{"id":258445,"date":"2024-04-01T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=258445"},"modified":"2024-04-01T08:44:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T07:44:47","slug":"active-duty-air-force-airman-on-white-house-hunger-strike-for-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/04\/active-duty-air-force-airman-on-white-house-hunger-strike-for-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Active-Duty Air Force Airman on White House Hunger Strike for Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Ann Wright<\/p><\/div>\n

31 Mar 2024<\/em> – On Easter Sunday, 31\u00a0 Mar 2024 at the White House, active-duty Air Force Senior Airman Larry Hebert began a hunger strike to highlight the plight of the starving children of Gaza.<\/p>\n

He will be at the White House on Monday, April 1, 2024, for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll to remind parents and their children that while they are playing with Easter eggs on the White House lawn, children all over Gaza need eggs to stave off starvation.<\/p>\n

Hebert will be at the White House all next week, April 1-7.\u00a0 Beginning Monday, April 8, when Congress returns from recess, he will be outside the houses of the U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n

In mid-March, Senior Airman Larry Hebert, age 26, from rural New Hampshire and a member of Veterans For Peace, took authorized leave from his assignment at Naval Station Rota, Spain to participate in demonstrations demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to visit Congressional offices to press for stopping weapons shipments to Israel, which violate several U.S. laws.<\/p>\n

Hebert said, \u201cI was deeply touched when I saw that Aaron Bushnell took his own life at the Israeli Embassy for the people of Gaza and knew that I had to raise my voice in opposition to the U.S. government supplying Israel the bombs and rockets to commit genocide in Gaza. Active-duty members are afraid to speak out and I hope that my example and that of others, like Aaron, can change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With six years in the Air Force, Hebert joins many hundreds of current and retired military and civilian government officials urging U.S. leaders to stop fueling Israel\u2019s war\u00a0that has killed well over 32,000 Palestinians, most of whom are children.\u00a0 Starvation and disease are rapidly becoming as deadly as the war itself in the area Israel has bombed to rubble.<\/p>\n

Following is a summary of the laws currently being violated by the U.S. State Department and other officials every time weapons shipments to Israel are authorized.\u00a0 This summary is included in\u00a0a letter Veterans For Peace sent to the State Dept. Inspector-General<\/a>\u00a0Feb. 12.<\/p>\n