Sabeel Wave of Prayer
8th
of December 2022
Next week Kumi Now will consider the
right of return for Palestinians. The UN
Resolution 194 was passed on the 11th of December, 1948. It stated, ‘refugees
wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should
be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.’ After seventy years
Palestinians are still waiting on that earliest practicable date.
•
Lord, we pray for an end to the Israeli occupation. We pray
for a shared future for the fulfilment of the Palestinian right of return and a
just and peaceful co-existence with all the people living in the Holy Land.
Lord, in your mercy..
Issa Amro, a human rights’ activist
from Hebron, organized a solidarity visit for Israeli activists to come and
visit Palestinian families who have suffered attacks from Israeli settlers.
During the visit one of the Israeli activists was attacked by an Israeli
soldier. Issa was arrested for filming this attack, charged with obstructing
the soldiers and sent away from his home in Hebron for a week of house arrest.
•
Lord, we pray for Issa Amro and his work to support his
local community which is under constant harassment and threat from settlers and
Israeli soldiers. We pray for the city of Hebron which has been transformed by
the Israeli occupation into a
battleground, dominated by a climate of fear and terror. Lord, in your mercy..
Last week the UN General Assembly
approved a resolution to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, with a
special event to be held on the 15th of May 2023.
The UN Envoy to the Middle East, Tor
Wennesland, warned that tensions in both Israel and Palestine were, ‘reaching a
boiling point’. This year is set to be the deadliest for Palestine in the West
Bank since the UN first started recording deaths 2005.
•
Lord, we pray that the UN and other international human
rights’ organisations will take urgent action to call a halt to the escalating
violence and oppression inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli occupation.
Lord, in your mercy..
As temperatures rise due to climate
change Palestinians are experiencing more acute water shortages. The Israeli
authorities now control more than 85% of water resources in the occupied West
Bank. Palestinians are forced to buy water from Israel at high prices.
According to Amnesty International
Palestinians living in the West Bank can only access 73 litres of water daily,
which is less than the internationally recommended rate of 100 litres. This
compares to 240 litres of water for the average Israeli citizen. While in Gaza
residents have to draw from an over-exploited coastal aquifer which is now
polluted.
•
Lord, we pray that the Israeli authorities will change
their policies to steward your precious resource of water in an equitable way
to bring life and health to all the residents of Palestine/Israel. Lord, in
your mercy..
Friends of Sabeel North America are
calling on Christian leaders across the United Staes to commit their
congregation to Preach Palestine during Advent.
•
Lord, during this Advent season of reflection and
repentance help us to pray for Palestinian people living under the Israeli
occupation. We pray that they will, ‘experience the joy, justice and peace of
Christ’s liberating reign, a very real light in the present darkness’. Lord, in
your mercy..
The third Annual Conference on Gender
Justice took place in Ramallah on Wednesday, the 7th of December. The
conference is one of the many events over a period of sixteen days sponsored by
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.The various events
seek to promote gender equality and to encourage women to lead and participate
in decision-making processes.
•
Lord, we thank you for the conference and pray that women
in Palestine may grow in confidence and dignity as they find their voices and
engage more fully with their communities. Lord, in your mercy..
•
We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers
for the countries of Myanmar and Thailand. Lord in your mercy…
Lord, we pray for
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