March 20th , 2023
This week’s Kumi Now will focus on the Nation-State Law which was passed in the Knesset on the 1st of May, 2018.
Next week’s Kumi Now looks at the threats of censorship and violence suffered by Palestinian journalists, as World Press Freedom Day is remembered on Monday, the 3rd of May.
• Lord, we pray for the Palestinian-Arab and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel, who make up a fifth of the population and yet who do not enjoy the same rights as Jewish citizens.
Lord, in your mercy… hear our prayers.
Again, Palestinian Christians celebrated the resurrection in the city of the Resurrection according to the Eastern Calendar. Candles were lit, church bells rang loudly and choirs chanted Hallelujah while scout groups played music filled with joy. The road blocks and military checkpoints were able to stop many of the faithful from reaching the city of Jerusalem and the Church of the Resurrection. These restrictions did not succeed to stop the good news that the grave is empty and our that our Lord has overcome evil and death from spreading out of Jerusalem to the rest of the world.
- Lord we continue to hold in our prayers our Palestinian people who need the mercy of Israeli officials and the Israeli military permits to reach and worship in Jerusalem. We are thankful for all the faithful and brave members of our community who stubbornly wait for hours with candles in their hands at checkpoints and roadblocks waiting for your light to reach them. May the words” Christ is risen, He is risen indeed” echo unto eternity and in every corner of this world.
Lord in your mercy….
For the past 17 years, Israeli authorities occupying the West Bank have prohibited Assem Khater, from a village near Nablus, from making any additions to the home he finished building when he was 21, on private land he inherited with documentation from his family. Khater wants nothing more than to build a fence around his yard, to protect his three children from falling 4 metres (13 feet) into the adjacent valley while playing.
- Lord, we continue to pray for your spirit to protect our people, especially our children, our homes and our lands from the unjust policies of the Israeli occupation forces. Help us Lord to continue to work for justice and peace and open the eyes of our oppressors to the unjust actions they stubbornly continue to perform. Strengthen Lord our determination and resilience and let your spirit comfort us.
lord in your mercy…
Israel intends to bar Bereaved Palestinian Families from attending a joint Jewish-Arab Memorial Day Ceremony. Israel is ignoring previous Israeli Supreme Court ruling in past years.
- Lord we give thanks to the courage and work of the bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families who insist to work together to put an end to the Israeli occupation and violence. We give thanks for the thousands, both locally and internationally, who support the organization and help them to share their stories.
Lord in your mercy…
Last March, the Palestinian Authority PA, refused to renew the registration of a respected Palestinian legal organization: Lawyers for Justice, which has represented Palestinians detained by the PA in the West Bank. In July 2022, Human Rights Watch and Lawyers for Justice submitted parallel reports to the United Nations Committee Against Torture ahead of its review of Palestine.
- Lord we give thanks to all who work to defend human rights around the world regardless of the identity of the victim or the perpetrator. May all the civil society stand in solidarity with Lawyers for Justice and expose all human rights violations in Palestine.
Lord in your mercy…
- We join the world council of churches in praying for the troubled countries of Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine.
Lord in your mercy…