Sabeel Wave of Prayer
16th of February 2023
Next week’s Kumi Now will consider the
issues of Israeli illegal settlements and settler violence. According to
B’Tselem more than two hundred settlements were established between 1967 and
2017 on land annexed from the occupied West Bank. These settlements depend on
water and resources stolen from Palestinian villages. The settlers now living
there routinely harass and assault Palestinian villagers and destroy their
crops and property. This activity takes place under the protection of Israeli
soldiers and without fear of prosecution by the Israeli authorities.
•
Merciful Lord, we cry out to you as we hear the Israeli
government speak of a further expansion of illegal settlement building on
Palestinian land in the West Bank. Can Israel continue to breach international
law with impunity? Lord, in your mercy..
A car ramming incident took place in
the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramot on Friday, the 10th of February. A
six-year-old child, Yaakov Pelli and his brother eight-year-old Asher along
with twenty-year-old Alter Liderman, were killed and several other people were
seriously injured while waiting at a bus stop when a car drove into them. The
driver, Hussein Qaraqe, a 31-year-old Palestinian, was shot dead at the scene
by an off-duty Israeli police officer. Qaraqe had just been released from a
psychiatric ward after receiving treatment following an injury he had received
on a construction site six months previously. After the incident a large number
of Israeli police raided Qaraqe’s home in Isawiyah and arrested members of his
family.
•
Lord, we pray for the relatives of the Israelis injured and
killed in this recent incident. We pray for the relatives of Qaraqe who are now
being punished for his crime. We pray for wisdom and restraint for all those in
positions of authority in Palestine/Israel that they will act to calm the
tensions between the communities and guide them in the way of peace. Lord, in
your mercy..
Tens of thousands of people have died
and been injured in Turkey and Syria following the devastating earthquake in
Southern Turkey on Monday, the 6th of February. The full scale of the damage
and the number of victims is still being investigated. Efforts to bring aid to
north-western Syria are being hampered by ongoing warfare in the region.
•
May we join with the prayers requested by a church leader
in Hatay, Turkey, (Open Doors 9.2.23), ‘Please pray for the people who have
lost their loved ones and are in sorrow and despair, that God would comfort
them. Please pray for the people who are helping and serving. And please pray
that ways would be opened soon, so we can bring more help to the area.’ Lord,
in your mercy..
The Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has
severed her city’s official ties with Israel, charging the country with ’the
crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people’. In a letter to the Israeli
Prime Minister, she cited a number of Israeli policies in her charge, including
the military occupation of the West Bank, the annexation of East Jerusalem and
the construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
•
Lord, we are thankful for the voices of protest over
Israel’s violation of the human rights of Palestinians being raised around the
world. Lord, in your mercy..
National
Security Minister Ben Gvir has accused police in Jerusalem of, ‘losing control
of the city to a group of anarchists’, after they held back from using force to
disperse anti-government protestors last Thursday night. The Police
Commissioner gave public support to the way the protest was handled, as
tensions rise between the minister and the police authorities. For the past
five weeks thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating across the country
against the controversial legal reforms planned by the right-wing government to
weaken the judiciary.
• God
of justice, we continue to pray for all people who face injustice, especially
these days, for the situation inside Israel, in particular the Palestinian
minority in Israel and the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. We
pray that freedom of speech and the right to protest for all people is
protected and upheld. May your spirit Lord continue to give courage to
the people not to be silent and echo your words “For he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his
faithful ones. Proverbs
2:8 , Lord, in your mercy..
Naseem Alatrash, a Palestinian cellist, was nominated for a
Grammy Award in the recent ceremony in Los Angeles. He has been recognised for
his work on ‘Crisalida’ a Latin Jazz album by Danilo Perez and the Global
Messengers. He gives soloist concerts around the world and works as a professor
at the Berkelee College of Music in Boston. Naseem was born in Beit Sahour and
began studying the cello at the age of 12 years at the Edward Said National
Conservatory of Music.
•
Lord, we praise you for the musical talent of Naseem
Alatrash and for the way he is receiving international recognition for his
gifts. Lord, in your mercy..
•
We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers
for the countries of Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Lord, in your
mercy…
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