Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of Dec. 14, 2020

On Monday, the 7th of December, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO),unanimously adopted two resolutions concerning Palestine. Steps are to be taken to monitor attacks on the educational and cultural heritage of Palestine, including monitoring Israeli violations at the holy sites of Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

Lord, we are thankful for the commitment of the United Nations to uphold international law and to work for the peaceful solution of the conflict in Israel/ Palestine. We continue to pray for an end to the Israeli occupation and an end to the escalation of the Israeli attacks on the cultural heritage of the Palestinians. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

This week’s Kumi Now Initiative looks at the work of Al-Marsad. This Arab Human Rights’ Centre was set up in 2003 to protect the human rights of the Syrian population living in the occupied Golan Heights. Ever since the Arab/Israeli War in 1967, Syrians living in this area have been marginalized and the Israeli government has given away their land to settlers in an attempt to create ‘Northern Israel’.

Lord, we thank you for the work of those trying to protect the rights of the Syrians living in the occupied Golan Heights. We pray for an end to the illegal annexation of this area by the Israeli authorities and settlers. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

Sabeel-Kairos U.K. will be holding an online Advent Service on Saturday, the19th of December at 4pm, (GMT). Rev’d Naim Ateek, Founder of Sabeel, Jerusalem will be leading the service and Garth Hewitt, Founder of the Amos Trust, will be singing.

Lord Jesus, you are the sunrise which has visited us from on high ‘to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.’( Luke 1:78) Help us, Lord, to look to your light this Advent season and to joyfully worship your name. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

The Blue and White party’s ‘Equality Bill’ passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset on Wednesday, the 9th of December. Despite opposition from Likud, the coalition partner, the bill only requires three more votes to be passed into law. The law would ‘enshrine the right to equality and prohibit discrimination’.

Lord, we pray for stable, just and law-abiding government in Israel/ Palestine. We pray that people from different ethnicities will be respected there and that all will be granted equality and freedom from discrimination under the law. Lord in your mercy…hear our prayers.

‘Songs for the love of Palestine’ is a documentary film about four songs which have become particularly popular with Palestinians living in the diaspora .The songs reflect their cultural heritage and remind them of their longing to return to their homeland.

Lord, we thank you for the gift of music and for the joy of joining with others to express the deepest desires of our hearts through song. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

In the Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood of East Jerusalem eighty six families are facing forcible eviction by the Israeli authorities. Three families have just lost their court appeals and have been ordered to hand their property over to the settlement group, Ateret Cohanim. This settler group is seizing land in the area claiming their right as it belonged to Yemeni Jews in 1881.

Lord, we pray that the Israeli government will put an end to its unjust, illegal and inhuman policy of home demolition and settler confiscation. We pray for the Palestinian families facing the dire prospect of having to abandon their homes especially at this time of pandemic. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.