Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of Nov. 19, 2019

The “Great March of Return” continues in Gaza. Forty people were wounded in protests along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, including 18 by live fire and five by rubber bullets.

Lord, we continue to pray for the Palestinian refugees and their just demands to return to their lands and homes. May the creativity of the protesters in creating nonviolent methods of resistance continue. Lord in your mercy… hear our prayers

Wednesday, the 14th of November a Palestinian fisherman, Nawwaf al Attar, was shot and killed by the Israeli occupation forces off the coast of northern Gaza. The  Palestinian fishermen were working, as recently directed, at three nautical miles from the coast when the Israeli naval forces opened fire, forcing them to head back to working at one nautical mile, where the fish stocks are exhausted.

Lord, we pray for the people of Gaza trying to earn a livelihood and feed their families. We pray for the family of Nawwaf al Attar as they grieve their loss. Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayers

Twenty women from Jerusalem traveled as a group from Sabeel to enjoy fellowship with one another and to learn about the city of Haifa, it’s history and the challenges it faces.

Lord, we thank you for the opportunities you give us to travel and to meet up with our brothers and sisters to find out about their lives. Help us, we pray to walk together in the light of your truth and holiness and to reach out to one another and bear one another’s burdens. Lord, in your mercy…. hear our prayers

The Palestine Book Awards, 2018 winners were announced at the Middle East Monitor’s flagship event in London on Friday, the 16th of November. The Academic Awards were given to Maha Nassar for her book ‘Brothers Apart, Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Arab world’ and to Colin Anderson for his book ‘Balfour in the Dock: J.M.N. Jeffries and the Case for the Prosecution’. The Memoir Award went to Reja-e Busailah, who is blind, for his autobiography, ‘In the Land of My Birth. A Palestinian Boyhood.’ Salim Tamari was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to literature on Palestine.

Thank you, Lord, for the gifts you have given to writers to express the concerns of their hearts and to tell their stories. We pray for those who use their gifts to tell the world about what is happening in Palestine. Lord, in your mercy….. hear our prayers

On Sunday, the 11th of November, the Israeli authorities banned Hebron’s Rehabilitation Committee from renovating a Palestinian kindergarten near the Ibrahami Mosque in the Old City of Hebron, which is under full Israeli military control. The kindergarten belongs to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. The Israeli authorities did not provide any reason for the ban.

God of justice and righteousness, we pray that the Israeli occupying forces in Hebron would be moved to withdraw the ban on work at the kindergarten. We continue to pray for an end to the military occupation that deprives our people of a normal life. Lord, in your mercy….. hear our prayers

A sixteen year old boy, Abdel Nassar Aweiwi was arrested and abused by the Israeli occupation army on the evening of the 13th of November.

Lord, it is deeply shocking to witness the level of violence inflicted on children by the Israeli occupation army. We pray for the healing of victims like Abdel Nassar, that they may recover physically and mentally from the abuse. We pray too for the perpetrators of the violence that they may have a change of heart and be held accountable for their crimes. Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayers

The Kumi Now nonviolent initiative continues this week with Wi’am and their topic of Letting Children be Children. Wi’am, the Palestinian Conflict Transformation Centre, next to the Separation Wall in Bethlehem seeks to provide a safe and stimulating place for Palestinian children to come to, especially for those living in cramped conditions in nearby refugee camps.

Lord Jesus when you walked the earth you showed a special love for children, telling your disciples, ‘Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God’,(Luke 18:16). We give thanks for all those seeking to bring joy and peace into the lives of children and particularly for the work of Wi’am. Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayers

We join the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of East Timor (Timor Leste), Indonesia, the Philippines.