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Veterans Launch 40-Day Fast to Protest Israel’s Starvation of Gaza

“Having seen what war does … I simply have to do more than hold a sign at a demonstration,” said one veteran organizer.

By Marjorie Cohn , Truthout, May 29, 2025, https://truthout.org/articles/veterans-launch-40-day-fast-to-protest-israels-starvation-of-gaza/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=37d6f110cb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_05_29_08_34&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbb541a1db-37d6f110cb-650192793continues to rise and more than a half a million people in Gaza are on the brink of famine, U.S.-based Veterans For Peace and several allied organizations have launched a 40-day “Fast for Gaza.”

From May 22 to June 30, 600 people in the U.S. and abroad are fasting and demanding full humanitarian aid to Gaza under UN authority and an end to U.S. weapons shipments to Israel.

Mary Kelly Gardner, a teacher from Santa Cruz, California, told Truthout she joined the fast in memory of her late father, a service member in Vietnam who “staunchly opposed U.S. militarism.” He opposed “the so-called ‘war on terror’ and ongoing U.S. violence against Middle Eastern countries,” she said. Gardner is limiting herself to 250 calories for the first 10 days of the fast. “Then I will switch to fasting during daylight (as Muslims observing Ramadan do).”

Palestinians in Gaza are being forced to survive on 245 calories per day; 250 calories daily is considered a starvation diet, as the body breaks down muscle and other tissues. Prolonged fasting can cause dehydration, heart problems, kidney failure and even death.

Gardner is distressed because her “tax dollars are being used to fund this horrific violence” (which, she noted, constitutes genocide) “in the form of weapons shipments.”She feels the need to speak out. Gardner said her goals are to “get people’s attention with a meaningful action” and “engage in a practice that challenges me to be more personally present with the human suffering taking place in Gaza.” She is “intentionally causing myself some discomfort and inconvenience,” yet “not harming myself.”

June 1, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Events