Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of Dec. 5, 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 neighbors 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 fulfillment 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’ organizations 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 liters of water daily, which is less than the internationally recommended rate of 100 liters. This compares to 240 liters 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 States 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…