[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [illinoisgreens] FWD: Fast for Peace in Afghanistan

[Jim Buell]

AWARE may want to consider the Fast for Peace action during Ramadan.

Jim



>Forwraded from IPA ACTION ALERT! FAST for PEACE
>Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 12:35:38 -0600
>From: Illinois Peace Action <ilpeace at igc.org>
>Organization: Illinois Peace Action
>
>Dear Sisters and Brothers,
>
>Following is a Call for a Fast for Peace in Afghanistan during the
>Muslim holy month of Ramadan, beginning in two weeks.  Please read it
>over and feel free to distribute widely.  Please accept my apologies for
>multiple postings.
>
>Please let us know if your organization wants to be listed as supporting
>the Call (no money involved), and let us know if you will be
>participating or distributing the Call.  Anyone can participate in the
>Fast for Peace as an individual or use it as an organizing opportunity
>to raise our voices in opposition to the war against Afghanistan and for
>humanitarian relief for the Afghani people.
>
>For Peace,
>
>Kevin Martin
>Executive Director, Peace Action
>*****
>We at Illinois Peace Action whole heartedly encourage you to take part
>in the Ramadan fastings. For more information and a weekly updated list
>on upcoming events please visit our website at http://www.webcom.com/ipa
>or call us at (312)566-9780
>Thanks.
>
>Call for a Fast for Peace in Afghanistan
>Peace Action, November 2, 2001
>
>In the name of fighting terrorism, the United States is waging war
>against Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest, most war-ravaged
>nations.  Seven million Afghanis are at risk this winter of starvation
>or succumbing to the brutal elements. Humanitarian relief organizations
>are calling for an end to the bombing to allow them to do their work --
>feeding, providing health care and shelter for refugees.
>
>Peace Action, the country's largest peace and disarmament organization,
>invites individuals and organizations opposed to the war against
>Afghanistan and concerned about the looming threat of mass starvation to
>join us in a Fast for Peace during the upcoming Muslim holy month of
>Ramadan.
>
>Ramadan, which this year begins November 17 and lasts for a month, is
>the holiest month on the Islamic calendar.  During Ramadan, observant
>Muslims fast each day from sunrise to sunset, then gather in the
>evenings with family members and friends for festive meals to break the
>daylight fast.  Ramadan is also a time of reflection, discipline, and
>humility ? for example, Muslims are encouraged to donate money to
>charities to help the poor during Ramadan.
>
>The Fast for Peace can be a do-it-yourself action: simply fast for a
>day, or one day a week, or every day during Ramadan if your conscience
>calls you to do so, and donate the money you would have spent on food
>during the day to groups working for humanitarian relief and peace.
>Peace Action can help provide lists of groups doing humanitarian relief
>work in Afghanistan, Arab-American and Muslim community groups, and
>peace groups organizing against the war.
>
>The Fast for Peace can also be an organizing opportunity for your
>group.  Put out the call for a Fast for Peace on a particular day and
>organize a pot-luck supper that night for fast participants (you could
>call it a "Feast for Peace" to follow the Fast for Peace).  Since Friday
>is the Muslim Sabbath, Friday night is a good night to gather together
>for a potluck dinner to break the fast.  Fasters eagerly gather to share
>a much-anticipated meal.  (We can even supply you with some Ramadan
>recipes.) You can have it be a purely social occasion, a fundraiser
>(collecting fast pledge money right then and there), an educational
>event with Muslim speakers and anti-war organizers, or some combination
>of the three.
>
>The Fast for Peace will:
>1. Raise our anti-war call, particularly for stopping the bombing of
>Afghanistan to avert a humanitarian catastrophe this winter;
>2. Raise money for material aid for organizations working in
>Afghanistan, Muslim community organizations and/or local peace groups;
>3. Promote religious and cultural understanding and build community.
>
>Separate from Peace Action's Call for a Fast for Peace, students at
>Occidental College in Los Angeles have already announced a similar fast
>for peace on their campus, and other schools and organizations involved
>in this fast thus far include: Boston College, SUNY Oneonta, University
>of Oklahoma, Pitzer College, Pomona College, University of California at
>Santa Cruz, U.C.L.A., Humboldt State University, Boston Campus Anti-War
>Coalition, LA Coalition for World Peace, and they expect more schools to
>confirm their involvement shortly.
>
>Please join us in the Fast for Peace.  Contact Peace Action at
>202/862-9740, or visit http://www.peace-action.org.