17/1/13 - English

Holy Lord, you alone know what is just and true in the fullest sense. This week we ask for goodness, justice, truth, and peace in every arena of life, and especially in the lives of those who govern over others, whose choices affect so many. As the elections in Israel occur next Tuesday, please move in the hearts and minds of voters and candidates, that we might have politicians whose principles would oblige them to truly seek peace and justice for every single person living in this land. Lord, in your mercy...

God, this week we reflect on Bab Al-Shams, a completely non-violent protest village set up on Palestinian land, in the E1 area which has been illegally confiscated by the Israeli government for strategic settlement building. We cry out against the shocking irony of the rapid and brutal dismantlement of Bab Al-Shams compared with the continuous protection and planning of Israeli settlements on West Bank land. We pray for all the peace activists involved in this demonstration, for future similar projects, and for an immediate end to the illegal, unjustifiable mass building of settlements, which are so obviously counter-productive to peace. Lord, in your mercy...

We pray for people around the world who are courageously choosing to resist injustice in creative ways, like hunger strikes. We pray especially for the Palestinians Samer Issawi and Ayman Ash-Sharawna who have been detained without charge or trial and thus on hunger strike for over 170 days. Lord please sustain them and all fellow hunger-strikers, and protect Samer’s family who has been repeatedly abused in various ways including arrests and the demolition of a family member’s home. We pray also for Canadian First Nations Chief Theresa Spence and two fellow hunger-strikers who have been on hunger strike for almost 40 days, effectively bringing awareness to their cause, but still yet to bring about the desired end. As they face both support and pressure to end the strike, give them strength, clarity of mind, and devotion to a just peace. Lord, in your mercy...

Finally, we pray in unity with the World Council of Churches for the countries listed in this week’s ecumenical prayer cycle: Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. Lord, in your mercy...