New York – “We did what we came to do. We made many thousands of people focus on the starvation and murder politicians are funding in Palestine with our money,” said organizers of the “Veterans & Allies Fast for Gaza.”
“Our slogan has been ‘40 Days and Escalate.’ That time has come," they added. "Our demands of full humanitarian aid to Gaza under U.N. authority and no more weapons to Israel have not been met."
The June 30 news conference will explain the escalation planned by the central fasters in New York. Fasters across the U.S. and beyond have their own plans. There are three actions planned regionally and nationally:
1. In New York, to be explained at the June 30, 10 a.m. news conference.
2. Some 40 fasters organized by the Maine Coalition for Palestine, will depart in a car caravan from Maine on June 29 for the news conference and escalation planned in New York.
3. In Washington, D.C., Veterans and Allies Fast for Gaza will join Interfaith Action for Palestine’s two-day mobilization to counter the annual conference of Christians United for Israel, and confront U.S. lawmakers who support its pro-war agenda: applauding the genocide in Gaza; destruction in the West Bank; and bombing Iran. Direct action training and escalations are scheduled for June 30, through July 1 D.C.
The Veterans & Allies Fast for Gaza began May 22 when six members of Veterans For Peace and allies traveled to New York City to stand at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. It has grown to over 800 people across the country and includes small groups in South Africa, Canada, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong and Australia. Friends of Sabeel, NA has added critical behind-the-scenes support.
The fasters at the U.N. and many of the others have limited themselves to 250 calories per day, considered medically to be a starvation diet and the amount reported early this year as the average available to Gazans. Others conducted Ramadan-type fasts or other variations.
After 10 days, Kathy Kelly, from Illinois, was told by doctors to quit the fast or risk organ failure. Mike Ferner withdrew at three weeks after being admitted to the Manhattan V.A. hospital for six days.
Bios of the U.N.- based fasters:
Joy Metzler: 23, Cocoa FL. VFP member, co-founder of Serivcemembers For Ceasefire, USAF Academy ’23 graduate. Left the Air Force and became a conscientious objector, citing US aggression in the Middle East and the continued ethnic cleansing in all of Palestine and the ongoing mass massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.
Phil Tottenham: 47, Toledo OH. Marine Corps veteran, VFP member, descendant of “Old 300” original Texas settlers. Took a sledgehammer to apartheid wall in the West Bank.
Kathy Kelly: 72, Geneva, IL. Board President of World BEYOND War; defied economic sanctions against Iraq by traveling there, with medicines, 27 times; lived in Iraq throughout the “Shock and Awe” bombing; lived with families in Gaza, Jenin, and Lebanon during past U.S. supported Israeli operations. Helped coordinate the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal.
Mike Ferner: 74, Toledo OH. Former director of Veterans For Peace; Navy corpsman 1969-73; member of Toledo City Council 1989-93. Participated in a 35-day water-only fast to protest the invasion of Iraq, 2006. Author of “Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran For Peace Reports from Iraq.”
Russell Brown, 77, Buffalo NY, joined the Marines in 1966; served with the 3rd Marine Division,1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment in Viet Nam 1966-67 and left the military extremely anti-war. “I joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War trying to end that horror and am now a lifetime member of Veterans For Peace, working for the justice needed for peace.”
Ken Ashe: 75, Asheville NC, raised in Arizona, joined the Army in January 1969; sent to Viet Nam as a helicopter mechanic and crew chief on a Dustoff (Medevac) chopper. After struggling to reintegrate into society, got married and had two children; became politically active “When I heard George Bush talking about how Sadam Hussein needed to be stopped.”
