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UC Berkeley lecturer ‘exhausted but committed’ after four weeks of pro-Gaza ‘hunger strike’

Posted on September 27, 2025
By Dave Huber - Associate Editor
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UC Berkeley computer science/engineering lecturer Peyrin Kao; berkeleyeecs4palestine/Instagram

Key Takeaways

  • UC Berkeley lecturer Peyrin Kao has been on a hunger strike for four weeks, consuming only 250 calories a day, to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, stating his exhaustion is minor compared to their struggles.
  • Kao claims Palestinians have endured catastrophic conditions for over 700 days, while he has only faced a month of limited diet.
  • In his classes, Kao has made statements against Israeli actions, labeling them as oppression and genocide, and calling for university acknowledgment of Israel's actions against Palestinians.
  • The Students for Justice in Palestine support Kao's hunger strike, demanding recognition of Israel's occupation and its role in developing war technologies.

After four weeks of a 250-calorie-daily-limit “hunger strike,” UC Berkeley electrical engineering and computer science lecturer Peyrin Kao said he is “exhausted” but remains “committed” to the Palestinian cause.

According to a recent report by The Daily Californian, “simple tasks such as opening doors” leave Kao feeling weary, but he said his “exhaustion is minor” compared to what those in Gaza have to deal with.

Kao’s diet has consisted of simple pasta.

“I think what this shows is that, as exhausted as I’m feeling, it’s just a microcosm of what Palestinians in Gaza have had to feel, and I’ve only been going for 28 days,” Kao said. “Those folks have gone for 700 plus days on this kind of catastrophic diet.”

Kao’s course page for the semester reads “Apologies in advance if I’m in poor health during lectures. I’m currently undergoing a starvation diet in support of …” with a link to the Berkeley Electrical Engineering Computer Science 4 Palestine Instagram page.

Since the beginning of his protest, Kao said he’s had to “carefully ration his energy,” but added he is “fortunate” he can “rest and work from home.”

“There are stories of doctors in Gaza who are pulling these 24 hour shifts because of the catastrophic conditions of their hospitals, and the doctors themselves can’t stand up straight,” he said.

According to a Canary Mission report, a little over a month after Hamas’ deadly assault against Israel that ignited the current conflict, Kao told his computer science class that Israel has “been bombing hospitals. They’ve been bombing schools … They’ve been killing journalists, children, women.”

Kao also said Israel was maintaining an “open-air prison” in Gaza, and claimed the Palestinians have endured 75 years of “oppression,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “genocide.”

“My f**king tax dollars are being used to fund the bombing of children, hospitals, schools, universities, safe zones,” he added. Kao also brought in a member of the campus Students for Justice in Palestine who urged students “to join and support anti-Israel activities on campus.”

Kao had claimed his statements came after class, and no one was required to remain to hear them.

At the time his hunger strike started, the SJP noted Kao would continue until the university “acknowledge[s] Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,” and admits to its role “in the development of war technologies that have expanded Zionist cloud services,” among other things.

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