PFFG Toolkit

Parents Solidarity Fast 4 Gaza

PASS THE FAST & LET GAZA EAT!

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@ParentsFast4Gaza

ParentsFast4Gaza@gmail.com 

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About The Organizers:

We are a decentralized group of parents of all backgrounds and faiths, united by the unshakeable belief that no child should die hungry under genocide. This is a moral protest rooted in grief and parental outrage.

We have been organizing to stop the genocide in Gaza since 2023. You can connect with us via Instagram at our @parentsfast4gaza account or find us by city:

How It Works:

Our Parents Solidarity Fast for Gaza is a collaborative relay starting August 10th, where each participating team sustains a week-long fast paired with action and supporting media in order to call attention to the forced starvation in Gaza. You are invited to join in a way that aligns with your health and capacity.

Sign-up here by joining a team, or by creating a team:

• Option A: Join a team of parent organizers in your city for a week of fasting and coordinated action.
• Option B: Make a team by organizing your folks, emailing us at: parentsfast4gaza@gmail.com with your team name, week, and team captain info. We’ll confirm when you’re set to register.
• Option C: You can also sign up as an individual by joining our Community Team on week 10, October 12th!

Ways to Fast:

• Level 1 -  Luxury fast: Cut out luxury foods like coffee, alcohol, meat or animal products, sweets, and skip dining out
• Level 2 - Daylight fast: fast from sun-up to sun-down
• Level 3 -  250 calories diet
• Level 4 - Water-only fast

Consider any health conditions before deciding to fast and consult with a medical provider for professional advice. Please take care of yourself. We need you safe and healthy in this fight.

Each individual on the team will fast between one day up to a week. If you can only fast for one day, "pass" the fast to someone else on your team for the remaining days.

The goal is to sustain the fast as a team for one week, before passing the fast to another team. This can be done with all team members fasting the entire week, or team members selecting days. Each day of the week, someone on your team should be actively fasting.

Team Captains:

Team captains are in charge of leading their fasting week. If you want to get plugged into local actions or connect with other community members fasting, reach out to the contacts below.

If you’d like to name a captain for your team that can connect with individual fasters from your community to the larger organizing group, please email parentsfast4gaza@gmail.com with the information below. Please be aware this document is public.

Actions:

Overview:

The overall goal of the Parents Fast is to sound the alarm for the forced mass starvation happening in Gaza. We are leveraging our identities as parents and caregivers collectively for this fast. Each participating team will "recruit" and "pressure" people, corporations and institutions to amplify our demands. If you join a team, the parents leading your team will be organizing an action in relation to the chosen target(s). Fasting and actions will be rolling and occur indefinitely.

1. Recruit: Leverage our fast to bring people in! Select people in your community to recruit to our movement. Share that you are fasting and explain why. Ask them to join the fast.
2. Pressure: Leverage our fast to call people out! Select a target – a person, organization, or company in your community that is a stakeholder in the occupation and has power to end the blockade and stop arming Israel, or stop funding the genocide – and design an action to pressure them. Use our fast to amplify our demands. Use the action to amplify the fast.

Our Campaign Demands*:

1. Immediate, unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza
2. Immediate arms embargo on Israel
3. An immediate end to the genocide.

We say this clearly: it is not sufficient to feed Palestinians while killing them. The genocide must end!

*Note: Depending on who your targets are, you might have additional, specific, local demands. For example, if your target is a local elected official who has not yet signed on to H.R.3565, the Block the Bombs Act, your demand may be that they do so immediately. If your target is a local grocer, your demand might be that they stop carrying Israeli goods. Etc.

Recruit Targets:

These are some recommendations for whom to consider targeting for recruitment before or during your city’s week of action:

• Parents and caregivers who have not joined the movement yet! Use your group's action to galvanize and organize your community, school, and parent groups, especially folks who are moved to act but not sure where to begin.
• Parents and caregivers who are local media figures, and social media influencers, etc., who have spoken up but haven't joined our coalition.
• Local elected officials who have spoken up for Palestine and may be able to bring more attention to our campaign.
• Your neighbors! Use this opportunity to get to know your hyperlocal community and build connection.

Pressure Targets:

These are some recommendations for whom to consider targeting during your city’s week of action:

• Federal and local elected officials, who have immediate power to vote NO to arming Israel. See here the list of US Senators and how they voted on this issue in July 2025.
• State and local elected officials. These calls could be tied to their voting record on Palestine advocacy issues in your state, local food security initiatives, etc.
• Parents who are local media figures, and social media influencers, etc., who have remained silent and taken no stand on Palestine, or who continue to uphold the oppressor's narrative.
• Local businesses that continue to sell Israeli goods. Look to see if there is already a campaign to target local businesses in your community, and amplify that effort!
• Institutions and corporations like Boeing, Apple and Microsoft, that have not spoken out against the genocide or that are directly complicit.  Again, check to see if there is already a boycott or picket campaign underway in your community, and join forces with those organizers. Build a coalition of parents and other affinity groups to pressure the corporation that is operating in your community.

More information: Guide to BDS Boycott & Pressure Corporate Priority Targeting: https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott

Action Ideas:

Below are some examples of action ideas that could meet our goal of sounding the alarm on the forced starvation of Gaza – and be used to recruit or pressure targets. Consider organizing multiple types of actions during your fast week that could take on smaller or bigger planning levels/time commitments. For example:

• Organize parents in your community to call your congress person during the week of your participation. Prepare a script that is specific to the demands of our Parents Solidarity Fast.
• Invite families to write and deliver letters to elected targets.
• Hold a press conference and kids pots-and-pans rally in front of a local elected’s office.
• Make small baggies of raw lentils and rice equating to 250 calories, and deliver to your neighbors with your kids with a small writeup explaining our campaign and demands.
• Organize an art build for families to create art to raise awareness about the genocide and forced starvation. Use the art at a rally, meet up, march, or as window signs.
• Invite a local elected and media to a banquet, picnic, or food-centered event. When the meal is served, the trays are empty.
• Table outside grocers and businesses that are selling Israeli goods.
• Organize a park meetup for interested parents to meet each other and discuss further acts of solidarity.
• Create a fundraiser for groups providing direct support to people in Gaza or doing local or national organizing in support of Palestine
• Organize a creative direct action that offers a powerful visual; parents pushing empty strollers with signs describing what is happening in Gaza, banners that make clear a company's complicity with genocide, a "parent picket" outside of a business that will not denounce the genocide or break ties with companies complicit with genocide.
• Social media actions that include children's and parents' voices about why they care about children and families in Gaza and why the genocide is wrong.
• More Information: Seeds for Change: "Action Planning" - https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/actionplanning

Resource: Brooklyn Families for Palestine Action Planning Vision Doc Template

NOTE: Please choose an action in accordance with your group's experience level and your group's timeline. We each have our individual threads to pull in bringing down the fabric of oppression, and our own threads to weave a new future for our children. Identify what your threads are as a group and create an action that feels resonant and relevant to those threads.

Safety/Risk Assessment:

Ensure that any action you organize includes a robust safety team, including a safety lead who can coordinate and share your safety plan widely. Consider:

• What can organizers do to stay safe during this action?
• What risk assessments need to be considered?
• In addition to identifying a safety lead, designate a de-escalation team for the action, and provide de-escalation resources in advance.
• How do we keep kids safe during this action?
• If kids are present and participating, what needs to be there or happen so their needs are met while also enjoying themselves?
• Also consider risks of doxxing, covid considerations, ICE/law enforcement presence, etc.

Sometimes, especially with "family-friendly" actions, it can seem like less security is needed due to the nature of these events, however, the opposite is true. It is our responsibility to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable community members as best we can. Remember that even without the presence of police, counter-protestors, or agitators, having a dedicated safety team and extra support people to watch for children who may run into the street or get lost can be very helpful. If people in your network don't have experience doing security, consider connecting with another local organization that does and can help support you, or choose a low-risk action. In the longer term, consider putting on training beforehand so that your network can gain these important skills. We keep us safe!

More Information:

Ruckus Society: "Security Culture for Activists" - https://ruckus.org/training-manuals/security-tips-resources/

Safety and De-escalation Training Document

Messaging/PR:

Each city in encouraged to have a PR team, and to coordinate the following roles amongst their core group for effective messaging and publicizing of their fast week:

• Spokespeople/media contact (this could be for the whole week, or per action, if there are multiple in-person actions)
• Social media posters
• Live-tweeters/streamers for events
• Photographer(s)
• Videographer(s), including to edit footage for posting
• Op-ed and material writers

Note: We encourage you to be explicit about consent, particularly if your actions involve minors and children and heavily-surveilled populations. Do not post or share images of individuals without their permission.

Partners:

We want our campaign to grow wide and wise. As you action plan, consider whom you might call on to partner with you and whom you can learn from. What other local groups are organizing for Palestine? Are their pressure campaigns or weekly pickets you can support and collaborate with? Remember that you don't have to reinvent the wheel with your week of actions, and collaborating with those who are doing good work can build power and momentum.

Consider: What local chapters would be aligned with your action's goal(s)? Are there groups that provide trainings that could be helpful for your group and your action (like security or press/media training)? Are there funds available to support your action?

Supplies:

What resources do you need to make your action happen? What kind of snacks and water? Or items to keep kids entertained? Can any of the things you need be donated? How can you reach out for donations? What are the accessibility needs of your participants?

Day-of Considerations and Tips:

1. Study the physical location of your action before the day of the event. Is there parking or access to public transit?
2. Identify a set up crew and a cleanup crew ahead of time. If it is a long action, you may need two separate teams.
3. Identify your safety team and your de-escalation lead ahead of time.
4. Designate a group of people to organize PPE and snacks or water.
5. Think through all of the activities you will be hosting ahead of time, and if props like tables are needed. Sketch where in the designated space these items might go. Will the tables block circulation? Is there enough room? Etc.
6. Create a timestamped program/run-of-show for your action. What time will set up begin? What time will speakers speak? What time will activities occur? What time will you wrap your program and begin clean up?
7. Ensure there is de-escalation support while you are setting up. If set up will impact traffic flow, consider gathering people to manage traffic while you are unloading.
8. Organize a check-in with your team ahead 30 minutes before the action. Confirm who the de-escalation lead is.
9. Remind participants to leave the action in groups for safety.
10. Organize de-escalation traffic-directors for break-down and clean up.

After the Action:

What happens after the action is critically important, even though the action itself is done!

Home safe: First of all, you want to make sure that everyone got home safe. Especially if there was any police presence at your action, make sure that people leave in groups or with a buddy and then check in with your folks to make sure they got home safe.

Post-action care: Was anyone hurt, arrested, harassed or otherwise harmed? Taking good care of people after an action is critical. Here is a guide that goes deep into post-action support for anyone who may have experienced any trauma or harm: https://commonslibrary.org/a-resource-for-activists-working-through-trauma/

Building connections: Often, after an action, especially one that is focused on connecting with new people, right afterwards is your moment to grow the connection. Is there a next action or event or meeting you can invite people to? Can you follow up with folks to let them know that you are grateful they attended and would like to invite them in for more organizing together?

Social media roundup: Did you take photos or video of the action or event? Was there a powerful moment that more people should see? Immediately afterwards is a good time to make a summary post from your group's social media account (or share personally), to encourage more people to take action and join in the work. You can include a call to action with this - like, "it's not too late! You can call XXX tomorrow and demand XXX!". It can also be a good way to encourage people to come out to the next event or action.

Passing the baton: For our fasting relay, when your week is ending, a good way to "pass the baton" is to find a way to uplift the next week's city and actions, if possible. Reach out to the group who is going to be fasting the week after your group and ask if there are things you can share with your followers or members, such as a social media post or information on their targets and campaign. Then let your followers and members know who is carrying forward the relay so that they too can witness the next week of action and take any solidarity actions available.

What To Do While You're Waiting For Your Fast Week To Arrive:

We are all feeling the urgency to act in this moment, but because this is a relay fast, your group may have signed on to host a week that is months away. There are lots of things you can do in the meantime as you look ahead to your group's week. Below are some ideas to help you build and sustain momentum for this campaign and movement as you prepare for your week:

• Create an ongoing fundraising campaign for a group like The Sameer Project or for individual fundraising campaigns for families in Gaza that families in your community are connected to. Fundraising is hugely important and creating a campaign that brings awareness to the genocidal starvation of Palestinians in Gaza while working towards improving material conditions is essential. The fundraising campaign can build momentum and have great impact as you work towards your fast week.
• Create an ongoing outreach campaign in your city or town. Do you have an elected official whom you either want to recruit or target for your week's action? Create a weekly in-person picket at their office and/or have your group make daily or weekly calls to their office.
• Recruit community members and local groups to join your fast! Make a list of all local groups you might partner with and begin to do some outreach and beginning planning for what a collaboration might look like. If you have a long lead time for your group's fast week, you can dream big and build something really creative and multi-faceted.
• Make a list of prominent local figures and influencers and begin reaching out to them to recruit them to join the fast.
• Amplify the other groups who are fasting each week. That might look like social media posts, or it might be taking part in a parallel action in your city or town.
• Connect with other groups across Turtle Island who are taking part in the fast and coalition build!

There is so much good you can do with the urgency you feel. Thank you for your ongoing efforts and sustained commitment.

Resources for Action Planning:

Ruckus Society: "Know Your Role: Direct Action Roles for Action Groups"

Ruckus Society: "Creative Direct Action Visuals"

Ruckus Society: "Security Culture for Activists"

Seeds for Change: "Action Planning"

BDS Movement: Guide to BDS Boycott & Pressure Corporate Priority Targeting

Roots of Change Collective: "Police Brutality and Activist Trauma Support"

Brooklyn Families for Palestine: Action Planning Vision Doc Template

Press:

Talking Points, Interview Prep, and Redirections:

Borrowed largely from IMEU and JVP media kits and An Anti-Zionist Talking Point Guide. Please refer to these for more resources.

Internal considerations for media inquiries: Which voices do you want the press to amplify? Why is that powerful? Consider intersecting identities related to caregivers: parents, healthcare workers, teachers, etc.

When a journalist asks you for an interview:

• Respond immediately, thank them for their email, and ask them for their deadline.
• If possible, ask the reporter who else they’ve spoken with on this issue, or who else they are
• planning to speak with, so you can prepare accordingly.
• Google the journalist to familiarize yourself with their work.
• If you decide to proceed, let them know as soon as possible so you can arrange a time.
• Anticipate hard questions; be prepared with ways to pivot back to the key messages.
• Practice responding to questions with a friend.

Check out this guide by movement journalist and trusted Durham comrade Lewis Raven Wallace: Don’t Talk to a Journalist Until You Read This

Individuals should prep the following:

• How do you want to describe your identities to press?

• If possible, lead with your caregiver/parent identities and then connect back to our fast. Ex. “I am a dad of two and a public school teacher and I am fasting in solidarity with Gaza.”

• Why are you fasting? What does fasting mean to you? (Are you from a culture that fasts, is it your first time fasting?)
• How are you talking to your children about fasting?
• Why are you speaking out about this issue?
• Why should others speak out about this issue?

About your local action if it has already happened (even if it’s a national news interview, we want to draw a connection to actions):

• What are you asking your local elected target to do? What are your demands?

• What have they done so far?
• Are they a parent or caregiver and can you speak directly to them through your interview? Ex. I implore my congresswoman, ______ , as a lawmaker and fellow parent to _______ (whatever the local demand is).

During an interview:

1. Project confidence: Maybe you don’t know every fact, but you are more knowledgeable than the average person on this subject and are doing this work from the heart. Allow that to come through in your tone and attitude.

2. Don’t speculate: Don’t be afraid to say that you don’t know the answer to a question. In a newspaper interview, it’s just fine to say you don’t know, offer to find out, and then follow up. In a live on air interview, you can say “That’s a good question, I’m not positive about X but what I do know is Y.”

3. Speak in soundbites: Your words will be put into a context you can’t control, so keep your message short and simple.

4. Practice your core messages: Know what your core messages are and stick to them.

5. Get your positive messages across: Don’t just answer the questions you were asked, say the key points you want to make. Redirect to your message with phrases like: “The question we should be asking is X…What is really important to remember is Y...”

6. Avoid rambling: get straight to the point, and let the journalist ask follow up questions for you to expand on.

7. No backtracking: Remember that anything you say in an interview could be quoted, so better to shy on the side of saying less rather than more. You can ask to speak off the record, or just as background, but only before the interview begins.

8. Be friendly: Even if you know the reporter might not be welcoming to your political perspective.

9. Stories resonate: Tell about a personal experience, use “I” statements.

10. Relax, and speak slowly!

Interviews with hostile media:

• Request an interview via email.
• If being interviewed on the phone, you may request permission to record the conversation. Never record an interview without permission.
• If an interview doesn’t go well, you can prepare a letter to the editor that you can send in when the article is published.
• Make sure you know when the article runs so you can follow up with requests for any  misinformation or misquoting.

Responding to bad coverage:

• Email the reporter right away and request a clarification or correction.
• If the reporter doesn’t respond, email their editor or the applicable section editor.
• If it’s a pattern, consider setting up an editorial board meeting.
• Write a letter to the editor.
• Write an op-ed.
• Take back your voice, and make your own media.

Zionist Talking Point Redirections:

• “Isn’t the aid being restricted because Hamas has been stealing it?”

• This is dangerous propaganda which is one of Israel’s most lethal weapons.

• “It’s complicated.”

• No, it’s not. This is intentional starvation and genocide. The complicated part is the hesitancy people have to speak up about it and the pushback they receive when they do.

• “Criticism of Israel is antisemitic.”

• Critiquing the actions and policies of the government of Israel is not antisemitic, the same way critiquing the policies and governments of Islamic states like Saudi Arabia is not inherently anti-Muslim.
• The idea that criticising Israel is antisemitic is problematic because it diminishes true anti-Jewish prejudice. It conflates Judaism and Israel, and not all Jews have an attachment to Israel, or are represented by Israel. Jews are not a monolith, and it is dangerous to suggest they are.

• “Palestinians voted for Hamas; they asked for it.”

• The focus on Hamas is used to ignore the plight of Palestinian people who, for decades, have been occupied and subject to military law by Israel. Palestinians are a civilian population.
• Israel controls the water, food, fuel, and entry of medical supplies and other critical aid into Palestine.

• “Israel has the right to defend itself.”

• Any nation has the right to defend itself, however, nations must adhere to international humanitarian law. Israel is not.
• According to international humanitarian law, when you occupy another country you lose the right to defend yourself.

• “Hamas wants to kill all Jews/From the River to the Sea.”

• Palestinian women, children, men – civilians – are being killed. They are being killed in Gaza and in the West Bank, AND increasingly in the United States and elsewhere. In comparison, freedom slogans, icons of watermelons, and kuffiyeh are seen as violent? This is pathologically racist.

Anti-Zionist Talking Points

See this guide from Bo Forbes here.

Sample Press Release:

Letter to the Editor (LTE) Guide:

LTEs are letters of 200-500 words in length responding to important issues, news coverage and existing opinion pieces, submitted to news outlets for publication. LTEs can bring info to new audiences, correct false narratives, increase coverage by publications, and get our message in front of politicians and decision makers.

What makes a strong LTE?

• Follow the guidelines: Check the paper’s rules for word count and submission method.

• You are most likely to be published if your LTE responds to previous coverage, but you can always creatively link your issue to related coverage.

• Be concise and fact-based: Make 2-3 persuasive points, backed up by sources.
• Root in the personal: Weave in your personal story, your “why” for writing.
• Connect to local issues: When talking about the genocide in Gaza, consider a local issue you can link it to (ie. our tax dollars should be used to fund our schools, not to drop bombs on Palestinians).
• Include an ask: Be sure to invite readers to learn more and participate in our solidarity fast at @ParentsFast4Gaza

Example LTE:

Press Coverage:

Sarah Stuteville. “OPINION | Why South End parents are fasting for Gaza — and what it means to care.” South Seattle Emerald, 13 Aug. 2025, https://southseattleemerald.org/voices/2025/08/13/opinion-why-south-end-parents-are-fasting-for-gaza-and-what-it-means-to-care?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5hnK3gCGrPR6GBvssTAKRBe19LMNs9PNJnt3tca7pUeHs27Cvtr69l068L6w_aem_OahVsSNo6TN8Y8G9-oh5-Q

Social Media:

We are using social media to saturate the feed with content around the dire situation in Gaza. We invite you to share your fast on social media. Some ideas include:

• Announce that you’re fasting and where you’re fasting from using our Canva templates.
• Share a text post with your reflections from your fast.
• Tag and collaborate with @ParentsFast4Gaza when possible so we can amplify your content.
• Create a reel reflecting on your fast, amplifying our demands, and calling in other parents and allies to join us.
• Use the hashtag #ParentsFast4Gaza 
• Use the tagline PASS THE FAST, LET GAZA EAT 

Documentation at Actions and Events

Posting actions and events related to this fast can be a powerful way to amplify our demands, show our solidarity to friends in Gaza, and demonstrate our moral authority as parents, caregivers, and allies. Here are some tips to make your content go further:

• Share your posts with local media. See suggestions for how to do that here.
• Engage in conversations happening in your comments
• Tag or collaborate with aligning organizations
• Cross-post on other platforms
• Ensure your captions offer a way for more folks to plug into this campaign

Many of our undocumented friends and neighbors are at risk of deportation. Please take precautions around what you film and post.

• Ask for consent to film, take photos, and post on social media
• Use an emoji or blur tool to cover faces of children that are not your own
• Encourage others to wear a mask at your event or action if possible to avoid being easily identified

Parents Fast for Gaza Instagram Testimonial Guide

To increase our reach and engagement with our @ParentsFast4Gaza Instagram account, and more effectively spread our message, we invite everyone fasting to share their journey in whatever way they can via Instagram. Here are some options:

OPTION 1: Send us a brief video of yourself in portrait mode saying “I am fasting because [fill in your reason].” Nothing longer than 10-12 seconds please! Some tips:

• Find a quiet, well-lit space with the light source in front of you and NOT behind you.
• Option to hold an empty plate or bowl this anchors videos to a common element and also gives negative space for us to place captions in.
• If not holding an empty plate/bowl, make sure to be an arms length away from the camera to give us space to place the captions in
• Please avoid any loud, off-topic prints on your clothing
• Please look into the camera. It may feel silly but it makes a huge difference!

OPTION 2: Send us a photo depicting your fast in some way. This could be any of the following:

• Image of an empty plate/bowl
• Image of a plate of 250 calories worth of food (if you are doing a Level 3 fast)
• Image of a glass of water (if you are doing a water-only fast)
• Image of yourself holding up a sign with the words #ParentsFast4Gaza with or without additional text calling for an end to the genocide/a free Palestine

HOW TO SUBMIT? Please send any photos/videos via direct message to the @ParentsFast4Gaza Instagram account. Alternatively, you may also send it to the “@Parents Fast4Gaza Announcements” thread on Signal or email to parentsfast4gaza@gmail.com.

OPTION 3: Post a photo on your Instagram account. You may of course post any of the images suggested above on your own account and then tag us #ParentsFast4Gaza so that we can share your post as a story. Feel free to use this Canva template as one of the slides on your post.

OPTION 4: Post a video on your Instagram account. You may also, of course, post a video sharing your fasting journey on your own account while tagging us #ParentsFast4Gaza. However, we will not be able to include it in a reel unless you send the raw video to us directly.

OPTION 5: All of the above! One of the main reasons we are fasting is to raise awareness so the more you share, the more we can get the word out. Reels seem to be a highly effective way to grow reach so, we are extra grateful if you could send us your videos to be compiled into a reel. However, we understand that not everyone is comfortable so please amplify our fast and actions in whatever way works best for you.

Graphics:

Customization steps:

• Sign into your Canva account or create a free account here.
• Make a copy of the templates below
• Customize based on your city, team or organization, and fasting start date.
• Download and share!

Where I’m Fasting From Template

Non-customizable graphics download:

Large Print Flyer

Quarter Sheet Print Flyer

Digital Flyer

History of Hunger Striking:

We recognize that a hunger strike and a fast are fundamentally different, yet we drew inspiration for this fast from the long and powerful lineage of those that have used abstaining from food as a political tool. The summary below is non-exhaustive.

A hunger strike is a form of political protest where a person or a collective refuses to eat for a prolonged period of time in order to have their demands met, often risking their health and their lives. There are many examples of hunger strikes throughout history, “with increasing frequency since the 1960s, imprisoned political activists have refrained from eating as a means of resisting the power of the carceral state.”^[1]

Starvation as a form of protest dates to the beginning of recorded history and is well documented in medieval Ireland in particular (Fierke 2012, 108). This practice is also deeply rooted in Irish social justice politics (Beresford 1987, 7). As cealachan (“achieving justice by starvation”) or troscadh (“fasting on or against a person”), hunger strikes were part of the Senchus Mor (the “Great Ancient Tradition”), a civil code that was one of the most significant legal texts of early Ireland (Ellmann 1993, 12–13; Beresford 1987, 14). This legal text specified the circumstances under which hunger strikes could be used to “recover a debt, or right a perceived injustice, [for] the complainant fasting on the doorstep of the defendant” (Beresford 1987, 14; Hughes 2017, 25).^[2]

“In 1968, the first collective Palestinian hunger strike did not alter the conditions of imprisonment for those who embarked on it. It was, however, the first political act by prisoners documented by human rights organizations in Palestine (including the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and Addameer). Since 1968, collective Palestinian hunger strikes have achieved several goals. Stationery, which prisoners used to write messages to their families and friends, used to be unavailable in prisons. Taking pictures and sending them outside prisons was prohibited. The right to own a small radio, to buy and read newspapers, to request specific books, and to take the General Secondary School exam (a requirement to enroll in courses at universities) were all denied to prisoners before the hunger strikes that started in 1968. These rights were all secured through a series of hunger strikes and are examples of successful acts of collective protest.”^[3]

Among the many recorded individual hunger strikes [in Palestine], the most impactful have been those led by Etaf Elian (1987–1997 and again in 2006) who carried out at least 20 hunger strikes, Mona Qa’dan (1999), and Hana Shalabi (2012 for 43 days). The strikes by these three women— the only recorded cases of female-led individual hunger strikers from 1969 until 2004, established a pattern that has subsequently been followed by their male counterparts.^[4]

In apartheid South Africa, incarcerated people inside of Diepkloof Prison began a hunger strike on January 23, 1989 that sparked a wave of hunger strikes nationally involving detainees in the Transvaal, Natal, and the Cape provinces, “as well as solidarity rallies and sympathy fasts across South African cities and in Western Europe and the United States, leading to the successful negotiation for a large-scale release of detainees. A number of factors contributed to this hunger strike’s broad influence, including successful coordination of mass striking within one prison; transmission of news between prisons; a media-savvy campaign run by local and national legal, medical, human rights, and religious advocates; the ramping up of attention from international media, particularly U.S. television; and capitalizing on the South African regime’s obsessive interest in amplifying scandals concerning Nelson Mandela’s wife, Winnie Mandela, which created an unexpected opening in media censorship.” ^[5]

In 2013, a group of political prisoners incarcerated in California’s maximum security Pelican Bay state prison started a hunger strike to protest the conditions of solitary confinement. Over 30,000 people incarcerated all over California joined the hunger strike and it continued for more than two months - and “brought international attention to the state’s use of prolonged and indefinite isolation — and resulted in sweeping changes to prison policy.”^[6]

“In May 2013, 106 of Guantánamo’s inmates embarked on a hunger strike. By this point, they had been imprisoned for over a decade, without ever having been formally charged with a crime. In addition to demanding improved prison conditions, the strikers demanded to know the crimes with which they were being charged. Prison authorities responded to this strike by designating a “force-feeding chair,” to which inmates would be strapped and forcibly fed[...] In 2014, the hunger strikers of Guantánamo won the right to challenge the conditions of their imprisonment, including the practice of force-feeding, through the courts (Pilkington 2014).”^[7]

A good example of prison hunger strikes having significant effects on a wider movement is the Irish hunger strike of 1981. This seven-month strike achieved some of the Republican movement’s aims and brought unprecedented international attention to the struggle for a unified Ireland (Baumann 2009, 178). As one young man after another starved himself to death, the Irish nationalist cause attracted global sympathy. Donations flooded in from around the world. In Britain, this opened up a debate on the constitutional future of the embattled province (Borders 1981). On the ground, the hunger strike of 1981 had an important and lasting consequence for Northern Ireland: it marked a turning point in the Troubles, the guerilla war that persisted for three decades from 1968 to 1998.^[8]

Health & Safety:

Personal Risks

• Consider your risk level when determining action type

• Health considerations: Consider any health conditions before deciding to fast or hunger strike. Most religions describe many exemptions for fasting based on health, gestational status, breastfeeding, or other limits to ability or capacity. Please take care of yourself. We need you safe and healthy in this fight.
• Emotional: Consider your emotional capacity and readiness. Consider mental health risk factors that might be triggered or exacerbated by varying levels of food restriction.
• Financial: Weigh your tolerance to risk of financial harm. If you are choosing to make your action highly public, consider impacts to your employment, lost wages due to possible health or physical impacts of the action, or the possibility of needing medical care.
• Vulnerability to Publicity: Consider your tolerance to having your name and identity be publicly associated with your action and stance. Everyone has different tolerances based on personal context. Please especially consider your immigration status or other circumstances that may impact your safety.

Before Fasting:

• Health and Safety Preparation:

• Consult a doctor if you are pregnant, nursing, diabetic, elderly, or have any other health conditions that may be impacted by altering your diet.
• Let a loved one know you are fasting

• Emotional Preparation:

• Restriction of food intake can impact one’s ability to regulate mood, think clearly, and manage stress
• If you have a disordered eating history, check in with yourself and/or your providers to consider which path is best for you right now
• Consider how fasting might impact your relationships and plan ahead
• Take time to reflect on your “why” for participating - write down your convictions so you can return to them during the fast

During Fasting:

• Health and Safety Check-in:
• Monitor for dizziness, headaches, weakness, or chest pain.
• If your body is in distress, end the fast.
• Let your fast be a period of intentional slowness if you can
• Connect with others about your fast
• Practice grounding techniques or meditations that bring a sense of spiritual and emotional peace
• Revisit your “why” when you reach difficult points in the fast

After Fasting:

• Health and Safety Wrap-Up:

• Break your fast with fruit, broth, or soft food and pace your replenishing.
• Your digestive system can slow down after fasting; give it time to catch up.
• Reflect on your experience. Fasting can surface intense emotions and grief. Allow yourself to feel what comes to the surface. Share it with your community and loved ones.
• Tell those around you why you’re fasting.

Community Care and Mental Health Support for Parents Solidarity Fast

An offering from @Mhw4palestine

We anticipate that this fast could bring up difficult emotional and cognitive experiences for participants. We also want to provide space for parents to connect with and support one another. We have a team of mental health professionals available for individual peer support check-ins and group connection spaces. All of the support offered here is through a peer support model.

What is peer support? Rather than a formal therapeutic relationship, peer support is when individuals with shared experience or identities support one another through emotional, social or practical help.

Community Care and Processing Container:

Community Care & Processing Container: This is an open drop-in space - a facilitator will be available in a virtual room for anyone to drop in. This can be an opportunity to check in and support others who are fasting, recently ended their fast or are getting ready to begin. These spaces are open to anyone, not only those who are currently fasting. Come join, support comrades and connect with each other!

Reach out to Zadie (they/them) at ZadieHarlowLCSW@proton.me to schedule a supportive container outside of the hours below.

Use the following video call link to access drop-in sessions: https://meet.jit.si/ParentsFastForGaza

Meet the team:

Talking to Kids: 

An Adaptation of Reem Abuelhaj’s framework “Talking to Young Children About Gaza” published in “Teaching Palestine” by Rethinking Schools

1. Start with what they know.

“What are the reasons someone might not eat?”   
“Have you ever heard the word “fasting?””
“I hear that you are mad about how Israel is blocking food from getting to kids in Gaza, do you want to brainstorm possible things we can do to make more people pay attention and stop this?”

1. Listen and mirror the language the child is using. 
   Children will use language that they can understand and process. It is the adult’s job to listen to the language children use as an indication of their developmental understanding and echo it back to increase understanding.
   
2. Use concrete, clear, direct language. 
   Think about breaking big concepts down into building blocks that the child can understand. Think about using words they already have references for.

“Sometimes we say we are starving when we really mean we are hungry.  Starving is when you don’t have enough food and your body starts to not work as well.  

Starving and Fasting are very different things.

Fasting is people choosing to not eat, usually connected to something they believe in deeply.  For some people it is part of their religion or something they do as a part of special holidays. For some people, they choose not to eat to make people pay attention to something.”

3. Help the child differentiate their experience from the experience of people in Gaza.

“Kids and people of all ages in Gaza do not have a choice right now– Israel is blocking them them from getting food to eat, it is not their choice.

For this fast, I am choosing to not eat to draw attention to how it is wrong that people are blocking food from getting to people in Gaza.”

4. Check in and affirm feelings (ours and the child’s).
   Conversations about violence and oppression are too often intellectualized by people who are not directly impacted. It is healthy for adults and children to acknowledge the feelings that arise when talking about this issue. As adults, it’s our job to help children notice the feelings that come up and find ways to articulate and work with them. You can also be honest with the child about how you’re feeling. It is supportive to talk about how we are feeling with the children in our lives for many reasons, including the fact that children are often aware of our emotions even when we are not naming them. You can name your feelings directly in a boundaried way that does not put the child in a position of being your caretaker.

For example, if a child asks “Do you feel sad about Gaza?”  

We might respond “Yeah, I do feel sad.  I feel that in my heart. Where do you feel it in your body?” 

After the child responds we might affirm “Yeah, sometimes I feel it there too,” and ask “What are some things we can do when we feel sad?”

5. Make clear moral statements.
   It is okay, and actually important, to make clear moral statements about social issues. Young children are deeply oriented to justice, and in a world pervasive with oppression it is important for adults to make clear to young children when something is wrong. We can say

“All people deserve to have food, water, and medicine.”  

“It is wrong to stop people from getting food.”

6. Give the child a way to take action.
   One of the most important elements of a conversation with a young child about hard truths is to offer them a real sense of agency and opportunities for action. Young children need to know there are ways to fight back collectively against injustice in the world, and that they can participate in taking action.

Use this as an opportunity to find ways they can be involved in the fast (see below section about possible ways kids can participate/ support fasting).

Resources to Learn More:

• UN Report on Access to Food ​​
• B’Tselem: Information on the Apartheid State 
• Human Rights Watch: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution
• B’Tselem: Devastation, Bombing, and Starvation: Israel is Destroying Life in Gaza 
• BBC: Gaza now worse than hell on earth, humanitarian chief tells BBC 
• Amnesty International: Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
• Al Jazeera: Gaza ‘hungriest place on Earth’, all its people at risk of famine, UN warns
• Institute for Middle East Understanding: Quick Facts: The Palestinian Nakba

Contact Us:

For Questions, feedback, or press inquiries, please email parentsfast4gaza@gmail.com and we’ll do our best to respond within 48 hours. Follow us on Instagram for live updates at @ParentsFast4Gaza