245 Calories

245 calories. That’s the average caloric intake for people living in Northern Gaza according to a report published by Oxfam in April . That’s the equivalent of 1 can of peas. No one can survive on 245 calories per day. No one. Especially children. The National Institutes of Health recommend no less than 1,000 calories a day for toddlers (ages 2-3) for optimal health. Eating less than 1,000 calories impedes growth and brain development in children and results in malnutrition, starvation and–finally–death.

Human bodies can only go without food for 2-3 months (as long as water is available) before death occurs. But without access to both food AND water, death can occur within 8 – 21 days depending on age, weight, sex and health. Children are most at risk of death by starvation than adults.

Since March 2, the Israeli government has blocked any humanitarian aid (including food) to enter Gaza–over 80 days! You would think that the starvation of children–on purpose–would drive our leaders to demand the end of the food embargo in Gaza. But it hasn’t. Occasionally, you might hear platitudes about how tragic the situation is in Gaza, but you won’t hear a demand for action against Israel for the atrocities is it committing against innocent children. Most Congressmen and Congresswomen publicly support Israel’s policies and are more focused on the “cover-up” of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline while in office or manipulating passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (which also includes taking food away from hungry people).

As people of faith, we cannot continue to allow the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. This is not a partisan political issue; it is a moral issue. Is it right to ignore the suffering of children? Is it moral to be silent as they starve to death? Are we not called to compassion and mercy? Are we not called to action?

I don’t normally write more than a few times a week. Today, I am writing twice. That’s because today is the start of a 40-day hunger strike / Fast for Gaza organized by Veterans for Peace and supported by dozens of other organizations across the US. Hundreds of people have committed to eat no more than 250 calories a day for the next 40 days in solidarity with the people of Gaza to draw attention to the weaponization of food by the Israeli government. Participants will also demand the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza under UN authority and the end to provision of weapons (bombs) to Israel by the US.

Most of us cannot participate in such a drastic Fast for the entire 40 days due to age and chronic health conditions. Today, I ate less than 250 calories over breakfast and lunch, and I am committing to that practice at least 10 days in the next 40 days ending June 30. If you cannot fast, that’s fine. But we all must do doing something to feed the hungry. So if you cannot commit to fasting from food, you can commit to call your representatives in Congress at least once a week to tell them to demand that they publicly call for humanitarian aid to resume immediately and that they publicly call for an arms embargo to end the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. You can also commit to praying daily for an end to the food blockade to end the starvation of those surviving in Gaza.

I will fast as often as I am able. I will call. And I will pray daily. Who will join me?