Muslims, Jews and Christians throughout the world have fasted from sunrise to sundown on one day, in the interests of peace in Israel and Palestine.
July 15 was designated as an appropriate occasion as it fell on significant fasting days in Jewish and Muslim religious calendars.
It was the 17th of the month of Tammuz on the Hebrew calendar, which begins a three-week mourning period for the loss of the two Jerusalem temples.
It is also in the month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast during daylight hours.
The fasting movement was coined as #hungryforpeace on Twitter.
A Twitter campaign and subsequent plan for a day of fasting began in Israel and gained momentum in the United Kingdom and the United States.
It aimed at encouraging both sides in the Middles East conflict to resolve their differences and end ongoing bloodshed.
The fast took place as rocket fire continued to be exchanged between Israel and the Gaza strip, in the wake of the killings of three kidnapped Israeli teens and subsequent killing of a Palestinian teen.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that 185 people, including dozens of civilians, have been killed since missile strikes escalated last month.
The Israeli military resumed airstrikes on Gaza on July 15, after the government had agreed to an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire deal that failed to end Hamas rocket attacks.
Yachad, a pro-Israel, pro-peace group based in the UK, was one of the main promoters of the international fast day.
Hannah Weisfeld, director of Yachad, said that her group promoted the day with the hope of encouraging peace between Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
“Through the fast, British Jews want to loudly and clearly call for de-escalation, return of calm, return to the negotiating table and the creation of two states for two peoples, the only way that can guarantee stability and security in the long run.”
Lee Ziv, an Israeli peace activist, started a Facebook page called “The Bus of Peace”.
She is organising a bus to drive from Jerusalem to Gaza with flowers and peace slogans to demonstrate the goodwill of many Israelis toward the people of Gaza.
“The tears of an Israeli mother over her dead son are identical to those of a Palestinian Mother,” Ziv said.
Sources
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