The Great March of Return on Friday, 9th August was much
quieter than usual with no current reports of injuries. This is due to the
feast of Eid al-Adha which started on Sunday, 11th August and an
ongoing decline in the protests through agreements brokered by Egypt. Despite
this, a number of Palestinians were killed after allegedly attempting to enter
into Israel from Gaza. The occupation Israeli forces claimed that they were
armed militants and shelled a number of areas inside Gaza as a response.
- Lord, we continue to pray for the people of Gaza.
We pray that they may one day be able to return to their homes and that
the ongoing Israeli military blockade will end. Grant those in positions
of power around the world the courage to speak truth to power and stand up
and act wherever injustice is seen. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
This week Kumi Now focuses on the work of the Defence for Children
International Palestine (DCIP). This organisation works to defend children’s
rights by offering free legal aid, documenting violations of international law,
and advocates for greater protections. The Israeli authorities have failed to
end violence against children, despite repeated calls to end night arrests, ill
treatment and torture of Palestinian children in military detention.
- We pray that the inhumane treatment of children
by the Israeli authorities be exposed and brought to an end. We thank you
for the work of the DCIP and for their care of Palestinian children caught
up in situations which are difficult for many adults to imagine. Dear
Jesus, you knew what it was like to suffer torture when you were arrested.
We ask you to reach out to all children who are suffering today. Lord, in
your mercy…hear our prayer.
On Sunday, 11th August, a number of Muslim worshippers were
injured by Israeli occupation forces as they prayed at the Al Aqsa Mosque to
celebrate Eid al-Adha. Muslim leaders had called for all other mosques to close
in order for as many people as possible to pray at Al Aqsa. Israeli authorities
had allowed a number of Jews to enter the compound to pray as they commemorated
Tisha B’av, with armed guards, something which is normally forbidden during the
Eid celebrations.
- Lord, we pray for peace and order in the city of
Jerusalem. We pray that the occupying Israeli authorities would respect
the rights of all its residents to worship without obstruction at their
holy sites. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
On Wednesday, the 7th of August Riyad al-Maliki, the Foreign Minister of
the Palestinian Authority, announced that Nicaragua had decided to open an
Embassy in Palestine. In recent years several European and South American
countries have recognised Palestine, but these moves have had limited
diplomatic effect.
- Lord, we pray that there would be expressions of
support from around the world for Palestine and clear message from
international lawmakers that the oppression suffered by Palestinians must
end. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
After a two-year legal battle, a group of students from Fordham
University in New York have won an historic victory. Students for Justice in
Palestine Club (SJP), can now be established on campus. The university had
vetoed the Student Government’s approval of the SJP in December 2016, but the
students sued the university for violating its own rules in April 2017 and have
just won their case.
- Dear Lord, we give thanks for the courage and
persistence of the students as they fought for their right to free speech
to advocate for justice in Palestine. Lord, in your mercy…hear our
prayer.
Israel has approved plans for more than 2,300 illegal Israeli settlement
homes in the Occupied West Bank. This is the latest in a surge of such
approvals since the US President Donald Trump took office in 2017. The Israeli
Group ‘Peace Now’ has called this policy ‘a disastrous attempt’ to prevent the
two-state solution and to annex part, or all of the West Bank.
- Lord, we pray for those Palestinians who are
refused permission to build in the West Bank and even see their homes
demolished, at a time when illegal settlement homes are being built in
their thousands. Lord we cry to you over this injustice and ask that you
would ‘raise up the poor from the dust’ (1 Samuel 2:7). Lord, in your
mercy…hear our prayer.
The Palestinian Monetary Authority declared that banks operating in
Palestine should deduct 50% of the salaries of public sector employees on
Monday, the 5th of August. Employees of institutions receiving finance from the
Ministry of Finance and Planning were to take the same pay cut. The pay cuts come
as a result of the Israeli government’s decision to withhold a substantial
amount of the tax money it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority,
(PA). It withheld revenues to the value of $138 million, which the PA would
have paid to support families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel.
The PA declared that it would not accept the remaining $200 million in protest
against the Israeli deduction.
- Lord, we pray for all those affected by the loss
of income as a result of the discriminatory practices of the Israeli
authorities. We pray that decision makers in Israel may recognize the
impact of their policies on the lives of all Palestinians and that they
will restore the funds they have withheld. Lord, in your mercy…hear our
prayer.
- We join with the World Council of Churches in
their prayers for the countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania
and Niger. Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer.
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