Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of Aug. 31, 2020

In the Gaza Strip a lockdown has been extended for a further 72 hours after the number of  patients suffering from Covid-19 rose to 25 cases. The Ministry of Health in the Occupied West Bank announced that they were ready to provide Gaza with any equipment it required to limit the outbreak.

Dear Lord, we pray for the people of Gaza, that this lockdown and other precautionary measures will help to limit the outbreak of the pandemic in this overcrowded land, which continues to suffer impoverishment from the Israeli blockade. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

The Kumi Now Online Initiative invited speakers from Adalah to talk about their work defending the rights of Palestinian Bedouin on Tuesday, the 1st of September. The Israeli authorities have been attempting to force the Bedouin from their ancestral lands for over twenty years.

Dear Lord, we thank you for the humanitarian work of Adalah. Thank you for all those people in Israel/ Palestine who ‘pursue justice and guide the oppressed’ (Is.17). Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

The villagers of Al-Araqib had their tents and shelters destroyed for the 177th time by the Israeli occupation forces on Thursday, the 27th of August. Since March 2000 the villagers have faced repeated harassment to try to force them off their land and into government-run townships.The Israeli authorities have also convicted Sheikh Sayyah al-Turi and his two sons, as well as Salam al-Turi on the charges of ‘building without a license’ and ‘seizing state lands’.

Dear Lord, we pray for the people of Al-Araqib as yet again their shelters are torn down. We pray for an end to merciless abuse of Palestinians by the Israeli authorities who order the demolition of homes even in this time of pandemic. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

On Wednesday, the 26th of August Father Firas Hijazin, a priest from the Franciscan Friars died of the Coronavirus. Father Firas served in the Franciscan Terra Santa schools which were first founded in the Holy Land in the 16th century.  These schools have done so much to raise educational standards and to promote a message of peaceful co-existence between Jews, Muslims and Christians living in the Holy Land.

Lord, we pray for the family and friends of Father Firas as they mourn his death. We thank you for his life of service, particularly for his work in schools. We pray for comfort for the Franciscan community he served and the students he taught. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Lord, we also remember at this time a young woman, Dana Salah, a member of a Catholic youth group in Jerusalem. Dana was involved in a road accident and passed away from her injuries. We pray for the medical team who tried to save Dana and for her family and friends as they grieve. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

‘Come, let’s see a movie’ is a three year project which has been launched by several Palestinian organizations with a view to helping young people from different areas and backgrounds to have a greater awareness of what conditions are like in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. With backing from the EU, the three Palestinian groups have designed a project to enable ten films to be made by young Palestinian women. These films will then be screened in community groups and the discussions arising from the films will be screened on television.

Lord, we are thankful for community projects such as this film project which can bring a greater awareness of the different challenges faced by young Palestinians. We pray that this project will bring hope and inspiration at a time when many are struggling with despair. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Tojo. Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer.