English 3 March, 2022

 

Sabeel Wave of Prayer

3^rd of March, 2022

 

The Diyar women’s football team from Bethlehem won the national soccer championship for the fourth consecutive year.

 

•    Lord, thank you for the enthusiasm and dedication of the women living in Bethlehem who are so determined to practice and excel at their chosen sport. Lord, in your mercy..

 

On Thursday, the 3rd of March a team from South Africa and the US will launch a six-week Lenten series looking at the spirituality of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

 

•    Lord, we pray that this study of one man’s unwavering commitment to peace and justice through a time of oppression will be an inspiration to many around the world. Lord, in your mercy…

 

A fourteen-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Shehadeh, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank town of al-Khader near Bethlehem on Tuesday, the 22nd of February. The military accused him of throwing a Molotov cocktail at passing cars. He was shot in the chest.

 

•    Lord, we pray for the family of Mohammed as they mourn his untimely death. We pray that Israeli soldiers will cease to use Extra-judicial assassination, especially against Palestinian children. Lord, in your mercy…

 

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court temporarily stopped the eviction of the Salem family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah on Tuesday, the 22nd of February, while it considers their appeal.

 

•    Lord, we continue to pray for the Salem family, as well as the other Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan areas of East Jerusalem, who are threatened with eviction to make way for illegal Israeli settlers. Lord, in your mercy…

 

Video footage of Israeli police manhandling Muhammad al-Ajlouni, a young Palestinian man with Downs’ syndrome, has caused outrage. On Monday, the 21st of February, Muhammad started to join in with the protesters he came across at Sheikh Jarrah. When soldiers attempted to restrain him, he was terrified. An Israeli police officer came to apologise to his family for the rough treatment on the following day and stated that the police had, ‘a duty to take care of people with special needs’.

 

•    Lord, we pray that Muhammad will soon recover from the trauma he experienced. We pray that the Israeli authorities will exercise compassion and understanding when they come across vulnerable people under their care, including children and those with special needs. Lord, in your mercy..

 

On Thursday, the 24th of February, B’Tselem published the full witness statements of those Palestinians who had been affected by settler attacks while driving in the Nablus and Ramallah areas over a period of four days, from the 21st to the 24th of November, 2021. The settlers had damaged Palestinian vehicles by driving by and throwing large stones at their windscreens, injuring three Palestinians and inflicting life-changing injuries on one driver.

 

 

 

•    Lord, levels of settler violence in the occupied West Bank have risen to a harrowing level. Palestinians live in fear of attack when driving to visit relatives or going about their everyday business. However, the settlers who perpetrate these crimes seem to escape detection or punishment. We pray for an end to the settler violence, which appears to be sanctioned by the Israeli authorities. Lord, in your mercy…

 

B’Tselem has also highlighted the disruption caused by the 50-day closure of the village of Deir Nizam in the Ramallah District by the Israeli military during this past December and January. On the premise of looking for Palestinian children who may have thrown stones at Israeli settler cars, the army set up a checkpoint to control movement in and out of the village, patrolled the village and detained residents as a form of collective punishment.

 

•    Lord, it seems incredible that the Israeli authorities are prepared to break national and international laws by using collective punishment to investigate possible incidents of stone throwing by Palestinian children, when they do not act to punish Israeli settlers who have caused actual injury and harm to Palestinians. We pray for an end to the Israeli occupation and for the oppression suffered by so many in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Lord, in your mercy…

 

•    We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Lord, in your mercy…