English September 23, 2021

 

Wave of Prayer

23^rd of September, 2021

This week’s Kumi online gathering on Tuesday, September 17^th, focused on the Blockade on Gaza, which was implemented in 2006 and has resulted in a severe deterioration of living conditions in Gaza. The combination of the blockade and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have also led to a shortage of materials necessary for rebuilding homes and other infrastructures such as clinics, hospitals, and schools. The health system has also been severely strained in the midst of COVID-19. As of August 2021, only 16 % of Gazan adults have received two vaccines.

 

·         God of justice, we pray for the many injustices Gazans face and ask that you would move people around the world to stand in solidarity with Gaza. We thank you for the many Gazans who both continue to work to rebuild their communities and advocate for the end of the blockade. May your spirit sustain and nourish them. We pray that the oppressive structures that inflict ongoing violence against Gazans would be dismantled and that the conditions necessary for peace and human flourishing would take root and grow.

 

Lord in Your Mercy…Hear our prayer

 

This week is the World Week of Prayer for Palestine and September 21^st is the World Day of Prayer for Peace.

 

·         Jesus, you taught us: “blessed be the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God” (Mathew 5:9). We thank you for all those who are praying and acting for peace both in Palestine and around the world.

 

Lord, in Your Mercy…Hear our Prayer.

 

This week Muna and Mohammed El Kurd made the TIME magazine’s “top 100 influential people of 2021” list. Muna and Mohammed El Kurd are from the community of Sheikh Jarrah where Palestinian families are being expelled from their homes. In May 2021, the El Kurd’s began documenting and speaking out against the ongoing expulsion of people in Sheikh Jarrah, and they gained a large following on social media.

 

·         Lord,  we thank you for the advocacy of Muna and Mohammed El Kurd and their bold stand against injustice in Sheikh Jarrah. We  pray for  justice for the families who have been expelled from their homes, and for an end to these forced removals. 

 

Lord, in Your Mercy…Hear our Prayer.

 

Thursday September 16^th was the memorial day for the Sabra & Shatila Massacre, which took place in Lebanon in 1982, and led to the death of up to 3,500 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians.  

 

·         Lord, we remember the victims and their families. We grieve for the dead and those who lost loved ones during this brutal massacre. We pray for an end to violence and for an end to the destruction of life everywhere.

 

Lord, in Your Mercy…Hear our Prayer.

 

As of September 16^th, administrative detainee Kayed Fasfous has been on hunger strike for 65 days, along with five other detainees, to protest incarceration without trial.  According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society there are currently 520 administrative detainees.

 

·         Lord, we thank you for the strength and courage Kayed and others have shown in resisting the violation of their rights. We pray that the rights of current detainees would be respected and for the end of the practice of administrative detention.

 

Lord, in Your Mercy…Hear our Prayer

 

 

On September 13^th ,  UNRWA  ( United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East) honoured Palestinian Loay Elbasyouni for his work on the NASA Mars helicopter, which completed its first flight to Mars in April 2021. He was a former student at an UNRWA school in Gaza.

 

·         Lord, we thank you for the inspiration Loay Elbasyouni’s achievements gives to refugees and children in Gaza. We pray that children in Gaza and around the world would have equal access to education and that they would be given the support they need to develop their talents and gifts.

Lord, in Your Mercy…Hear our Prayer.

 

 

After the escape of six Palestinian prisoners on September 6^th, some of the relatives of the escaped prisoners were arrested and family visits were cancelled for prisoners as a form of collective punishment. Palestinians have responded with solidarity demonstrations, which have been met with repression from Israeli forces, leading to injuries amongst demonstrators.

 

·         God, you proclaim “Liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1).  We pray for Palestinian political and administrative prisoners who are deprived of their basic rights according to international law.

 

Lord, in your Mercy… Hear our Prayer.