Hunger Strike

A hunger strike is a form of protest, chiefly by prison inmates. In it, a prisoner, or a group of prisoners, deliberately starve themselves. In theory, their deaths by starvation would embarrass the wardens, the guards, and their bosses. They would also inflame the people they purport to represent. A hunger strike can also be a passive form of suicide.

Hunger strikes have figured prominently in Western literature. The title character of The Count of Monte-Cristo went on hunger strike when he realized his appeals had come to nothing.

During "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, several Irish Republican Army members died on hunger strike.

More recently, a notorious Palestinian terrorist named Marwan Barghouti called for a hunger strike among his fellow terrorists. But in fact the last time he went on hunger strike, he cheated by eating when he thought no one would be looking. Video footage captured his cheats, however.^[1]

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