Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of May 2, 2022
This year the Eid al-Fitr holiday will be celebrated by Muslims in Palestine and Israel on Monday the 2nd of May. The three-day feast marks the end of 30 days of fasting from dawn to dusk during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Many Palestinians will try to cross the Israeli military checkpoints to visit the Al Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem to worship during this special time. However, the Israeli authorities have imposed a military closure on the Westbank and the Gaza Strip because of the Israeli National holidays.
• Lord, we pray for peaceful family celebrations for Muslim families during the Eid of al-Fitr. We continue to pray that the Israeli authorities will not provoke violence through raids at the Al-Aqsa compound. Lord, in your mercy.. hear our prayer
A new Israeli government policy is set to come into force on Sunday, the 22nd of May which will further restrict the entry and residence of foreigners in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians who hold foreign passports will now be required to provide information to the Israeli authorities about relatives or friends they intend to visit and whether they own property or expect to inherit any property. Travelers wishing to visit Israeli settlers in the occupied Territories do not have to supply any information to the Israeli authorities.
• Lord, it is deeply disturbing to see how the Israeli authorities are subjecting the Palestinian population, at home and in the diaspora, to more and more restrictions and surveillance. At the same time the authorities turn a blind eye to the way illegal Israeli settlements are rapidly expanding. Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayer
The holiday on Sunday, the 1st of May, which is known as Labor Day, is marked with a public holiday in Palestine/Israel and in more than eighty other countries. Many Palestinians are constrained to pass through checkpoints to reach their place of work and from day to day they do not know what time they will reach their jobs. Many are forced to queue for hours in cramped and crowded conditions.
• Lord, we pray for Palestinian people living under the occupation who are herded like cattle through checkpoints as they go to and from their work. We pray for an end to the occupation and for the inhumane constraints forced on Palestinian workers as they try to earn their livelihood and support their families. Lord in your mercy.. hear our prayer
Khalil Awawdeh was rushed by the Israeli Prison Service from Ramleh Prison to an Israeli hospital when his medical condition suddenly became critical. Khalil is forty years old and comes from Idhna, near Hebron. He has been on a hunger strike for 57 days in protest at his administrative detention order.
• Lord, we pray that there may be an improvement in Khalil’s health and we pray that he may be released from his administrative detention order. We pray for justice and compassion from the Israeli authorities, that they will abandon the practice of issuing renewable administrative detention orders on Palestinian prisoners. Lord, in your mercy.. hear our prayer
On Thursday, the 28th of April, a coalition of 46 UK based organizations urged the UK government to halt legislation which would target boycott, divestment and sanctions, (BDS) efforts. The proposed law, due to be announced at the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday, the 10th of May, would prohibit public bodies from calling for BDS campaigns against foreign countries, including Israel.
• Lord, we pray that all attempts to restrict freedom of speech in the UK will be checked and overturned. We pray that more people in the UK will refuse to sustain companies which are trading unethically and profiting from the Israeli occupation. Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayer
A petition brought by four human rights organizations on behalf of two families in Gaza was rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday, the 24th of April. On the 16th of July 2014, during Israel’s attack on Gaza, seven children, brothers and cousins, were playing football on the beach when an Israeli drone fired and killed four of the children and injured the other three. The petitioners claim that the Israeli air force intentionally opened fire on the children, without identification, and that this is a serious violation of the laws of warfare and criminal law. They will now take the case to the International Criminal Court for consideration there.
• Lord, we pray for the Bakr family as they continue to grieve for their children, Zakaria, Ahed, Ismail and Mohammed who were between the ages of 9 and 11 years when they were killed. We pray that the family may find justice for the deaths of their young children. Lord, in your mercy.. hear our prayer • We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer