German climate activists enter ‘dry’ hunger strike

Two German activists from the youth climate movement began refusing liquids on Saturday after German lawmakers declined to meet with them.

The 21-year-old Henning Jeschke had been part of a group that began a hunger strike on August 30 close to Berlin’s Reichstag building. The 24-year-old Lea Bonasera joined the group on Monday.

They had demanded a public meeting with the three main chancellor candidates ahead of Sunday’s election — Olaf Scholz from the center-left SPD, Armin Laschet from the conservative CDU, and Annalena Baerbock from the Greens.

Most participants broke off their strike on Thursday after none of the three politicians agreed to meet them. The two remaining activists said they would continue their thirst strike until Scholz agreed to call a climate emergency.

How dangerous is the thirst strike?

The refusal to drink any liquids puts the pair in a dangerous situation. Without water, the body can suffer serious health consequences and eventually death within just a few days. The activists are in a more critical condition as their ongoing hunger strike has weakened them.

The so-called “team dry hunger strike” shared a message to Olaf Scholz on social media, claiming that the center-left candidate is “not able to rule the country if he cannot accept the scientific reality. The fact [is] that we are in an absolute climate emergency!”

The duo said they were addressing Scholz as they believed he was the mostly likely candidate to become Germany’s next chancellor.

Climate movement not radicalizing

“We’re in a climate crisis and have to take the necessary steps to prevent a catastrophe,” Bonasera said. Jeschke added that as the world’s fourth-largest industrial nation, Germany has a special responsibility to deal with the climate.

Supporters said that the two were under medical observation.

Moritz Sommer, chairman of the Berlin-based Institute for Protest and Movement Research, told German newspaper Tagesspiegel that the climate movement was not showing signs of radicalizing, unlike the growing movement of conspiracy theorists.

“A hunger strike is a very radical method, that large parts of the climate movement view critically,” he said.

ab/rt (dpa, EPD)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/german-climate-activists-enter-dry-hunger-strike/a-59308889?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom