We pray for genuine unity in
Palestine as Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo on Wednesday
that includes the formation of an interim government and elections within a
year. We pray that this long-called for reconciliation between the West Bank
and Gaza, as well as Egypt’s announcement to open the Rafah border with Gaza,
will help lead to the even longer desired lift of the siege of Gaza, end to the
Israeli occupation and a sustainable future for Palestine.
As Armenian Genocide Remembrance
Day was commemorated on April 24 and Holocaust Remembrance Day was commemorated
in Israel on May 2, we remember all those who have been affected by the violent
and devastating actions of racism, discrimination and hatred. We pray that we
can all learn from the past to stop current and future violent manifestations
of intolerance.
Our prayers are with the people
of Nablus, who in recent weeks have experienced increasing right-wing Jewish
settler activity centered on unauthorized attempts for a permanent Israeli
presence at Joseph’s tomb despite available Israeli armed escort to the tomb.
With the settler’s voiced plan to start a settlement in the heart of Nablus in
a similar fashion to how the first settlement began in Hebron, we pray for an
end to these attempts and the increased violence and military presence in
Nablus that they entail.
We hold in prayer the
participants of Sabeel’s post-Easter programs in Jerusalem: the Clergy Meeting
on Wednesday, May 4, and the Young Adult BBQ on Friday, May 6. As these
ecumenical gatherings take advantage of holiday permission given to some
Palestinian Christians to enter Jerusalem during the Easter season, we pray
that the clergy and youth from the different churches in Israel, East
Jerusalem, and the West Bank will be inspired with ideas to serve the community
in new ways.
With the Prayer
Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for: Sudan, Uganda
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