HUNGER striker John Bibby is now in his fifth day and is provoking plenty of reaction from people who have seen his story.

Mr Bibby, of Heworth, is attempting to go for ten days without food in protest at the Israeli military operation in Gaza.

Between 10am and 2pm he can be found in York Minster. He holds a minute’s silence on the hour and an hour-long vigil from 12.30pm.

He said that similar vigils were being planned at Huby and York St John University in solidarity with him.

He also said his hunger pangs were not bad and support was strong from visitors.

Mr Bibby said: “My stomach is fine. We had some 30 visitors who had come from Bradford and we also had a visit from someone who is a local composer who has composed some music that has some sort of Arabic flavour which he is going to dedicate to the children of Gaza as symbolic support.”

Mr Bibby said there were also plans for a fundraising concert in the Minster at some point in the future.

His fast has provoked various reactions from users of The Press website.

For bjb, York, the tactics of Hamas are as bad as the Israelis.

He said “Methinks, 100 years, or much longer is not long enough for the killing to stop when Hamas terrorists are hell bent on one thing only and that is the destruction of the state of Israel. Do they care about all the children that are killed by suicide bombings – no. If they had the same weaponry available as the Israelis would they kill civilians – yes.

“If Hamas succeeds in influencing world opinion by their human shield tactics, they will escalate their activities beyond Gaza and it all starts again.”

But for Blind Jack, Mr Bibby is adding to pressure on the Israeli government by keeping the issues in the public eye.

He said: “Good on you, John. It is all too easy to turn a blind eye to others’ suffering, but at least doing a bit to help keep this issue prominent in terms of sending aid (if and when Israel allows) and adding to the international pressure on the Israeli government can only be a good thing.”

Free Speech, York, pointed out that the current conflict has its roots in British foreign policy.

He said: “It was one of our own misguided politicians, Lord Balfour, who promised the Jewish people their own land back in 1921. He did not think that the Zionists would usurp the land and create the problems they did, and continue to do.

“The land is Palestine and belongs to the Palestinians.”