Gazans herded into cages to receive food aid

                                                                                                 Photo credit: Middle East Eye

What will you say to your grandchildren when they ask, “What did you do, grandpa, during the genocide in Gaza?”

This is a question that UCC PIN Steering Committee member Don Christianson asks himself regularly. It's a question that many of us in the movement for Palestine ask ourselves. It is this question that inspired not just Don, but eight other members of the UCC PIN steering committee to join the Veterans for Peace Fast for Gaza campaign.

The Fast for Gaza began on Thursday, May 22, and will continue for 40 days, or until the two demands of the campaign are met. Those demands are 1) restoration of humanitarian aid into Gaza at the rate of at least 500 trucks a day under the supervision of the UN, and 2) suspend all military aid to Israel. Many of those who are fasting are committed to consuming only 250 calories a day-- an estimate of what the average person in Gaza is able to consume.

The urgency of this action cannot be overstated. Not only is the current aid delivery system completely inadequate, it's also deadly. Over 200 Palestinians have been killed trying to access aid since the Gaza Humanitarian Organization took over in May.

The GHF has only four distribution points (the UN, by comparison, had hundreds) which means that the people who need aid the most-- the injured, the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and children-- are least likely to get it because they are unable to travel the long distances required to get to the sites. Humanitarian aid agencies have also accused Israel of using GHF as a means for ethnic cleansing, forcing Palestinians in the north to travel south to get aid, after which they are prevented from returning to their homes.

Since Israel "lifted the siege" in May, several hundred trucks have made it into Gaza, but that is nowhere near the 500 trucks per day that are needed. Food is rotting and medicine is expiring in trucks sitting just across the border.

On top of all of this, the bombs continue to fall. The United States continues to supply the bombs that are now falling on an emaciated and sickly population. The official death toll is currently over 55,000, which is almost surely an undercount, and consists mostly of women and children. Gaza now has the distinction of the largest cohort of child amputees, not only in the world, but in modern history. Because of the lack of medical supplies, many of those amputations are being done with no anesthesia, even when performed on children.

Within the last week, the Gaza strip has experienced a complete collapse of digital infrastructure. Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq recently stated that "lifelines to emergency services, humanitarian coordination, and critical information for civilians have all been cut. There is a full internet blackout, and mobile networks are barely functioning.” Given the blackout and the fact that all eyes are now fixed on Iran, who knows what kinds of atrocities are being committed in the dark.

All of this is why we fast. We fast to be in solidarity with the people of Gaza. We fast to raise awareness about the conditions there, and we fast to encourage those around us to take action. You can either join the fast yourself-- there's still two weeks to participate-- or you can call your members of congress on our behalf. Let them know you too demand more pressure on the Israeli government to end the starvation, bombing, and genocide.

What will you tell your grandchildren about what you did during this genocide?

Are you satisfied with your answer? If not, consider joining us in this effort, or explore the many options for taking action throughout this newsletter. Now is not the time to give up, now is the time to press on, to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, with our eyes, as always, fixed on Jesus.

https://www.fosna.org/2025gazafast