In a statement issued last night, Mr. Ban noted that Ramadan is one of four months in the Islamic calendar during which fighting is supposed to stop.

“For the sake of the Syrian people, therefore, I would like to call on all parties in Syria to respect this religious obligation for at least, at a minimum, one month,” Mr. Ban said.

“I am not calling for a contractual cease-fire or a negotiated truce. Nor am I referring to a measure limited to any one area. I am calling for every military unit of the regular army and the Free Syrian Army, for every person holding a gun, to stop fighting and offer this month of peace as a collective present to their people – and to do so across Syria.”

This will be the third Ramadan that Syrian people mark since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad. Since then, as many as 100,000 people have been killed, almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced.

“I am aware that some may see this call as unrealistic,” Mr. Ban said. “Lasting peace will only come through serious negotiation. But I am convinced that the Syrian people have every right to ask this of all those who claim to be fighting in their name. These are the kinds of gestures that can build hope and momentum toward peace.”

Mr. Ban also called for the release of detainees by Government forces and opposition groups, saying there are reliable reports of hundreds of women and children who are detained in various official and non-official centres across the country.

“I appeal to all sides for the immediate release of all these detainees. I call on President Bashar Al-Assad to intervene personally to end this treatment and release all prisoners,” he said.

Mr. Ban acknowledged that lasting peace will only come through negotiation, and reiterated the UN would continue to work with Russia and the United States to build on their agreement to achieve a political solution to the crisis and organize a conference in Geneva that would bring Syrian parties to the negotiating table.

“As the United Nations and others work actively to prepare the conditions for a successful peace conference on Syria, the Syrians themselves should use the holy month of Ramadan of the Year 1434 in the Islamic Calendar to make a symbolic but powerful contribution to open the way to the solution of the crisis in their country,” Mr. Ban said.

“In issuing this appeal for a peaceful Ramadan in Syria, I would like to invite all in the international community who voice concern for the people of Syria – governments, international and non-governmental organizations, the humanitarian community, religious leaders, and others – to add their voices publicly in support. A clear message must be sent that yet more violence is not the way. The Syrian people deserve no less.”

UN agencies will also continue their humanitarian support to those affected by the conflict, he added.

Speaking to reporters in New York, the World Food Programme (WFP) Emergency Coordinator for Syria, Muhannad Hadi, stressed that it is extremely important that aid continues to flow into Syria until the crisis is over, as there are many families inside the country that now depend entirely on UN assistance for food.

“[People] don’t have credit cards, they can’t borrow, prices have skyrocketed where food is available [...] we have come to a stage in many places in Syria where either food is delivered by the World Food Programme, or they will go hungry.”

At the same time, Mr. Hadi drew attention to the increasingly difficult conditions that his agency is facing, including multiple checkpoints and getting caught in crossfire.

“We cross lines every day. It is extremely difficult and extremely challenging, but it is our determination that keeps us going,” he said, adding that WFP provides assistance to both Government and non-Government controlled areas.

Mr. Hadi also urged continued support, noting that WFP needs $27 million every week to assist 4 million people inside Syria and approximately 3 million in neighbouring countries.

Since July 20, Muslims have been observing Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, by abstaining from food, drink each day from sunrise to sunset. Eid al-Fitr, which means feast of the breaking fast, marks the end of Ramadan and is usually observed when Islamic scholars see the new crescent moon in the night skies.

“The Muslim Association of Greece (MAG) with the cooperation of the Athens Observatory as every year, marked the end of Ramadan with the traditional Islamic way,” President of the Muslim Association of Greece Naim El Ghandour said.

All delegations from Muslim communities gathered to look in the telescope with their own eyes the birth of the new moon, with the assistance of Dr. Dapergolas based on the astronomical data of Greece and not from abroad. We wish all Muslims a Happy Eid and may God accept their good deeds and prayers,” he added.

In a statement to Alyunaniya, President of the Muslim Association of Greece thanked the Secretary-General of Religious Affairs, Mr. Kalatzis and all the relevant ministries for granting muslims in Greece the Olympic Stadium of Athens OAKA and making this eid prayer possible one more year.

Ahmed El Sharkawi, born in Athens to Egyptian parents said: “On the first day of Eid, we wake up we eat a small meal, a symbolic act that reminds them that Ramadan is over. Then we gather to perform the Eid prayer. Unfortunately, until we get an official mosque in Greece we are forced to pray in stadiums or different makeshift mosques.”

“We later disperse to visit our families and friends, give gifts to one another and convey good wishes for the holiday,” he added.

Muslims in Greece are left to pray in basement apartments, garages or underground basements, as the Greek government has stalled for over a decade in building an official mosque.

The national campaign, “This Ramadan Make a Date with Justice: Choose Occupation-Free Dates,” is another step in the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that targets Israeli products on the international market. BDS began in 2005 as a form of peaceful protest to pressure Israel to abide by international law and end its occupation of Palestine.

“Muslims typically break their fasts in Ramadan by eating dates and drinking water,” said Mr. Awad Hamdan, AMP national programs director. “Unfortunately, many Muslims unknowingly use Israeli dates, most of which are grown in Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian land.”

Dozens of Arab- and Muslim-owned grocery stores in nearly a dozen cities across the US have pledged to boycott Israeli occupation dates. AMP chapters in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, New York, New Jersey and the Washington DC area are participating, as are volunteer groups in Philadelphia. While the first phase of the boycott is targeting ethnic grocers and the Muslim community, the boycott eventually will be widened to include the general public and major chain retailers, Hamdan added.

“AMP is asking everyone to refuse to buy dates marketed by Hadiklaim under the names of Jordan River, Jordan River Bio-Tops and King Solomon,” Hamdan said. “Instead, people can support the American economy by purchasing dates produced in California and Arizona.”

“Most of the Israeli companies that export to the U.S. and the West are built in the West Bank. They’re built on stolen confiscated land,” said Jamil Morrar, owner of the Red Sea Food Market & Halal Meat in Sacramento, one of the stores participating in the boycott. “Honestly, anyone who buys Israeli products is supporting the Israeli occupation and it is against our policy to sell those products.”

In the United States, dates are grown in California and Arizona, which together produced about 28,000 tons in 2011, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. However, a vast amount of dates are imported into the U.S. as well. Israel produces more than half the world’s premier date, the Medjool; and Israeli exports to the United States were valued at $51 million in 2011, according to the USDA.

A 2006 investigative report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz exposed many of these unfair labor practices, which include leaving workers, including children, on the tops of date palm trees in the grueling sun for up to nine hours, in some cases, at a stretch with no breaks.

Palestinian workers are paid less than their Israeli counterparts, in violation of Israeli law. In addition, Palestinian child laborers are also subject to exploitation in the settlements. In 2008, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics found that more than 7,000 children between 5 and 17 years of age were working in the Jordan Valley alone, according to an AMP report.

Over 170 groups joined the BDS movement when it began in 2005, including many Jewish organizations like Jewish Voices for Peace.

All Muslim Communities of Greece are beginning Ramadan on Friday July 20, as identifying the start of Ramadan is like a waiting game where Islamic scholars must see the new crescent moon in the night skies before the holy month officially begins.

“The Muslim Association of Greece (MAG) with the cooperation of the Athens Observatory as every year, calculated the beginning of Ramadan with the traditional Islamic way,” President of the Muslim Association of Greece Naim El Ghandour said.

“All delegations from Muslim communities gathered to look in the telescope with their own eyes the birth of the new moon, and have the chance to know more about this natural phenomenon with the assistance of Dr. Dapergolas who honors us every year and gives us the chance to calculate Ramadan based on the astronomical data of Greece and not from abroad. We wish all Muslims a blessed Ramadan and may God accept their good deeds and prayers,” he added.

This year, Ramadan in Greece occurs during one of the hottest stretches of the year, and a time of a great amount of sunlight. As a result, the fasting period each day is sa couple hours longer than it would be in the winter.

“It is the Islamic month where muslims don’t only refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours but also an opportunity for inward-looking, purification of the soul and  body, and promoting assistance to the poor,” Lina, Syrian living in Greece says.

Egyptian Rabab Hassan says, “I am looking forward for Ramadan in Greece. During this holy month we volunteer to bring meals each evening to break the daily fast at the mosque next to where I live in Keratsini. Ramadan in Greece is a time to bring all communities closer. Muslims Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, everybody.”

Ramadan is the month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.

Mahmoud Abou Hamed says,  ”We here as Muslims in Greece, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are prosperous and we can’t help but look at Muslims and non-Muslims who are suffering,” he said. “We pray for the peace and prosperity for everybody. This is what we pray for at this time.”

“We will try to evaluate the cooperation of the public but have not decided on how to reward them yet, but it will be something good,” said Colonel Mohammed Rashid Al Muhairi, Director of Tourist Police Department and director of the campaign.

Speaking at a press conference, Col Al Muhairi explained that the aim of the campaign is to prevent people from begging and even though the campaign is carried out throughout the year, it is intensified during Ramadan.

In the first six months of 2012, 201 men and 63 women were arrested for begging.

“Beggars take advantage of Ramadan and go to mosques and markets to ask people for money. We will concentrate on these areas, as well as residential areas, where police patrols will make their rounds especially during peak times,” said Col Al Muhairi.

The campaign runs until the end of the Eid Al Fitr holiday, and over 60 police patrols will take part in the campaign, which covers residential areas all over Dubai, as well as mosques, shopping malls, markets, petrol stations and parking lots.

He pointed out that each area is divided into three types of alerts: red, yellow and green. When a neighborhood is classified as yellow where a number of beggars have been reported, more police patrols will be then dispatched to prevent further beggars accumulating in the area.

Begging is against the law and is punishable as such.

According to Dubai Police, beggars will be arrested and deported within two days and the company responsible for providing a visa will also face penalties.

Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Dubai Police also encouraged residents not to give money to children who beg as it saves them from exploitation.

“People who have limited resources or face difficult situations in the UAE can contact any of the authorized charity and humanitarian organizations, who will study their individual cases and offer them help in a legal and safe manner,” he noted.

The campaign against begging is carried out in cooperation with Dubai Municipality, General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs in addition to the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities.