16th of June 2022
This week Kumi Now considered ethical tourism and pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Next week, Kumi Now will consider the plight of Palestinian refugees as we mark World Refugee Day on Monday, the 20th of June. More than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees were registered with the UN in 2019 and more than 1.5 million of these refugees live in camps run by UNRWA.
- Father God, our steadfast hope, we pray for Palestinian refugees, now the world’s oldest unsettled refugee population. We pray for their right of return to their homeland, affirmed by the UN over seventy years ago.
Lord in your mercy…
On Thursday, the 16th of June, Father David Neuhaus will lead the Sabeel Online Service. Father David is an Israeli Jesuit born to German Jewish parents in Johannesburg. He moved to Israel at the age of 15 years. He became a Roman Catholic at 26 and an ordained priest in Jerusalem at the age of 38. He has held a number of teaching and pastoral roles and he is currently the Secretary-General-Coordinator in Jerusalem responsible for communication to the Synod.
- Lord, we are thankful for the weekly Sabeel Online Service which reaches out across the world to Christians with a special burden of prayer for the Palestinian people. Thank you that in Rev. Naim Ateek’s absence, other priests have stepped forward to lead our prayers and meditations on the Word.
Lord, in your mercy..
Sabeel Nazareth will hold an event on Friday, the 17th June to honour Violette Khoury as she retires from leading the group after twenty years. Violet has been a supporter of the work of Sabeel from its beginnings. She has lived her whole life in very difficult circumnutates as a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and yet she has still managed to run her own pharmacy, support her family and to engage in advocacy work for Sabeel.
- Lord, we celebrate the hard work and faithful dedication of Violette Khoury. We pray that her retirement celebration will be a joyous and memorable occasion.
Lord, in your mercy…
B’tselem has just released its report on the uprooting of olive saplings on Saturday, the 14th of May, in Turmusaya, a Palestinian village in the district of Ramallah. The report reveals that three masked settlers uprooted 190 saplings under the protection of an Israeli military patrol. This is the second crop of olive trees that have been destroyed in these fields by settlers this year, bringing ruinous cost and anguish to the Palestinian farmers.
- Lord, we bring before you the Palestinian farmers trying to raise their crops only to have them vandalised by the settlers. Where can these farmers turn to when the Israeli military look on and protect the vandals in this devastation?
Lord, in your mercy…
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Sunday, the 5th of June, that a building of twelve housing units is under imminent threat of demolition in the Wadi Qaddum area of the neighbourhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.
If the demolition goes ahead 32 adults and 42 children will be forcibly evicted. The Israeli authorities wish to have the site left as a public garden.
- Lord, we pray that this demolition will not go ahead. We pray for the Palestinian families living with the stress caused by this demolition order, some of whom have already had to move from buildings which have been demolished.
Lord, in your mercy…
On Wednesday, the 8th of June, the Greek Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern over the trespass carried out by members of a Jewish seminary on the Greek Garden on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
- Lord, we pray that there will be a thorough investigation carried out into the desecration of the holy site belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church. We pray that the Israeli authorities will put an end to the repeated attacks being carried out on Christian and Islamic holy sites.
Lord, in your mercy..
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, the 8th of June, that the settler group, Ateret Cohanim, purchased property legally from the Greek Orthodox Church. The settler group bought three buildings in East Jerusalem from the church in a controversial secret deal in 2004. This recent court decision means that a proposed takeover by settlers of the Imperial Hotel, run by Palestinian Christians, at Jaffa Gate in the Christian Quarter is looking more likely.
- Lord, we pray that many church leaders and the international community will challenge the recent Israeli legal ruling, which appears to legitimise the theft of church property and threatens a further attempt to evict Jerusalemite Palestinians.
Lord, in your mercy…
An independent commission of inquiry, set up by the UN Human Rights Council after the 2021 Israeli assault on Gaza, has concluded that Israel must end its occupation. The report was released on Tuesday, the 7th of June. It states that Israel is pursuing “complete control” over the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. It gives evidence to show that Israel has been ‘acting to alter the demography through the maintenance of a repressive environment for Palestinians and a favourable environment for Israeli settlers.’
- Lord, we pray that the ongoing mandate of the UN commission will continue to highlight the injustices suffered by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. We pray that the UN and the international community will hold Israel to account and work with them to bring an end to the occupation and to the establishment of equal human rights to Palestinians, as well as Israelis.
Lord, in your mercy..
- We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Lord, in your mercy…