Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of June 27, 2022

This Tuesday Kumi Now considered Israel’s position on nuclear weapons. Next Tuesday marks the halfway mark in the Kumi Now calendar and gives us an opportunity to take stock and look back at the issues covered in the first half of the year by referencing the Kumi Now calendar on the website.

•    Lord, we give thanks for all those who work tirelessly to bring an end to the Israeli occupation through the implementation of international law and non-violent means. Lord, in your mercy..

Dr. Jerry Pillay has been elected as the new General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. He will take up his leading position on the 1st of January, 2023. Currently he is the Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria and he is a member of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.

•    Lord, we pray for Dr. Jerry Pillay and for his new leadership responsibility in the World Council of Churches. We pray that he will know your strength and guidance as he seeks to draw together people from different church backgrounds and to reach out to those in the world suffering persecution and oppression. Lord, in your mercy…

Hundreds of Palestinians took part in the funeral of Ali Hasan Harb in the West Bank village of Iskaka, near Salfit on Wednesday, the 22nd of June, after he had been stabbed and killed by a settler the day before. Eye witnesses report that Harb was stabbed in his heart by a settler who was part of a group attempting to erect a tent on his family’s land. The stabbing took place while security guards from the nearby Ariel settlement, Israeli police and soldiers looked on and did nothing to prevent the attack.

•    Lord, we cry out to you over this spiraling violence and brazen attacks by settlers on Palestinian farmers. We pray that the Israeli authorities will step in and control  perpetrators of lawlessness and bring them to justice. Lord, in your mercy…

Communities in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills are facing increased pressure since the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected their appeals against their eviction orders in May. Dozens of people in Khirbet al Fakhiet and Mirkez have had their homes demolished, in some cases for the third time in less than a year. The area is now designated as a closed military training site, ‘Firing Zone 918’, and military exercises have recently been launched close to residential areas.

•    Lord, we pray that the international humanitarian community will hold Israel to account for the demolitions and threats of forcible transfer of the Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta. We pray for an end to the military intimidation and that the residents should be allowed to remain in their homes in safety and dignity. Lord, in your mercy..

Palestinian students are taking their ‘tawjihi’, or matriculation examinations, at this time in the academic year. One student, Ahmed al Naasan, was prevented from sitting this important examination when the Israeli military arrested him in a dawn raid on the village of Al-Mughayer in Ramallah. He was detained on Monday, the 20th of June, with ten other Palestinians in different areas.

•    Lord, we pray that Palestinian students will do their best to acquit themselves well in their final school examinations, despite the pressures of the occupation. We hold Ahmed in our prayers as he endures detention in an Israeli military facility and pray for his release and a way forward for him to matriculate. Lord, in your mercy..

On Wednesday, the 22nd of June, the Israeli Parole Committee designated the case of Ahmed Manasra as a case of ‘terrorism’. Ahmed was imprisoned at the age of thirteen and he has developed a serious mental health condition since his arrest as a child, seven years ago. Amnesty International has called for his release stating, ‘he endured ill-treatment during interrogations which were conducted without his parents or lawyers’ presence and was denied the right to a fair trial.’

•    Merciful Lord, we pray that international pressure will bring about the release of Ahmed Manasra after the long years of suffering and confinement he has endured. We pray for an end to the Israeli policy of arresting Palestinian children and  detaining them in Israeli military prisons. Lord, in your mercy… •    We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Kenya and Tanzania. Lord, in your mercy…