Fasting for Gaza
Have you ever held a mother grieving the sudden loss of her child?
Have you held her, tightly, almost by your fingernails, as her body spasms, as she wails and sobs?
As she falls to her knees, moaning, unable to speak?
I have.
So has my friend who works in an ER.
Last week, my friend was describing another terrible moment: the slow-motion-instant that the deceased body of her coworker’s beloved child was rushed into the ER after an accident.
My friend and I talked about how unimaginable her colleague’s pain and grief must be: to lose a child - and so suddenly.
To have that happen at work.
To know from now on your workplace - where you try to help people - is inextricably tied to your own immeasurable loss.
There are no words.
We kind of sat there quietly for a minute, just imagining the horror. The despair.
Nine of her ten children were taken from her by an airstrike of the Israeli military, subsidized and supported by the U.S. — our tax dollars, our government, our representatives.
Nine of her ten children’s lives snatched. Bodies burnt beyond recognition. In one instant.
I cannot, I cannot imagine living through this utter devastation.
How do you go on?
Adding to the nightmare, Dr. Alaa al-Najjar’s husband, Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, was also rushed to the ER, seriously injured by the bomb.
From The Guardian:
Ali al-Najjar, 50, the older brother of Hamdi, Alaa’s husband, said: “When I heard the house was bombed, I instinctively rushed to my car and headed to the place as I knew my brother and his children were inside. When I arrived, I was shocked. I found my nephew Adam, who survived, lying on the road under the rubble. He was covered in soot, his clothes were almost torn, but his soul was still inside him. My brother was lying on the other side, bleeding heavily from his head and chest, and his arm was cut off. He was still breathing with difficulty.”
Ali called the medical team and took the two survivors to the hospital. Then he began searching for his nine missing nieces and nephews.
“The house was very difficult to clear because the ceiling was stacked on top of itself. I started searching around the house hoping to find any of the children because I assumed the bombing might have thrown them outside the house,” he said. “But then, sadly, the first burnt body appeared. After completely putting out the fire, we found the rest of them – some were mutilated and all were burnt.”
Alaa al-Najjar rushed to the site of the explosion as rescuers pulled the body of her daughter Revan from the rubble. In tears, she begged the rescuers to let her hold her one last time.
“Her [Revan’s] body was completely burnt from the upper part, nothing remained of her skin or flesh,” Ali said. “There are still two bodies of my brother’s children we could not find: the oldest, 12-year-old boy, Yahya, and the six-month-old girl, Sayden.”
Najjar returned to the hospital to check on her son Adam, 11, and her husband. Sources at the Nasser hospital who transferred the children’s bodies one by one to the morgue said their mother was not able to identify them, so bad were the burns.
My God.
Can you imagine?
The beloved children who died — their names were Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra. Adam and Hamdi are still in the hospital.
I know you know they are fully human.
But I also know what it’s like to live in the U.S. or other “Western” countries, in ecosystems of constant threat against and gaslighting of people who call for an end to this “war.”
Our government/s and mainstream media want us to think that protesting the genocide of Gazans automatically makes you antisemitic (it doesn’t) -AND- that opposing this genocide somehow, magically, with no proof whatsoever, means you are part of a mysterious support network for Hamas (it doesn’t).
I shouldn’t have to say it, but for the record: none of this is true.
The lies and gaslighting and the all-too-real threat to people who oppose genocide is a concerted, deliberate effort. You can read about it here: it’s called “Project Esther.”
It’s brought to you by the guys who brought us Project 2025.
And it’s working. It’s scary to speak the truth.
And that’s why it is imperative, absolutely necessary, for everyone and anyone who opposes this genocide in Gaza to say so, to keep saying so, to stand in solidarity with each other, with Jewish brethren who dare to disrupt the narrative, with brethren in Gaza.
Together we must say, loudly and clearly: we love our brethren, all of our brethren all over the globe, and this “war” must end now.
Gazans are being starved.
Imagine that in addition to all of these inconceivable losses, you are hungry.
Your children are hungry.
Imagine you are in absolute shock over the sudden deaths of your tender, beloved children AND you do not know if you will have enough to feed the rest of your family tonight, tomorrow, next week.
Imagine you have been going hungry so your children can eat.
Imagine you are the kind of hungry where your stomach contracts and folds over on itself but you are somehow, by the grace of God, managing to pump breast milk for your sweet baby girl child to feed from bottles while you are at work. (Like Dr. al-Najjar did right before her shift at the ER.)
The hunger in Gaza is catastrophic.
For nearly three months, the government of Israel — with the full support of the United States — has blocked all food, water, medicine, and humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, even as it continues to drops bombs.
Take it from the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC):
Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis. The Israeli military has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced more than 90% of the population. Israel also continues to impose restrictions on aid, leading to the starvation of the entire population. The International Court of Justice says Israel’s actions constitute genocide.
AFSC has responded to this crisis both through humanitarian aid and advocacy for justice and peace. We mourn all who have been killed and call for the release of the Israeli hostages and the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli military detention. We are advocating for an embargo on U.S. arms to Israel and a permanent ceasefire.
How is starvation in line with the Israeli government’s claims that this “war,” this ethnic cleansing, is somehow “self-defense”?
My family and I are fasting today, along with hundreds of folks in AFSC, as a small symbolic act to raise awareness of the increasing threat of famine in Gaza.
Today, Wednesday, May 28, is World Hunger Day.
Some context about starvation in Gaza, from the World Health Organization:
People in Gaza starving, sick and dying as aid blockade continues
12 May 2025
“‘We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border,’ said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. ‘Today’s report shows that without immediate access to food and essential supplies, the situation will continue to deteriorate, causing more deaths and descent into famine.’
“Famine has not yet been declared, but people are starving now. Three quarters of Gaza’s population are at ‘Emergency’ or ‘Catastrophic’ food deprivation, the worst two levels of IPC's five level scale of food insecurity and nutritional deprivation.
“Since the aid blockade began on 2 March 2025, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health. This number is likely an underestimate and is likely to increase. If the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next eleven months, according to the IPC report.”
So. We are fasting.
Fasting seems a small thing, insignificant.
The three of us feel led to fast even so. It’s not much, but it’s something.
Me, I’m a Hobbit who eats throughout the day. Which means right now I’m hungry and getting real cranky and yet —
I know that this is nothing, absolutely nothing in comparison to the devastation folks are living — and dying — through in Gaza.
If you are despairing and wondering what you can do, I hear you. It can feel quite hopeless to change anything and scary to speak out.
Some suggestions:
It’s good to learn about Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Opposing genocide does not make you antisemitic. For additional American perspectives, I suggest Ta-Nehesi Coates’ recent book and interviews about changing his mind about Israel and Palestine. I also suggest the film Israelism, (free on Youtube).
It’s good to learn from and lift up Palestinian voices. Some suggestions from AFSC:
Read “Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire.” This anthology features work by 12 Palestinian writers imagining the future of Gaza beyond the cruelties of occupation and apartheid. You can also listen to online conversations with “Light in Gaza” contributors and organize a group in your community to read the book. You can use [AFSC’s] study guide to help facilitate discussions.
Yousef Aljamal’s [a member of AFSC staff] articles on Palestinians’ deep connection to the land in Gaza, on farmers and food sovereignty, and facing genocide while disabled in Gaza.
Article by Serena on how she is experiencing the genocide in Gaza.
Watch a documentary “Lifelines: Aid Workers in Gaza” that follows the work of AFSC staff in Gaza in the fall of 2024.
Seek out news from outlets with [surviving] Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza including the Electronic Intifada, Middle East Eye, Mondoweiss, and Al Jazeera.
If you have money to share:
Consider donating directly to families in Gaza through GoFundMe or through Chuffed.org (out of Australia) or other mutual aid appeals. These aren’t guaranteed or stamped with “nonprofit” status, but your dollars go directly to people in need.
You can also donate to American Friends Service Committee’s Emergency Relief in Gaza and/or the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)’s Emergency Response to Genocide in Gaza.
There’s a lot at stake and the stakes are high.
I get it.
But/and here’s a saying about solidarity I just made up:
The more, the merrier,
The more, the less scarier.
Apply this silly-but-true saying as needed. Repeat as necessary.
XOXO