English 21 July, 2022

 

Sabeel Wave of Prayer

 21^st of July 2022

 

Kumi Now will consider the topic of Family Unification on Tuesday, the 26^th of July. Under international law most countries permit the immigration of a citizen’s close relatives and offer them legal status within the state. Israel does not recognise the right of Palestinians to family unification. The Nationality and Entry into Israel Law, (31.7.2003), has left thousands of Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories who are married to Israeli citizens without residency status and living under constant threat of expulsion.

 

•   Lord, we pray that Israel will rescind its Nationality and Entry into Israel Law. We pray for an end to the Israeli occupation and its discriminatory practice of denying Palestinians access to family unification. Lord, in your mercy…

 

Nora Arsenian-Carmi was invited to speak on the July webinar for Friends of Sabeel Australia on Saturday, the 16th of July. Nora was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, a few months before the establishment of Israel in 1948. Since 1967, she has been a permanent resident of East Jerusalem. Conflict is something she is familiar with considering her Armenian heritage. Her family survived the genocide of 1915. Nora has served as a community builder in various religious and civil society circles. She has worked with the YWCA, Sabeel Liberation Theology Center and Kairos Palestine for more than 37 years. She remains closely connected with the World Council of Churches assemblies and events and participates in several global church involvements.

A recording of the session can be found on the following link: https://youtu.be/5WqNBVWsKCY

 

 

•   Lord, we give thanks for Nora Carmi, especially for her deep faith and her untiring commitment to strive peacefully for justice for her community living under occupation. Lord, in your mercy…

 

At the same time as President Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday, the 13th of July, the Israeli military seized a large area of Palestinian land  between Ramallah and Nablus. The land was owned by Palestinian farmers who cultivated olive and almond trees there and are residents of four neighbouring villages. Their appeals for the land went unheeded by the authorities and the land has been declared a security zone set up to protect nearby Israeli settlements and outposts.

 

•   Lord, we pray for Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank as they see more and more of their land swallowed up by illegal Israeli settlements. Lord, we cry out to you as we see their livelihoods destroyed and they are left with no recourse to justice. Lord in your mercy..

 

During the Eid al-Adha celebrations last Friday a group of people attended a march organised by the Palestinian Ashtar Theatre as part of a youth festival in Ramallah. The group were attacked by thugs. Initially the Palestinian Authority police dispersed the Palestinian troublemakers. However they attacked the marchers again and ,this time, the police failed to intervene.

 

•   Lord, we pray that the Palestinian Authority will fulfil its responsibility to protect organised events and cultural institutions and to control lawlessness on the streets. Lord, in your mercy…

 

 

 

 

 

Four out of five children living in Gaza suffer from depression, sadness and fear caused by fifteen years of the Israeli blockade, according to the latest report, entitled ‘Trapped’, by the Save the Children Fund. More than 800,000 children in Gaza have only known life under the blockade and have lived through five escalations of violence and a pandemic. These experiences have left many suffering from anxiety, leading to nightmares and bedwetting and many experience difficulties in concentrating and communicating.

 

•   Lord, we pray for an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza which is bringing untold suffering and anguish to Palestinian families and their children. Lord, in your mercy…

 

On Wednesday, the 13th of July, the Israeli human rights’ group B’Tselem put up billboards and digital screens in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah before President Biden’s visit to Israel. Their message read, ‘Mr President, this is apartheid.’

 

•   Lord, we thank you for the work of B’Tselem, Human Rights’ Watch, Amnesty International and other human rights’ organisations who have reached a consensus that Israel is employing an apartheid regime. We pray that governments around the world will start to demand accountability from Israel for the way they continue to violate the human rights of Palestinians. Lord, in your mercy…

 

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