Seeking to express remorse and regret for the immeasurable suffering sanctions have caused innocent people, fast members will abstain from all foods beginning August 6th, the fifty-sixth anniversary of the US atomic attack on Hiroshima, Japan, that claimed 140,000 lives.

This date (August 6) also marks the eleventh anniversary of the US-led embargo that has cost the lives of more than one million Iraqi citizens.

Voices in the Wilderness and other delegations returning from Iraq bring back stories of families with virtually no purchasing power, who lack access to clean drinking water, and have been forced to sell many of their belongings simply to afford food for their children. Numerous families that befriended our delegation members have adjusted to living without necessities they previously took for granted: refrigerators, telephones, air coolers or air conditioners, uninterrupted electricity, televisions, radios, household furniture and basic appliances.

Their diet has consisted mainly of bread, lentils, tomatoes, onions, eggplant, some tea, and on occasion, watermelon.