A young woman has been on a harrowing hunger strike for six days, but so far, her message doesn’t seem to be hitting the mark. Maya Ayooni is a young Palestinian who is in her third year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As an influencer who boasts two million followers on TikTok, she recently decided to use her platform to speak up against the killings in Palestine. She also went one step forward and embarked on a hunger strike to get a reaction from her university.
On the sixth day of her hunger strike, Ayooni posted a video on TikTok recorded on campus grounds, lamenting the lack of attention. She said that while UCLA hasn’t responded to her hunger strike, she has been made aware that the university knows about the strike and is monitoring it.
“UCLA claims to care deeply about the health and safety of its students, yet has failed to directly speak to me about my hunger strike,” Ayooni said. She added that most people are not aware of the extent to which UCLA and other universities across the country are involved in the “Palestinian genocide.”
The pro-Palestine activist made her case by saying that universities are run like for-profit businesses and hold “billions of dollars in investments and private equity funds.” According to her, this implies that people who run such institutions “directly profit from the slaughter of Palestinian children.”
To further build her case, Ayooni read from a white paper which stated that UCLA investments “indirectly hold $12.3 billion worth of publicly traded companies with documented ties to apartheid and genocide.” She added that out of the previously stated figure, $1.6 billion is from companies that manufacture weapons, and $8.7 billion is from IT companies with Israeli ties.
The third-year student pressed on, saying that although the figures may seem large, they’re probably just a fraction of how much money is being invested in Israel. Following her claims, she finally stated her purpose: “I am asking UCLA to hold a public meeting with me and other students to reopen the negotiations to stop investing in companies supporting the Palestinian genocide.”
Ayooni further pleaded with the university to protect documented and undocumented students who are facing backlash for legally protesting against the war.
While Ayooni believes her hunger strike is for a just cause, social media users think otherwise. One user commented, “In no way does this help Palestine. It’s all about craving attention and social media clout.” Another user remarked, “I get the passion and the cause– but I’m sorry, hunger strikes like this won’t yield any real results!”
One user commented that they had “no sympathy” for Ayooni, and another asked why UCLA would care about a hunger strike. Another user pointed out that the third-year student was visibly slimmer and encouraged her to eat something. The user argued that putting her health on the line to force a response is not a good idea.
Going by the information on Ayooni’s TikTok page, she is yet to receive a response from UCLA.
