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I love the attention fasts bring to an issue, but I wonder if inflicting damage to one's own body is the best way to bring about positive change. Don't get me wrong - fasting can be a wonderful gift to yourself. Most of the fasts that I've heard about for social and political causes aren't done that way though. They are water fasts and often require that the fasters be in the public eye, a very stressful place to be. I think solidarity with people who are suffering is an essential part of any movement for change. But maybe Emma Goldman had it right when she said "If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution." Perhaps the overall energy and message of joy is more constructive than more pain being spread out into the Cosmos. This is really a question, although I have written it as a statement. I am in awe of the commitment of the individuals who will fast and those who support them and offer my heartfelt gratitude.

excellent comment, Heather! i share much of what you're saying/questions you're asking...although i hadn't the words for it. you're right that this is intended as a water or juice fast, and the people are being asked to be in the public eye, so i share an element of your worry. i'm thinking that this is one of those actions that's far more for those involved than it is for anyone else. the folks up in Washinton sure aren't concerned about a bunch of hungry peacemongers. after all, it's only a week....

Troops Home Fast (THF) is a brilliant concept in my opinion. The possibility for self abuse is a good point but misses the gist of why this procsess is poigniant.

"Most of the fasts that I've heard about for social and political causes aren't done that way though. They are water fasts and often require that the fasters be in the public eye, a very stressful place to be." LS

What is your source of information for this?

I suspect that emotional memory may be distorting factual memory.

We live in the United States of Obesity. This war would have been much harder to pull of if there weren't so many TV sheep snacking on chips, twinkies and pepto abysmal. Thus, in my opinion, there is a viral component within the THF that could quite possibly be missed by most.

And, if this viral component is missed, it becomes unconscious - this makes it more powerful.

My feeling is that this coin has more than 2 sides...

I'm not saying is is a bad idea. I'm saying that most people who advocate fasting suggest doing it with bed rest and supervision. Of course others do it in the pursuit of deep spiritual enlightenment in a natural setting, also powerful and perhaps nourishing in a different way. When I've heard about people fasting for social/political reasons I've also seen them in public places, fielding questions from reporters and having photographs taken and generally being seen by lots of other people. My source of information is what I have personally seen in the media - a few other fasts to raise social consciousness. The energy that requires may be damaging, in the long term, to the fasters. Particularly if they are not well nourished to start with - if they are among the many of us who consume processed foods, alcohol, tobacco, ibuprofen, caffeine, on a regular basis. The detox from these foods can be intense and dangerous if not carefully managed.

My concern is that the poigniancy of the fast involves more potential damage to more people and I think there is enough damage being done through this war. I get that it is also a powerful statement and a powerful feeling of doing something in a world where it sometimes doesn't feel like there is anything we can do.

My personal position, right now, is that countering rage with rage or damaging oneself because the world is so damaging only increases the "damaging" or "raging" vibration or energetic or whatever in the world or cosmos. And I appreciate that everyone has to do what is right for them and that this peace movement, like all movements before and after it, requires as many different types of action as people can come up with.

I decided to join this hunger strike because I feel compelled to do something about the horrible atrocities that are being committed in Iraq and all the pain and suffering that is being caused by my government. Today I am on day 12 of my fast and I plan on going 21 days until Friday Aug 4th. I am juice fasting for the first two weeks and I start the water only stage of my hunger strike on Saturday. I am really not concerned about my health because many people do fasting for completely non-political reasons. They actually do fasts to better their health! Fasting yes can put your body into detox which gets rid of all kinds of bad stuff in your body. It also gives your digestion system a rest. Think about eating 3 times a day and your tummy basically never gets a break! I am a little nervous about water fasting but I know several people who have done 40 plus water only fasts. My sacrifices are really nothing compared to those who are suffering from war at their doorstep. You should know that there are a couple fasters in D.C that are willing to take their hunger strike to the point of starvation.
My hunger strike is not only a political act but a spiritual walk as well. I have faith that my God can not only end these wars but also that he can finally bring peace and justice to our world. But I know he does not expect to do it alone. I believe God not only calls us but demands us to speak out against injustice and to seek ways to stop the suffering of the poor and destitute. I believe that each of us will be judged according to what we have done and Not done.
I ask all of you to please try and do something to end the U.S wars in the Middle East. Here are some things you can do:

1. Attend a march for peace. Aug 12 Emergency march for Lebanon and Palestine and Sept 24th Nationwide Anti-war demonstration. There are also weekly or  monthly peace vigils in your community. See www.internationalanswer.org
2. Call or email your representatives to stop this war and bring the troops home. The Capitol Switchboard is 202-224-3121.You can also ask them to support H.R 450 which demands an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanan. You can do this online at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/gx/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4690
3. Talk to people about peace! Tell parents that military recruiters have access to their children's information. Parents have the right to request their child's info not be released to recruiters.
4. Pray for Peace.
5. Stop watching corporate media like Fox News. Try watching Democracy Now at www.democracynow.org

You can keep track of me at my blog at www.fastingforpeace.blogspot.com and/or keep track of others fasting at www.troopshomefast.org. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts and fast with you. 

Blessings and solidarity to you all,

Tanya Cole
Ojai, CA

P.S Today is July 26th, a holiday in Cuba marking the attack on the Moncada Barracks. The beginning of the Cuban revolution!

I think a little perspective is needed here:

Think about eating 3 times a day and your tummy basically never gets a break!

Just think of all that air we breathe and our lungs never get a break!

Tanya, good luck to you, I wish you all the best.

Fed Up With War
By David Howard

On July 4, Gold Star Families for Peace and Code Pink began a fast to end the war in Iraq. Hundreds of pro-peace supporters marched from the Gandhi Memorial statue in Washington, D.C. to the White House to call upon President Bush to bring the “Troops Home Fast.” The fast will continue until September 21, International Peace Day.

A Ventura County Peace Coalition contingent joined the fast on July 30 and will continue in solidarity through Friday, August 4.

The fasters ask the US to withdraw all forces from Iraq and refrain from building permanent military bases on Iraqi soil

Troops Home Fast has participants in 22 countries and includes such peace heroes as US Army Colonel Ann Wright, Daniel Ellsberg, Cindy Sheehan, Dolores Huerta and US Congressional Representatives Cynthia Mckinney and Lynn Woolsey. They are now joined by over 4,000 ordinary citizens, many of whom served in the armed forces or are surviving family members of Iraq War veterans.

We know that on every day of this fast the news from Iraq will be grim. US soldiers will die, adding to the 2,578 already dead. Iraqis will be blown up, kidnapped, shot and beheaded, adding to the at least 39,593 civilians who have perished since the war began. Prisoners will be tortured. Children will be displaced, impoverished and terrorized.

Yesterday, for example, a car bomb near a gas station in Kirkuk killed six people and wounded 17. It was the fourth time this month that drivers and passengers were attacked while waiting in line at a gas station. The decapitated and tortured corpses of four policemen were found 30 miles south of Kirkuk, and four US marines died in Anbar province, including Tony Butterfield, a 2005 graduate of Buchanan High School in Clovis, California.

This is why we fast: to end the immense horror and suffering for Iraqis and to ensure that our high school graduates of 2006 and 2007 don’t end up dead, like Tony Butterfield.

The paradox of fasting is that although the lack of nourishment weakens the flesh, it strengthens the spirit. Gandhi said that fasting for peace comes from the depths of the soul.

Fasting is an important component of our Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious heritage. Jesus and Moses both fasted for 40 days in the wilderness; Muslims all over the world fast each year in the month of Ramadan. The prophet Isaiah exhorted his people to fast in order to “release those bound unjustly” and “set free the oppressed.”

Those who fast bear witness to wrongdoing, and their refusal to partake in food is a refusal to participate in the wrong. A Gandhian fast is also a demand for change. The faster’s message is, “Just as I can withstand the impulse to nourish my body, politicians and generals can resist their impulse to affirm and sustain violence.”

The wrong our Ventura County fasters protest is the debacle, tragedy and atrocity of the Iraq War. The fasters are fed up with the deception, propaganda and cruelty of this war. They are fed up with torture, secret prisons, abrogation of the Geneva Conventions, fabricated stories about weapons of mass destruction, ruthless campaigns of “shock and awe,” war profiteering, the seeding of terrorism, the squandering of our wealth, and the profaning of our good name among the peace-loving peoples of the world. They are fed up with the daily bread of car bombings, beheadings and executions that have plunged Iraq into a US-induced darkness, perhaps for decades to come.

The Iraq War is an outrage, an obscene feast of aggression. Here’s how you can help end it: Write, call or e-mail Congress and the President; sign the Voters Pledge to refuse to support pro-war candidates at http://www.votersforpeace.us/. Visit the Troops Home Fast table in the Mini Park on Main Street in Ventura (between Oak and Palm) from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Show solidarity with the fasters and learn more about waging peace in the Middle East.