On Monday, November 27, queer actor Cynthia Nixon joined more than a dozen US politicians and activists in undertaking a five-day hunger strike in Washington DC calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Every day from 9am until 7pm through to Friday, December 1, protestors will gather in front of the White House to call attention to the fact that in addition to the relentless bombing of civilian areas, many Palestinians are on the verge of starvation.

Nixon is using her platform to bring more attention to the strike and call for humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, the US government has denied that Israel is committing genocide and continues to supply the state with billions of dollars in military aid.

Speaking at a press conference outside the White House on Monday about the civilian casualties in Gaza, Nixon said, “Almost 15,000 Palestinian civilians, 70% of them children and women, have been killed in the last seven weeks. This is unprecedented. This is more people than were killed by the US and its allies in 20 years of war in Afghanistan.”

Today we begin a hunger strike in front of the White House demanding a permanent ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/BChpnSJX7z

— Sumaya Awad (@sumayaawad) November 27, 2023

Cynthia told tThe Cut about how her Jewish son’s activism inspired her, sharing, “He was doing everything he could in terms of protests, speeches, speaking in articles. He said to my wife and me point-blank, ‘You have a much bigger megaphone than I do. And I just implore you at this moment to do everything you can to bring attention to this.'”

She went on to talk about how being the grandson of Holocaust survivors has impacted him. She said, “As a Jew, he feels he has a particular obligation to make sure this doesn’t happen again to another group of people…for him, having antisemitism thrown about like a political football for warmongers is particularly upsetting. I couldn’t agree more.”

Cynthia Nixon’s participation in the hunger strike is particularly significant since several Hollywood actors have been punished for supporting Palestine. After speaking at a pro-Palestine protest, bisexual actor Susan Sarandon was dropped by the United Talent Agency, and actor Melissa Barrera was fired from the Scream film franchise because of her pro-Palestine social media posts.

“We have 15,000 civilians killed in 7 wks, 70% whom our children & women. That’s more civilians than were killed in 20 yrs of war in Afghanistan”@CynthiaNixon joins hunger strike of activists at White House to demand ceasefire #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/1btB1kVT3L

— #StopCopCity (@ChuckModi1) November 27, 2023

In addition to participating in the hunger strike, Cynthia was one of over 260 artists who signed an open letter to President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire.

While many US politicians are unwilling to take a stand for Gaza, five state lawmakers taking part in the hunger strike include Virginia Rep. Sam Rasoul, Delaware State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, New York Rep. Zohran Mamdani, Oklahoma Rep. Mauree Turner, and Michigan Rep. Abraham Aiyash.

Participating activist groups include Jewish Voice For Peace, the Campaign for Palestinian Rights, If Not Now, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Adalah Justice Project, Dream Defenders, the Institute for Middle East Understanding and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Locally, protests continue in Ireland, Europe, and the UK. In London, a group of LGBTQ+ activists called The Dyke Project hijacked tube and bus advertisement boards to share messages and stories from queer Palestinians.