• British playwright Peter Oswald has begun a trek to raise funds for Gaza and oppose Islamophobia, fasting during Ramadan in solidarity with Muslims & Palestinians.
• Oswald will recite poetry and aims to highlight his work with The Hands Up Project, an educational charity supporting children in Gaza.
A British playwright has embarked on a 150-mile fasting trek to raise funds for schoolchildren in Gaza and to stand against Islamophobia. Peter Oswald, a former writer-in-residence at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, began his trek in Bristol on Tuesday and is set to complete the 13-day journey at Parliament Square in London by the end of March.
Mr Oswald, a 59–year—old from Devon, will fast from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the global Muslim community, as part of his “Pilgrimage4Palestine.” Mr Oswald is an award-winning playwright and poet, who will also perform along the route, reciting a blend of his own work on Palestine alongside poetry by young Palestinians. He will be joined for part of the journey by his wife, Alice Oswald, a former Oxford professor of poetry and BBC Radio 4 poet-in-residence.
Mr Oswald, who is raising funds for The Hands Up Project—an educational charity that connects volunteer teachers with schoolchildren in Gaza—said he has been involved with the charity for almost a decade. “I’ve been teaching and helping schoolchildren in Gaza and the West Bank since 2017,” Mr Oswald told the PA news agency.
“The way they acted, the way they spoke, I was very, very moved by that.
Then suddenly the entire town was obliterated and that for me is something that lives with me all the time.”
Observing Ramadan throughout his journey, Mr Oswald plans to walk 12 to 13 miles a day and speak at evening events. His route will follow the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath to Reading before continuing into central London. “I’ve been doing some 12-mile walks fasting and the fasting is challenging, but the walking takes your mind off it,” he said.
“We’re fasting in solidarity with Muslims in this country pushing back against Islamophobia.
Obviously, here in Bristol, where I am now, we had the terrible riots and the attack on the Mercury hotel during last summer.
When the riots ran through the whole country, I became extra concerned for the safety of my Muslim friends and their families.”
Mr Oswald stated his endeavour is a “peace march” and said he will “call through the soles of his feet to the soul of Britain.”
