Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of June 6, 2022
This week Kumi Now looked at the environmental damage being inflicted on the land of Palestine by the Israeli occupation. Next week, on Tuesday, the 7th of June, Kumi Now will look towards the summer season as Palestinian schools and colleges begin their vacation period. Tourists and pilgrims are beginning to return to the Holy Land after the pandemic lockdown. They can make ethical decisions in the travel companies they choose to support by enquiring whether those companies are profiting illegal Israeli settlements.
• God, we bring to you the Palestinian people who have suffered during the pandemic when the tourist industry ceased. We pray that more tourists and pilgrims returning to the Holy Land will choose ethical tours and help Palestinian guides struggling to support their families. Lord, in your mercy..
More than one hundred organizations and individuals have endorsed a letter from Friends of Sabeel in North America, (FOSNA), calling on President Biden to help protect and defend the Palestinian Christian presence in Jerusalem and to meet with Christian leaders. It also calls for an investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh and that all Status Quo agreements over Jerusalem should be observed.
• Lord, we pray that the US government will take notice of the FOSNA letter and will undertake to work with the Israeli government to ensure that Jerusalem remains a city in which Christians, Muslims and Jews can continue to worship freely and that all Status Quo agreements over Jerusalem should be observed . Lord, in your mercy…
Three sisters from Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, have been diagnosed with conditions that cause irreversible kidney damage. Suzan,(21) Saja,(15) and Sama Khatab(!0) all need to travel to hospitals in the West Bank for specialist treatment.The Israeli authorities are refusing to allow their mother to escort them, even though their serious condition means they cannot travel alone.
• Lord of all compassion and mercy, we pray that the Khatab family will receive the travel permits they need so urgently. We pray for an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza and for the unspeakable suffering and stress it causes those living in the enclave. Lord, in your mercy..
The ‘Masahatuna’ or “Our Spaces’ app has been developed by a local computer engineer, Alaa Huthut, to enable women in Gaza to report any domestic abuse they are suffering. The app allows them to register for help and advice from care centres without them having to leave their names or leaving any trace of contact on their phones.
• Lord, we bring before you those women who struggle to cope with violence and stress as they try to care for their families in a place of grinding poverty and instability. We thank you for those organisations ready to reach out to help them in times of crisis. Lord, in your mercy..
Sabeel Jerusalem is planning a meeting for its Bible study facilitators in the town of Taybeh on Friday, the 10th of June. Taybeh is a majority Christian town in the West Bank, northeast of Ramallah.
• Lord, we pray that this meeting will be a time of refreshment and encouragement for the Sabeel Bible study facilitators. We pray that your word will continue to guide and comfort those who meditate on it. Lord, in your mercy…
On Thursday, the 2nd of June, the Sabeel Women’s group visited the Golan Heights in southwest Syria. After 1967 Israel occupied the land and forcibly transferred 95% of the native Syrian population. Since President Trump recognised Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the region in 2019, the Israeli government has pursued a policy of expanding its settlement population in the area.
• Lord, we pray that the women’s group which visited the Golan Heights will appreciate the difficulties faced by the Syrians living under Israeli annexation, which are similar to the loss of rights experienced by Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. Lord, in your mercy…
Levels of violence perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians continue to rise. In the course of two days last week four Palestinians were shot in unrelated incidents. A 17-year -old boy, Odeh Mohammed Odeh, was shot in the chest and killed by Israeli forces in al-Midya, a village west of Ramallah. A female Palestinian journalist, Ghufran Warasneh was shot and killed at the entrance to the Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, on her third day of a new job at a radio station.
• Lord, we pray for the families of Odeh and Ghufran and the other Palestinian victims who have died this week as they grieve their loss. We pray for an end to the violence being used extensively by the Israeli military on the Palestinian people. Lord, in your mercy…
• We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini. Lord, in your mercy…