This week witnesses the beginnings of
US engineered peace talks. We pray that these will not just be talks which
allow the settlements to expand further and more Palestinian land to be expropriated,
but that they will be short, fair and just and will bring an end to 43 years of
occupation, oppression, displacement and misery.
We pray for respect between peoples and
religions. In the week when Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the
ultra Orthodox SHAS party, said the Palestinians should "perish", we
pray that all right thinking people will condemn such words and turn our
energies to seeking justice for all, which can also lead us on the path to peace
and reconciliation.
As schools return from the summer
break, Israeli pupils will have rewritten history books* which remove
references to the Nakba (catastrophe of loss and dislocation) the Palestinian
people suffered when Israel came into being. We pray for opportunities for all
children, Israeli, Palestinian, American, everywhere, to learn about history
and civic engagement free from political and religious propaganda.
Ramadan
continues in the summer heat. We pray for our brothers and sisters who fast
from food and water in these days. We pray also for those who seek to worship
in Jerusalem and who find their way blocked and themselves intimidated and
harassed by soldiers and police trying to prevent them coming to give thanks to
God in one of their holiest places, the Haram al Sharif in Jerusalem. May God
be merciful to all.
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