English 2nd of March 2023

 

Sabeel Wave of Prayer 2.3.23

 

Next Tuesday Kumi Now will consider how peace building opportunities are opening up to Palestinian and Israeli women in spite of the occupation. We will be celebrating International Women’s Day on Wednesday, the 8th of March, and thinking of the many women activists involved in the nonviolent campaign of resistance against the Israeli occupation.

 

•    Lord, we thank you for the courage and commitment of the Palestinian and Israeli women working to bring about peaceful and lasting change to their country now ravaged by violence. Lord, in your mercy …

 

The Israeli government has just granted Cabinet-level authority over illegal settlement policies to Smotrich, the Finance Minister. More than seven thousand settler housing units have  been approved. The E1 plan is also going to be revived, which would effectively bisect the West Bank by allowing settler development in a strategic area of occupied East Jerusalem.

 

•    Merciful Lord, we pray that international governments and organisations will hold the Israeli government to account for its disregard of international law over its policy of rapid settlement expansion in occupied territory. Lord in your mercy..

 

The well-known Dublin-based Bohemian Football Club has just released a new football kit  promoting the Palestinian cause. A club representative, Daniel Lambert stated:

‘This 2023 shirt is aiming to assist children in Palestine who face unimaginable challenges and human rights’ violations each and everyday’. A percentage of  the profit from the sale of the shirts will go towards sports equipment and help in sports participation for children in the Tulkarm Refugee Camp in the occupied West Bank.

 

•    Lord, we give thanks for this new initiative from the Irish football club to contribute funds to give Palestinian refugees the opportunity to improve their health and skills through participation in sport. Lord in your mercy..

 

Shopkeepers in the Old City of Hebron usually shut their premises at 2pm to avoid attacks from illegal settlers living in the nearby Beit Romano settlement. B’tselem have just issued a full report on the price paid by two Palestinian shopkeepers who tried to keep their shops open until the usual closing time of 5pm. Soldiers ordered them to close their shops on the pretext that Palestinian children were throwing stones at the settlement. They threw stun grenades outside and inside the antique shop, damaging goods. They threatened them with arrest and pointed their guns at them. They have returned with the same threats on several other occasions.

 

•    Lord, we pray for the Palestinian shopkeepers of Hebron trying to earn a livelihood in the face of attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers. So many have despaired of earning a living under pressure of such relentless harassment and have left. Some have no other option but to remain and face the violence and abuse each day. Lord, in your mercy..

 

The International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine is made up of Jewish groups and individuals who live in fifteen different countries. Members of this group have welcomed the Mayor of Barcelona’s decision ‘to cut ties with Israel until everyone in Israel/Palestine fully enjoys their rights, safety and self-determination.’

 

•    Righteous Lord, we give thanks when public figures like Mayor Colau take a stand to affirm universal human rights. We pray that other politicians will call out Israel over its policies of human rights abuses against Palestinians. Lord, in your mercy..

 

Large numbers of soldiers entered the busy city of Nablus early last Wednesday morning in a raid targeting two Palestinian fighters, who allegedly shot an Israeli soldier last October. Residents of Nablus were terrorised as the Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition indiscriminately and used teargas with pepper spray on crowds in the streets. The army used rocket propelled grenades and armed drones to kill the Palestinian fighters, while nine other Palestinians were killed and eighty other bystanders were injured.

 

•    Lord, we pray for an end to these deadly Israeli army raids in the occupied West Bank. Just in the first two months of this year so many Palestinians have been shot dead and seriously wounded. We continue to pray for an end to this bloodshed. Lord, in your mercy..

 

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