A UCLA student who went on hunger strike to protest the college’s response to the conflict in Gaza has been hospitalized after going nine days without food. 

Maya Ayooni, a model and student at the California university, was seen in footage shared to social media being stretchered into an ambulance after ‘passing out’ during her demonstration. 

‘This is what happens when UCLA ignores their students,’ one of Ayooni’s friends says in the clip. ‘This is on you, UCLA.’ 

Ayooni began her hunger strike earlier this month to demand UCLA divests from all its links to Israel and supports pro-Palestine protests on campus. 

The model had been updating her 127,000 Instagram followers on her hunger strike daily, saying she was continuing despite receiving no response from UCLA. 

She said in one update on day five that she was subsisting on only water, coconut water and electrolytes, which she said had given her ‘perspective on what daily life is like in Gaza.’ 

‘But I’m choosing not to eat in strike, in protest, they’re being forced to go through this,’ she added.  

In an update video after her hospitalization, Ayooni admitted that UCLA has not taken her protest seriously and she hadn’t been contacted by the university. 

Maya Ayooni, a student at UCLA who went on hunger strike to protest the college's response to the conflict in Gaza has been hospitalized after going nine days without food

Maya Ayooni, a student at UCLA who went on hunger strike to protest the college’s response to the conflict in Gaza has been hospitalized after going nine days without food 

Ayooni, a model and student at the California university, was seen in footage shared to social media being stretchered into an ambulance after 'passing out' during her demonstration

Ayooni, a model and student at the California university, was seen in footage shared to social media being stretchered into an ambulance after ‘passing out’ during her demonstration 

Ayooni began her hunger strike earlier this month to demand UCLA divests from all its links to Israel and supports pro-Palestine protests on campus, and a friend said over the clip of her in the ambulance that 'this is what happens when UCLA ignores its students'

Ayooni began her hunger strike earlier this month to demand UCLA divests from all its links to Israel and supports pro-Palestine protests on campus, and a friend said over the clip of her in the ambulance that ‘this is what happens when UCLA ignores its students’ 

Ayooni explained her reasons for going on a hunger strike in one of her videos when it was ongoing, saying that she was aware that UCLA knew about the protest but was taking no action to end it. 

‘UCLA claims to care deeply about the health and safety of its students, but has failed to directly speak to me about my hunger strike,’ she said. 

‘Many people do not know just how involved UCLA and other universities are in the Palestinian genocide,’ she continued. 

‘Universities and institutions of learning are run like for-profit businesses. They hold billions of dollars in investments and private equity funds. 

‘This means the people who run this university directly profit from the slaughter of Palestinian children.’ 

Ayooni’s hunger strike came as other pro-Palestine students have also launched hunger strikes at colleges including Yale, Stanford and California State University. 

The student said in a video after her hospitalization that she was disappointed to see UCLA ignore her after other colleges responded to their respective hunger strikes. 

‘UCLA literally didn’t say anything, even as I was sat in the hospital,’ she said. 

‘I had a feeling UCLA would never respond, just because of the nature of the administration.’ 

Ayooni explained her reasons for going on a hunger strike in one of her videos when it was ongoing, saying that she was aware that UCLA knew about the protest but was taking no action to end it

Ayooni explained her reasons for going on a hunger strike in one of her videos when it was ongoing, saying that she was aware that UCLA knew about the protest but was taking no action to end it

In an update video after her hospitalization, Ayooni admitted that UCLA has not taken her protest seriously and she hadn't been contacted by the university, but said she 'doesn't consider it a failure' because it 'got media attention'

In an update video after her hospitalization, Ayooni admitted that UCLA has not taken her protest seriously and she hadn’t been contacted by the university, but said she ‘doesn’t consider it a failure’ because it ‘got media attention’ 

Ayooni said she ended her hunger strike after suffering her medical emergency, but insisted that even though she was ignored by the university she ‘doesn’t consider it a failure.’ 

‘It got media attention, and I think it did make UCLA feel uncomfortable,’ she said. ‘Putting pressure on them was my goal. 

‘I think this is just a step toward divestment.’  

UCLA’s silence to her protest may be due to pressure from the Trump administration after it threatened to pull funding from institutions that fail to crack down on anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses. 

Earlier this month, the White House slashed $400 million from Columbia University over its handling of protests last year. 

Officials said Columbia ‘abandoned (their) obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus.’ 

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio is directing the State Department to conduct a review of foreign students who express support for Hamas using a new process.

UCLA's silence to her protest may be due to pressure from the Trump administration after it threatened to pull funding from institutions that fail to crack down on anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses

UCLA’s silence to her protest may be due to pressure from the Trump administration after it threatened to pull funding from institutions that fail to crack down on anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses

The State Department is planning to review foreign student visa holders’ social media accounts with artificial intelligence (AI) to determine if these pupils have displayed sympathy for Hamas.

Officials from the department disclosed the new program to Axios, revealing that the ‘Catch and Revoke’ plan is hunting for students who have been supportive of the group following their October 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel. 

State Department officials also shared that they will soon review foreign student visa holders who were arrested though allowed to stay in the country.

This AI-enabled review will also look for clues in news articles about the protests which have been on and off for the past year and a half.

Already officials have reviewed 100,000 individuals in the Student Exchange Visitor System.

‘We found literally zero visa revocations during the Biden administration,’ one official previously said. 



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