Dec 7th, 2023
On the 1st of December, the truce between Israel and Hamas expired and the fighting has resumed. Israel resumed its attacks on northern, southern, and central Gaza, killing a reported 800 people as of the 4th of December. At least 1.8 million people in Gaza are internally displaced. Hamas has also begun again to fire missiles towards Israeli settlements and towns neighboring Gaza. During the truce, many Palestinian prisoners were released who had not been tried or charged, that is hostages, and several Israeli and foreign national hostages were released. Moreover, some humanitarian aid was allowed to enter Gaza.
• God you are the Alpha and the Omega, again and again violence reigns and the innocent suffer. We have faith, although it is not easy to understand that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). Lord, you are eternal, unlike systems, leaders, and sin, which are temporal. Help us glorify your name through justice, which is love made public. Let us be agents of your kingdom by calling for an immediate ceasefire and holding all those who partake and enable war crimes accountable.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
As several Palestinian prisoners, including minors, are being released from Israeli jails as a part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, the horrific stories of their experiences are now emerging. There are reports that Israeli prison guards torture, beat, sexually assault, and threaten Palestinian prisoners. Many Palestinian prisoners continue to be incarcerated without charge or trial, making them hostages, while Israel has arrested more Palestinians as it released during the truce.
• Liberator of the captives, we are thankful for the release of the several Israeli hostages in Gaza and the several Palestinians who have been arbitrarily detained, many of whom are children. We pray that all evil hidden in prisons will be exposed and accounted for. Lord, free all the captives, the wrongfully incarcerated and imprisoned, and let them return to their families unharmed. Likewise, we pray for liberation to those who are self-imprisoned by their hatred and racist supremacy.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
On the 3rd of December, Dar al-Kalima University organized an event titled “Hope from Bethlehem: Peace for Palestine A Christmas Solidarity Campaign with the People in Gaza”. Well-known artists from Palestine and abroad performed to encourage the call for an immediate ceasefire, an open and sustainable humanitarian corridor into Gaza, and a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel. As we enter the season of advent, many in the Western Church have marked the first Sunday by lighting the candle of “Hope”, and many in the eastern Church began their “Nativity Fast”.
• Emmauel, God with us, Advent in Palestine this year feels like a paradox. We meditate on the hope of the incarnation whilst we live in a hopeless reality where children are killed, lives lost become mere numbers and statistics, women have no safe place to give birth, and injustice is celebrated. Lord, this is your story. As we meditate on your incarnation, let it be a time of active waiting which feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, heals the sick, and struggles with the oppressed for their liberation.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
On the 29th of November, the United Nations observed the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”. Marches, sit-ins, protests and various other events took place as people from all around the world expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people. While governments in the West support the injustices committed by the State of Israel, many of their citizens regularly criticize their governments and protest on the streets in record breaking numbers.
• God of the oppressed, for more than 75 years Palestinians have been robbed of their lands, homes, dignity, and lives due to the structures and systems of sin. We have been dehumanized to the point that our mere identity is a crime from birth. Lord, we thank you for the beautiful solidarity around the world from those who are advocating for justice and praying for mercy for our enemies since, “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him” (Proverbs 14:31).
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
Last week, several Palestinians, including two children, 8-year-old Adam Samer al-Ghoul and 15-year-old Basil Suleiman Abu al-Wafa were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin refugee camp. It is reported that the Israeli military during their raids prevented Palestinian ambulances from reaching the injured. Moreover, Israel arrested at least 133 Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the West Bank indefinitely with no charges, and there have been reports of settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and burning of olive trees.
• Almighty God, give assurance to the bereaved families that although their loved ones have passed from their sight, they have not passed from your love. Draw near to us as we mourn so that we may utter the words of the prophet Job, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5-6). Help us to see you in this nightmare. Console us through liberation, heal us through justice, humble the rulers of the world that are responsible for the loss of so many Palestinian lives.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
On the 25th of November, three young Palestinian men, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ahmed, were shot near a university campus in the US. According to the police, the young men were speaking Arabic and two of them were wearing keffiyehs when attacked. Several sources claim that biased media coverage and the political discourse in the US have led to an increase in anti-Arab and anti-Islam sentiments, making the shooting a hate crime.
• God of love, all Palestinians around the world suffer from hate on different scales. Lord, heal Awartani, Abdalhamid, and Ahmed. Restore them to full health and strengthen their families. We call for your justice towards the shooter and an end to the violent rhetoric and ideologies which motivated his crimes. Lord, replace all forms of hate and violence, whether through guns or through words, with actions of love and words of truth.
• We join the World Council of Churches in their prayer for the countries of Myanmar and Thailand.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayers
Hisham Awartani’s poem written in the 6th grade
“Hope dwells in my heart
It shines like a light in darkness
[This] light cannot be smothered
It cannot be drowned out by tears and the screams of the wounded
It only grows in strength
This light can outshine hate
This light can outshine injustice
It outshines segregation and apartheid
As of Greek legend, Pandora opened a box
And when she did that, all the evil escaped
But luckily, Pandora closed the jar before hope could escape
And as long as hope stayed in that jar
Hope would never escape
So I ask you one thing, learn from that story
Learn to never give up hope
Learn to let hope give power
In the darkest of times
And let the light shine.”