Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of March 8, 2021

This week’s Kumi Now online gathering will consider how Palestinian women are taking up new opportunities to participate in nonviolent resistance to the occupation. The session will take place on Tuesday, the 9th of March, at 6pm Jerusalem Time/11 am Eastern US time.

• Lord, we thank you for the courage of the Palestinian women working for justice and peace in their land and for a brighter future for their children. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

The World Health Organization reported on Thursday, the 25th of February, that three residents of Gaza were among those denied medical permits to cross the Beit Hanoun/ Erez Crossing to travel for urgent hospital treatment. In January a 16-year-old child had requested a permit to receive treatment for a blood disorder and two male cancer patients had also been refused permission to attend hospital.

• Lord, we pray that the Israeli authorities will show mercy and grant permits to those in need of critical treatment in hospitals outside the Gaza enclave. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

On Monday, the 1st of March, Israeli soldiers seized a tractor belonging to Palestinian farmers in the village of Birin, south of Hebron. The villagers were attempting to cultivate and reclaim their land when the seizure took place. Previously land belonging to the residents of Birin had been annexed by Israelis from the nearby Bani Hefer settlement.

• Lord, we pray for all Palestinian farmers who are denied the right to cultivate and reclaim their land. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

On Sunday, the 28th of February, Mohammad Abu al-Hummos, a seventeen-year-old Palestinian boy from the al-Issawiya neighbourhood was attacked by Israeli settlers in the French Hill area of occupied East Jerusalem. The settlers had thrown stones at him and he sustained a serious facial injury.

• We pray, Lord, that Mohammad will receive the medical care he needs to treat his injuries. We pray too that this violent incident will be thoroughly investigated and that his assailants will face prosecution. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

For the fourth time this month the Romanian Orthodox Church in west Jerusalem has been vandalized by extremist Orthodox Jews. The local priest managed to extinguish the fire before it took hold.

• Merciful and faithful Lord Jesus, we ask for your grace and help at this time of violence and intolerance in the city of Jerusalem. We pray for a spirit of mutual respect among the different faith communities in the city. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

Jerusalem’s Arab Studies Society has warned that the Israeli authorities are planning to annex more Palestinian land in and around Jerusalem. The site of Palestine’s old airport, formerly known as Qalandia Airport, which was built in 1920 during the British Mandate, is to be used to expand the existing illegal settlements.

• Lord, we pray for an end to the rapid and ongoing annexation of Palestinian land by the Israeli authorities and all attempts to displace Palestinians from their land. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

Israel has vaccinated more than one third of its population, but it has not included the population of the West Bank and Gaza in its program. The Palestinian population of 5.2 million people in the occupied territories has so far received 34,700 vaccine doses. They have received small donations from Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the COVAX scheme. After facing claims of partiality, the Palestinian Authority has admitted that some of the donated vaccines, which were meant for medical workers, have been diverted to treat Palestinian Authority ministers and VIPs.

• Lord, we pray that more inoculations would be made available for people living in the occupied Palestinian Territories and that the vaccine would be distributed in a fair and transparent way. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced the opening of an investigation into possible war crimes committed in the Palestinian Territories since June 2014. The ICC ruled on the 5th of February that it had jurisdiction to investigate serious crimes in Palestine.

• Lord, we pray that the investigations in The Hague will give victims of crimes access to justice and put an end to the serious violations of international law in the occupied territories. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

Thursday, March 8th, is International Women’s Day, where we celebrate the accomplishments of women everywhere, and also recognize the need to continue pushing for gender equality worldwide. We remember specifically on this day the women of Palestine, who often bear the brunt of the violence of the Israeli Occupation. It is the women who must remain strong when their husbands and children are arrested, the women who are often left to rebuild their houses after the military demolishes them, and the women who struggle to hold the community together in the wake of continued oppression.

• Dear God, we thank you for women everywhere, and pray for their continued perseverance and courage. Lay your hand upon them and guide them in their constant struggle towards peace and justice, for themselves, their families, and their countries. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

• We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Ireland and the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.