Rolling Fast for Gaza media release.docx
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 28, 2023
WHAT: Fast for Gaza – Updated
WHEN: December 22-29, 2023
WHERE: Cleveland, Ohio and everywhere
CONTACT: Maria Smith clevelandnonviolence@gmail.com or Don Bryant, ohio4palestine@gmail.com 216.220.7160
CLEVELAND, OHIO – Fast for Gaza into its sixth day calling for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine, is in solidarity with the people of Gaza who are facing famine while the genocidal Israeli military campaign continues, supported by the U.S. government.
Nine people joined the fast today with a total of 31 throughout the week. Fasting today are four Greater Clevelanders, a sister of St. Francis in Tiffin, Ohio, and participants in Columbus, Ohio; Gastonia, North Carolina; Buffalo, New York; and Iowa City, Iowa. Hundreds more have pledged to fast today with the national Jewish Voice for Peace Fast for Gaza that runs every Thursday.
The Cleveland Nonviolence Network (CNVN) and the Gaza Delegation Initiated the Fast for Gaza calling for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine. The campaign officially began on December 23, 2023. People from Ohio, Iowa, New York, North Carolina have pledged to join the fast.
The Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million people (about the population of New Mexico) are facing famine and disease while the Israeli bombardment and shelling continue. The U.S. has blocked ceasefire resolutions in the United Nations and continues to arm Israel at $3.8 billion annually. The Biden administration and legislators have ignored pleas for a ceasefire from their constituencies.
Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) global partnership December 21, 2023, report states “the entire population in the Gaza Strip [about 2.2 million people (about the population of New Mexico)] is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse). This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country.”
Fasting for cause is a nonviolent method to express commitment in spiritual practice and as an act of political protest to provoke an awakening in others, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. 
The Cleveland Nonviolence Network rejects all forms of violence, in thought, word, or deed. There are four ways to respond to violence and conflict: avoidance, accommodation, counter-violence, and nonviolence. Many Palestinians and Israelis have worked over the decades to use the tools of nonviolence to resolve their differences. Their work was not in vain. “Nonviolence Works, War Doesn’t.”
For more information or to join Rolling Fast for Gaza contact Cleveland Nonviolence Network at clevelandnonviolence@gmail.com
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