On November 4, 2018 Cindy Sheehan took the baton from her
dear friend Pamela Bennett who had been fasting in solidarity with and to raise awareness for the starving people in Yemen: people who are being starved and killed by the US supported Saudi genocide in Yemen.
Listen to Cindy's podcast with Pamela the day before she broke her fast:
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Below are Cindy's intermittent videos during her hunger strike.
(Updated often)
11.11.18
DAY EIGHT
11.7.18
DAY FOUR
11.5.18
DAY TWO
11.3.18
CINDY ANNOUNCES HER HUNGER STRIKE
Cindy, I can't help thinking as I am now on the 2nd day of fasting since your fast began, that no matter how much we fast, and how much we push the limits of our bodies, we still have the ability to end our fasts at any time, something the Yemenis simply can't do. This is not to minimize what we do when we fast, but to point out a major difference. We are able to end our fast at any time, while those in Yemen, who feel the pain of hunger and then feel lightheaded when they don't have enough food, and then lose the ability to concentrate on even the simplest of tasks, can only scrounge around for leaves or twigs, something that they can chew and swallow, but that will give them very little by way of nutrition. This is the case in Yemen, at least in part, because the U.S. has troops on the ground at the Port of Hodeidah, helping the Saudis maintain their blockade at the port, blocking vital food supplies from entering the country. While the conditions of my fast are very different from the conditions of the Yemenis' famine, I fast because at least that way I know I'll understand just a little bit of the discomfort one feels when denied adequate nutrition. I also fast because I feel like we must sometimes move out of our comfort zone to show our opposition to a terrible injustice. I fasted in support of the Yemeni people about 5 times last year, too -- because I felt I needed to put my body on the line and I couldn't fly to Yemen and plant myself underneath the warplanes the U.S. was refueling. The anger I felt was so strong that I wanted to use my body as a human shield, but then reconsidered. From June 2018 until November 6th, 2018 I was the Green Party's candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey against Senator Bob Menendez, who as Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee could have done something about U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, weapons that were being used in Yemen. I remember how outraged I was when a bomb manufactured by Lockheed Martin was found by the bus of Yemeni school children, after having killed approximately 40, yes 40 school children. U.S. media covered this tragedy for about 3 or 4 days -- and then it was gone off our TV screens. Senator Menendez said nothing and did nothing. My campaign helped to generate close to 3000 phone calls from NJ residents opposed to the U.S. continuing to support Saudi Arabia in their "war" against Yemen. None of that made a difference. Now that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, is being discussed virtually non-stop, the spotlight is shining again on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and U.S. participation in the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen, but Donald Trump remains opposed to taking any punitive action against Saudi Arabia. Senator Menendez is a co-sponsor of a bill introduced last week that would "suspend arms sales" to Saudi Arabia, but when questioned about Bahrain, a country that is part of the Saudi-led coalition, Senator Menenedez said he wouldn't oppose selling weapons to Bahrain. WHAT KIND OF SINISTER GAME IS THIS? The U.S. should be working to STOP THE WAR, not participate in an arms sales merry-go-round!! This while given current conditions in Yemen perhaps 1 million Yemeni children will die from starvation even if they received massive food supplies and medical intervention right now. Perhaps 14 million people, half the population of Yemen, will die from starvation if this war and blockade of Hodeidah isn't ended immediately!! This was one of the main reasons I felt it was necessary to run against Senator Menendez and one of the main reasons I would not have voted for him had I not run against him. I hope that my actions and words will persuade increasingly larger numbers of people to become anti-imperialist and anti-war and LET OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS KNOW THAT WE WILL NO LONGER VOTE FOR ANY DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN WHO SUPPORTS THE FOREIGN POLICY AGENDA OF ENDLESS WARS AND REGIME CHANGE.
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