At this time of year Christians in Jerusalem and around the world keep a forty-day period of fasting and prayer for Lent leading up to Holy Week.
In the first week of March the young Swedish singer and peace activist, Divina Levrini died. She had been a passionate advocate for Palestine and had been a crew member of the Freedom flotilla in 2018.
This week the Kumi Now initiative focuses on the ‘Olive Tree Campaign’. The Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA and the YWCA, (JAI), is working to replant olive trees. Many Palestinian farmers have had their trees uprooted or destroyed by the expansion of Israeli settlements, the Separation Wall and even settler violence. JAI distributes olive saplings, sponsored by people around the world, to farmers who have suffered loss of land or crops.
· Lord, the olive tree is such an ancient and precious resource for farmers in Palestine. We pray for the work of JAI as they seek to help farmers to protect their livelihood and care for their crops. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.
Last Saturday, January 26, Israeli settlers killed Hamdi Saadeh Naasan, the father of four children as he was tending his land, and injured 30 others after they raided the al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah.
An Israel undercover commando unit killed a Hamas leader and six others inside Gaza near Khan Younis. Israel launched air attacks to provide cover for the retreat of the commandos. An Israeli officer was killed and one wounded. The Israeli incursion and air attacks drew rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled enclave threatening an escalation of violence in the region.
On Saturday, the 4th of August at least 100,000 Israelis attended a Druze-led demonstration against the Nation-State law in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Further efforts have been made by Israeli-Arab leaders to express their opposition to the controversial law as they filed the fourth petition to the High Court of Justice against the law on Tuesday the 7th of August.
Benjamin Ladraa is a 25-year-old Swedish activist who is on a 3000 mile walk from Gothenburg, Sweden to Jerusalem to raise awareness about human rights violations in the occupied territories. Over the past eleven months he has walked through fifteen different countries. The Israeli authorities prevented Ladraa from entering Palestine when he arrived at the Allenby Bridge, on the Jordanian-Palestinian border.
Once again, the United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s use of force in seeking to stifle protests at the border with Gaza. The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, rejected the Kuwaiti resolution – which sought ‘measures to guarantee the safety and protection’ of Palestinian civilians.
There continue to be new settlements approved in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are now plans to evict several Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in order to build new homes for settlers.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer…
The water shortage in the West Bank continues. This is a result of years of Israel’s discriminatory water policies. The amount of water allowed to the West Bank has not been increased since 1995, although its population has almost doubled since then. As a result, the average Israeli has access to 2-3 times the World Health Organization’s recommended minimum water allowance per day, while the average Palestinian living in the West Bank has access to only 75% of that minimum amount.
Lord, in your mercy…
Palestinians from the West Bank who work inside Israel are subject to many forms of discrimination. This includes denial of permits, checkpoint closures preventing workers from getting to their jobs, and lack of enforcement of laws intended to protect the rights of workers.
Lord, in your mercy…
We mourn for several tragic deaths that occurred recently. One tragedy was the death of a mother and her five children in a car accident on the way to Nablus. We also mourn the accidental drowning of a young man in Tiberias and the injury of his friend, who is still in the hospital.
Lord, in your mercy…
Today, Mennonite Church USA is voting on a resolution called “Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine,” which proposes that the church commit itself to advocacy and economic actions such as divestment from companies which profit from the occupation.
Lord, in your mercy…
We join the World Council of Churches in praying for the countries of Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. Lord, in your mercy…
REPORT OF SABEEL / AL LIQA CHRISTIAN- MUSLIM IFTAR (breaking the fast) JUNE 25 IN BETHLEHEM
The theme for this year’s dinner was “For better education for Muslims and Christians’ and we were pleased to have as guest speakers Patriarch Michel Sabbah and Dr Hamzeh Diab Mustafa. Sabeel was responsible for the organizing and promotion of the event at the Bethlehem Hotel and Dr Geries Khoury of Al LIqa welcomed everyone and moderated the panel discussion.
PatriarchMichel highlighted the very important topic regarding the educationsystem and the importance of evaluating the things we are teaching our children at school. He stressed the need for expanding spaces for the ‘living together’ issue in out teachings and knowing the ‘other’.
Close to 100 people from the local community attended and a lively discussion was prompted by the speakers. Afterward everyone enjoyed a traditional Iftar , an evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.
A Joint statement came out as a result of this event that was publicized in the local newspaper. We thank the Mennonite Central Committee, Palestine/Israel for their support in this important Interfaith work of bringing Christians and Muslims together for discussion and fellowship. Without this and more events like this we fear that isolation, misunderstandings and extremism will only grow.
