out to the school for further comment.