Valletta Vigil: Maltese Activists Fast 24 Hours for Gaza in Heart of Capital

Activists to hold Gaza solidarity vigil and fast in Valletta this weekend

A small circle of candles will flicker on the steps of Malta’s Parliament this Saturday at 18:00 as local activists launch a 24-hour solidarity vigil and dawn-to-dusk fast for Gaza. The initiative, organised by the ad-hoc network Malta4Gaza, is expected to draw students, pensioners, artists and clergy who will take turns reading the names of the more than 35,000 Palestinians killed since October.

“We are not a NGO, we are neighbours who refuse to look away,” said 29-year-old Sliema teacher Yasmin Mifsud, one of the coordinators. “Malta has lived through sieges – from the Ottomans to World War II. We know what it means to be bombed while the world watches.”

The choice of location is deliberate. Parliament Square, still scaffolded after the City Gate renovation, is where Maltese citizens traditionally gather to celebrate national feasts and, just as often, to protest. In 2019 the same stones echoed with chants against corruption that brought down a government. This weekend the space will be transformed into an open-air living room: prayer mats, camping chairs and a single microphone shared between Muslims and Christians who will fast together from 04:00 to 19:30, mirroring Ramadan hours.

Cultural echoes run deep. The Maltese word “għanja” means both fasting and a lament; organisers plan to weave traditional għanja verses with Palestinian poetry translated into Maltese. “Our grandparents fasted during wartime convoys,” explained 67-year-old Valletta-born poet Maria Grech, who will recite on Saturday night. “Sharing that memory with Palestinians is not political posturing – it’s cultural continuity.”

Community impact is already visible. Pastizzi shops in Rabat and Gżira have pledged 10 % of Friday’s sales to the UN Relief and Works Agency, while scout troops are collecting bottled water and dates to break the fast. The Augustinian Order has opened the doors of St Mark’s convent for participants who need toilets or a quiet corner; the Evangelical Church in Santa Venera is offering overnight shelter. Even the normally apolitical Valletta FC supporters’ club will pause their end-of-season revelry to drop off first-aid kits.

Not everyone is comfortable. Some comments on social media accuse activists of “importing foreign conflicts,” a charge that makes campaigner André Zerafa shrug. “Malta imports 70 % of its food and 100 % of its fuel,” he said. “Our entire history is imported conflicts – Phoenicians, Knights, British. Solidarity is the local tradition we’re keeping alive.”

Police have granted a stationary demonstration permit on condition that traffic is not obstructed; the vigil will remain on the Parliament apron and not spill onto Republic Street. A portable PA system has been limited to 60 dB – quieter than the nearby open-air restaurants – and candles must be enclosed in glass jars after last week’s fire-safety scare.

By Sunday evening the square will return to its usual rhythm of selfie-snapping tourists and late-mass parishioners. But participants hope the fast will linger in Maltese minds the way Lenten fasting shapes spring menus. “When you skip your morning ħobż biż-żejt you remember why,” said Mifsud. “We want that same pinch of hunger to remind Malta that Gaza’s sky is still raining fire.”

The vigil ends at 19:30 on Sunday with a communal iftar open to all: water, dates and ftira baked by inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility who themselves observed a one-day solidarity fast on Wednesday. Organisers stress no donation buckets will be passed; instead QR codes link to medical-aid NGOs already vetted by the Maltese Mission to the UN. As the call to prayer blends with the cathedral bells, Malta will once again prove its smallest virtue: the ability to turn a cramped capital square into a parliament of humanity.