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Nadia Habash, a lecturer at Birzeit University, has been named by the Middle East Architect magazine as one of the fifty most influential architects in the region. She described her work as part of a ‘national struggle to preserve the architectural heritage in Palestine’.

• Lord, we thank you for the gifts you give to architects like Nadia. We thank you that she has been able to celebrate and cherish her Palestinian heritage in an occupied land where there is so much destruction. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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On Monday, the 10th of February, Sabeel published its new edition of Cornerstone entitled Theologies of Palestine. In this edition there are a number of interviews with Palestinian theologians from different denominations which explore their theology, how it deals with Christian Zionism, and their hopes for the future.

• Oh Lord, you are compassionate and merciful. We thank you for the desire to reach a deeper understanding of one another and how we reflect your glory and build your church where we live. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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Following a decision by the Israeli government to ban Palestinian exports of agricultural produce through Jordan, the Head of Mission of the Office of the Quartet, Dr John Clarke, stated that the Quartet would intervene in the decision to ban Palestinian exports of agricultural products and appeal to the Israeli government to lift this restriction. The Quartet on the Middle East is a group of international entities involved in mediating the Israeli/Palestinian peace process.

• Dear Lord, we pray that attempts by the Israeli government to choke the Palestinian economy would meet a strong intervention and practical action from the international community. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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The UN Human Rights Office has issued a report on the companies which are profiting from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The report names 112 businesses which have been involved with establishing the settlements, including Airbnb, booking.com, the Expedia Group and Motorola Solutions. There are now about 600,000 Israelis living in around 140 illegal settlements, built since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

• Dear Lord, we pray that the businesses named in the UN report will review how they are gaining profit from their links with Jewish settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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This week’s Kumi Now initiative focuses on the work of the Regional Council of the Palestinian Unrecognised Bedouin Villages (RCUV). The RCUV seeks to provide representation for Palestinian Bedouin villages in the Naqab. The Palestinian Arab citizens in these villages have no legal recognition in the Israeli state and no access to municipal services, like water or electricity. They wish to continue to follow their traditional way of life, rearing livestock and farming. Bedouin villagers, like those in al-Araqib, live under constant threat of demolition. The Israeli government wants to relocate them to urban centres without regard for their rural way of life.

• Lord, we pray for the work of the RCUV as they seek to protect those who have no rights in their own land. We pray that the way of life of the Bedouin people would be respected and that they would be left to farm in their traditional ways. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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• Lord, we remember the poor and the homeless in Palestine during the current cold and wintry weather. We pray for the provision of shelter and sustenance for them. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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On Thursday, February 6, Sabeel Jerusalem announced that they will be having a Young Adult Gathering June 2020. In the spirit of gathering and Kumi, we hope to have young adults join from around the world to hear, learn, and plan how to further work for a just peace in our world.

• Dear Lord, we thank you for this new generation of peacemakers in Your name. For their passion for justice and a better world where all are loved and human rights and no longer violated. We pray for guidance as the program is planned and we at Sabeel prepare for this gathering. Lord, in Your mercy…hear our prayer.

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On Monday, the third of February Palestinian prisoners from four prisons chose to observe a hunger strike for two hours in protest at the dire conditions suffered by child and women prisoners at Damon prison. The Prisoners’ Commission and the Prisoners’ Society have reported that women and child prisoners at Damon are held without warm clothes and blankets in the cold weather and provided with poor quality food.

• Dear Lord, we pray for an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories.  May the conditions of Palestinian prisoners be improved and an end be brought to moving them into Israel proper which is against International law. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

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The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories, Michael Lynk, has commented that the Trump Middle East Plan ‘is a lopsided proposal entirely in favour of one side of the conflict’ and that it would ‘ endorse the creation of a 21st century Bantustan in the Middle East’.

• Lord, we pray that the UN and the wider international community would redouble their efforts to achieve a just and equitable peace on the basis of equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.