Prayers for the Middle East

The prayers for 2002 are available in the archive.

Additional Prayers can be found on the MCC site:

May there be restraint.
     Susan Mark Landis

October 28, 2003

Pray for the residents of Aqaba, a small village close to the Jordan Valley in the northern West Bank. The nearly 200 residents of the village live in "Area C," a part of the West Bank under full Israeli control and responsibility. Last week, the Israeli military handed out demolition orders for 12 of the villages 18 homes, along with demolition orders for the village's kindergarten and mosque. The Israeli military claims that the homes are being demolished because they were built without permits. The villagers note that they try repeatedly to obtain permits, but are always denied, this in contrast to the pattern with Israeli settlers, who build routinely without permits, and then have their buildings retroactively "legalized." Israeli journalist Akiva Eldar observes in today's edition of Haaretz that the "separation fence," or "segregation barrier" is slated to pass through the village as it follows its eastern route. Eldar goes on to note that the people of Aqaba are 200 of the 237,000 Palestinians who will be cut off from West Bank villages and cities by the fence/barrier. The Israeli Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, meanwhile insists that "the fence does not harm the Palestinian fabric of life."

October 22, 2003

Pray for the residents of the at least 15 Palestinian communities in the northern West Bank located between the "Green Line" between Israel and the West Bank and the "security fence" or "segregation barrier" that the State of Israel is building throughout the occupied territories. The Israeli military this month declared the areas between the barrier and the Green Line a "closed military zone." Not closed to Israelis, but closed to Palestinians. Palestinians living in these areas, or having lands in these areas, must obtain a permit from the Israeli civil administration of the military government in the occupied territories. In Ras a-Tira, however, 60 out of the couple hundred residents have not been given the permits. The future of these communities is unclear. If a young man or woman leaves Ras a-Tira or Jabara to study in Nablus, will the civil administration revoke his/her permit? Such procedures are routinely faced, for example, by Palestinians born in Jerusalem who go abroad to study or to live and work in the West Bank, only to have their Jerusalem ID cards revoked. If a young person wishes to marry someone from another village, will the civil administration grant that person a permit? Israeli journalist Amira Hass today in Haaretz calls such procedures by their proper name: expulsion. "Drop by drop, unseen, not so many that it would be noticed internationally and shock public opinion," she writes ("Expulsion, Little by Little," Oct. 22, 2003).

October 15, 2003

Pray for Noam Bahat, Adam Maor, Haggai Matar, Shinri Tsameret and Matan Kaminer, five young Israeli men who are refusing to serve with the Israeli military in the occupied territories. These five young men face another court hearing on October 20, 2003, and have all now served substantial jail sentences.

Pray also for the thousands of Palestinians who own land west of the fence/wall/barrier being constructed by Israel throughout the occupied territories. The Israeli military this past week issued a military order declaring these areas to off-limits to Palestinians unless carrying a permit. Apart from objecting to the idea of applying for a permit to access one's land, the source of one's livelihood, Palestinians fear that the gates in the segregation barrier may well stay closed much of the time, resulting in farmers not being able to get to their lands, permit or no: this has been the experience for thousands of farmers over the past months.

October 13, 2003

Travel and other demands have meant that I have not sent out any prayer requests for nearly three weeks. But work schedules have been only part of the reason for a lack of prayer requests: amidst the worsening political and security situation, I have found it difficult to find the words to formulate a prayer request? How to pray when an entire Israeli family of five is wiped out by a Palestinian woman who blows herself up in a restaurant in Haifa? How to pray about the 2000 Palestinians left homeless (and the families of the seven persons killed) during the Israeli invasion this weekend of the refugee camps in Rafah? How to pray about the daily despair being felt by farmers in Jayyous, Falamyeh, Azzoun, Qaffin, Qalqilyah, and many other villages as they are barred from their agricultural land by Israel's "security fence?" How to pray about Palestinian students, teachers, families, merchants, cut off from schooling, relatives, and work when the Gaza Strip is cut into four, as it has been for most of the past week? If we cannot always find the words with which to pray, then let us at least keep these people and places in our thoughts as we come before God using other prayers, such as the Lord's Prayer, trusting that God will make sense of our disordered thoughts and believing that God's love and compassion extends to all of His children, Palestinian and Israeli Jew alike, who are scarred by this conflict.-Alain Epp Weaver

September 22, 2003

Pray for the residents of Azzun Atma, a village of 1500 Palestinians in the northern West Bank. The "security fence"/segregation wall being constructed by the Israeli military in the West Bank is surrounding and isolating the village. Settlers living in the neighboring illegal Israeli colony of Sha'are Tiqva will have complete freedom of movement to and from Israel, while the Palestinians will be militarily caged into their village, unable to travel throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories or even visit neighboring villages. 25 homeowners have been forced to stop building their homes in order to create the wall. Part of the village's high school (constructed in 1964) will be destroyed. 33 of the 36 schoolteachers will be denied the ability to enter the village, thereby impacting the education of the village's schoolchildren. Nine homes, housing 49 Palestinians, will be outside of the wall and will be completely isolated from the remainder of the village, thereby separating families and denying the children the ability to attend school. Pray for a future of peace and reconciliation for Israelis and Palestinians alike that is not built on walls and fences that dispossess.

September 18, 2003

Pray for the members of Zochrot, an Israeli organization (whose Hebrew name suggests the act of remembering), who will be going to Majdal/Ashkelon this Saturday. The present-day Israeli city of Ashkelon was once the Palestinian town of Majdal. Members of Zochrot will gather at the town's old mosque (now transformed into a museum), will hear about Majdal's history, and then will place signs in Hebrew and in Arabic about the town of Majdal and the circumstances under which its Palestinian population was expelled, forced onto trucks headed for Gaza. Zochrot, an MCC partner organization, is committed to Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation, and insists that justice for refugees is an integral part of that reconciliation.

September 10, 2003

Pray for the families and loved ones of the at least 15 Israelis who were killed and the nearly 100 who were wounded yesterday when Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up at an army base near Rishon Lezion and at a popular café in Jerusalem. Regardless of one's perspective on the ongoing Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the violence by which it is implemented, all persons of conscience--be they Christian, Jewish, or Muslim--recoil in horror from attacks on civilians. As Christians, furthermore, who wish to be formed as disciples of Jesus the Christ, we must deplore all lethal violence, by Palestinians and Israelis, whatever the military or security justification, as falling short of what God wills for His creatures. The Palestinian and Israeli peacebuilders with whom Mennonite Central Committee works are more apprehensive about the future than we have ever known them. Pray that their spirits might be uplifted in these deeply troubled times.

September 8, 2003

Pray for the 48 Palestinians, among them 30 children, left homeless after Israeli military forces destroyed a 7-story apartment building in Nablus where eight families lived. Israeli military forces had engaged in a gun battle with a Palestinian gunman in the building. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Israeli military troops ordered residents out of the building and then engaged in the gun battle with the Palestinian militant. Eyewitnesses report then seeing Israeli troops carry the gunman's body out of the building. The Israeli military then placed explosives on the building's first floor and proceeded to demolish the building. This demolition, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups observe, constituted collective punishment, illegal under international law.

September 4, 2003

Pray for Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who must daily face the discriminatory practices of the Israeli Ministry of the Interior Office in East Jerusalem. Palestinian Jerusalemites must go to this office for many aspects of life: registering births, family reunification, renewal of ID cards, etc. The Israeli authorities limit access to the office to 30-40 people per day. Numerous Israeli newspapers have reported on guards at the Ministry harrassing and abusing persons trying to gain entrance and on guards and staff engaged in corrupt practices such as accepting of bribes and extorting money from those needing to do basic life tasks such as registering a birth or renewing an identity card. Without the Jerusalem ID card from the Ministry, a Palestinian who has lived all his/her life in Jerusalem (and whose family has lived in the city for generations) can lose the right to live in the city. While Israeli courts have ruled that the Ministry of the Interior in East Jerusalem must change its offices and its practices, no change has been implemented on the ground. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) has begun frequent vigils outside of the Ministry to raise awareness of the systematic discrimination faced by Jerusalem's Palestinian residents. For more on the treatment of Palestinian Jerusalemites, see Amir Cheshin, et. al, Separate and Unequal: The Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem (Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press, 2001).

September 2, 2003

Pray for villagers in the northern West Bank town of Zeita. Farmers in the village have been separated from much of their farmland by the segregation fence/wall constructed by Israel. The Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, reports that the Israeli Border Police routinely fail to open the one gate in the fence through which farmers can access land, making the planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting of crops difficult and tenuous. Villagers in Zeita worry that it is only a matter of time before their farmland on the other side of the fence is confsicated from them forever.

August 29, 2003

Pray for the approximately 1,085,000 Palestinian elementary and secondary school students and the approximately 48,000 teachers scheduled to return to classes Sunday, August 31, and Monday, September 1. With the Palestinian economy continuing to deteriorate-unemployment and poverty levels well over 50%--many families have difficulty paying the basic school fees of US$10/child at the government-run schools; rather than admit poverty, many families, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, will keep children out of school. For tens of thousand of students, the resumption of classes is fraught with uncertainty: will students in Jenin and Nablus, for example, be able to start school on schedule, or will their cities be under military curfew? Pray that students and teachers might get to class safely and that the 2003-2004 school year might unfold without the interruptions of invasions and curfew.

August 26, 2003

On August 30, 2003, the heads of the Christian churches of Jerusalem and the Holy Land will be joining in a prayer for peace. Of particular concern at the prayer service will be the devastating economic, social, and political impact that Israel's "separation/segregation" wall is having on Christian and Muslim communities in the Bethlehem area. Christians around the world are invited this week to join with Christians in the Holy Land as they pray that political and military leaders might know the things that make for peace.

August 21, 2003

Pray for the families and loved ones of the nearly 20 persons killed when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem. Victims included Hanoch Segal, 65; Avraham Bar On, 12; Hava Rechnitzer, 19; Lilach Karadi, 22; Rabbi Eliezer Weisfish, 42; Yaacov Binder, 50; Benjamin Bergman, 15; Elisheva Meshulami, 16; Miriam Eisenstan, 20; Liba Schwartz, 54; Goldie Taubenfeld, 42; Shmuel Taubenfeld, 5 months; Mordechai Reinitz, 49; Yisachar Reinitz, 9; Mehachem Liebel, 24; Shmuel Zargari, 11 months. May the day of justice and peace come quickly.

August 19, 2003

Pray for the family of Saleh and Iman Muheiyadeh and their ten children. The Muheiyadeh home in Shu'fat in Jerusalem was demolished yesterday, despite the attempts of Israeli peace activists to block the demolition. The Muheiyadeh home was destroyed for not having a permit; under the discriminatory land and zoning practices of the Jerusalem municipality, such permits are pratically impossible to obtain for many Palestinians.

August 18, 2003

[Prayer requests resume today. You will be receiving them 3-5 times per week.]

Pray for farmers in the West Bank city of Qalqilya whose lands are being devastated by the ongoing construction of the separation wall (what Palestinians call an apartheid wall) in the West Bank. MCC partner organization, the Palestinian Environmental NGO Network, sent the following report today from Qalqilyah. "Israeli bulldozers, accompanied with three military jeeps along with armed guards of the Israeli construction companies, began bulldozing 50 dunums of lands along the eastern side of the Qalqiliya Wall for its so called "buffer zone". Among the destruction were vegetables crops and water pipes. The buffer zone of this portion of the Wall will be 50 meters wide and run the length of 2 ½ kilometers. The decision to restart the work in the area was sudden and with no notification as very few people among the landowners were present upon the arrival of the bulldozers. The last time the bulldozers arrived inside this part of the city was some 6 months ago. The building of the Wall itself, a massive construct of some 8 meters in height, took place nearly one year ago. According to Kayed Atta, one of the nearby inhabitants, the bulldozers came in the morning while he was on his land in the western side of the Wall; he went and informed the land owners, the governorate, and the municipality. Hassan Kharouf, one of the land owners who has already lost about 70 dunums of his land for the construction of the concrete Wall, is about to lose an additional 70 dunums. According to Kharouf some six months ago the farmers in Qalqiliya received a "warning" by the Israeli "Civil Administration" office based in the settlement of Kedumim to evacuate their lands. They were informed today by the Israeli authorities that they have two weeks to remove their greenhouses, before the bulldozers themselves destroy them. The lands threatened belong to some forty families, including Assad Attallah, Fahmi abd Assallam, Ibrahim Youssef, and Khalil Albaz. The Israeli Occupation Forces declared the area a "closed military zone" in order to coerce the farmers and the media to leave, but the farmers refused to leave and managed, with the assistance of international activists, to build a tent where they will be staying to protect their lands. This latest Israeli offensive coincides with Sharon's declaration of his government's interest to "transfer control" to the Palestinian Authority of the two Palestinian cities of Qalqiliya and Jericho."

June 4, 2003

I will be on home leave with my family from June 6 to August 9, 2003. There will be no prayer requests during this time. Please keep the peoples of Palestine/Israel in your daily prayers.

Thirty-six years ago today the so-called "Six Day War" between Israel and its neighbors ended. Israel was left in military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai peninsula. For nearly four decades, various international peace initiatives and processes have come and gone, all of them calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories it occupied in 1967 in exchange for peace from its neighbors. It was on this basis that the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel was founded in the early 1980s. It can still be the basis for a peace agreement with the Palestinians. As long as Israeli colonization of the occupied territories continues, however, and as long as Israel dismembers the occupied territories with bypass roads connecting its colonies and with walls and fences, then a viable land-for-peace solution to the conflict will prove elusive. As Palestinian, Israeli, and international leaders meet in Aqaba, Jordan, today, pray that they might not seek to avoid the call to cede land for peace, but rather that they might seize the opportunity for peace and reconciliation based on justice.

June 3, 2003

Pray for the villagers of Mazmuriah, located near Jerusalem. Mazmuriah, like some other Palestinian villages and neighborhoods such as Shufat and Beit Hanina, was annexed to Jerusalem in 1967. However, explains Israeli professor Neve Gordon, "Unlike most of the inhabitants of the annexed villages, who were subsequently registered by the Israeli civil administration as Israeli residents (as opposed to citizens), the inhabitants of Mazmuriah were given West Bank identity cards. This created a juridical situation straight out of Kafka. The Mazmuriah residents and their houses belong to different legal and administrative systems: the houses and land are part of the Jerusalem municipal system, while the inhabitants are residents of the West Bank and therefore subjected to Israeli military rule." Today Mazmuriah is being cut off from all sides. It is cut off from the rest of Israeli-controlled Jerusalem. It will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank by the construction of the so-called "separation wall." How the village can survive while being cut off from any municipal services, from land for expansion, from water resources, from economic opportunities, from social, familial, and cultural life is a pressing question for Mazmuriah's inhabitants.

June 2, 2003

Pray for the women and men of New Profile, an Israeli organization dedicated to countering militarism within Israeli society. New Profile provides support to young Israeli men refusing to serve in the occupied territories or even completely refusing to serve in the army. Pray also for Amit Ris and Dani Filc, two Israeli young men currently in prison for refusing to serve.

May 28, 2003

Pray for students and teachers at the Arab American University in Jenin. Today Israeli military troops set up a blockade with tanks and jeeps preventing students and faculty from accessing the university during this examination period.

May 27, 2003

Continue to pray for the Maswadeh family in Beit Hanina. Fred Schlomka of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (an MCC partner organization) sent the following report about yesterday's events at the Maswadeh home: "Roughly three emotional hours after the Israeli army and police took their positions, I saw the last Israeli soldier leave the site of today's home demolition in Beit Hanina, mocking the suffering of the newly homeless Maswadeh family with a cold imitation of the crying women. What remained were a few activists, newly homeless family members, a large pile of their personal belongings, and an even larger pile of rubble.

Over the past week, the army and/or police have been to the Maswadeh home three times: once to take measurements of the house, another to plan security arrangements for the demolition, and a third visit yesterday to inform the family of the pending demolition. So when the 50-plus soldiers and police arrived with their heavy machinery, they found a driveway blocked by four vehicles, they encountered local and international reporters and photographers, and they were forced to take notice of seven non-violent activists stationed both inside and on the roof of the home. Ultimately, these factors failed to prevent the demolition but were able to impede the cold efficiency of the destructive process. In so doing, it was again made clear to the Israeli military that this behavior will not go unnoticed, and that it will be challenged.

Rabbi Arik Asherman and two other activists were dragged off the roof and handled roughly when the police moved in to secure the house for demolition. Journalists were prevented from approaching and documenting as the 3 activists were roughed up on their way to the police vehicle. The activists were released several hours later.

The timing of today's demolition is critically symbolic, occurring within one short day of the Israeli cabinet's official approval of the Road Map. Phase I of this peace initiative requires the Government of Israel to end, among other things, all actions "undermining trust, including attacks in civilian areas, and confiscation/demolition of Palestinian homes/property." Thus today's demolition is an immediate and egregious violation by Israel of the letter and spirit of the Road Map to which it is now an official party. Any peace initiative comprised of such empty promises and statements that leave intact the violent facts of Israeli occupation will not be able to bring peace."

May 26, 2003

Pray for the family of Sufian Masadeh of the Beit Hanina neighborhood in the northern part of East Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities have told Masadeh that they intend to demolish his home today. Masadeh built the home without a permit. The house was, however, built in an area zoned for building and he is in the process of trying to obtain a permit. Much building inside Israel involves obtaining a permit retroactively. Palestinians in East Jerusalem or inside Israel, however, routinely face discriminatory measures when trying to obtain building permits. The destruction of the home will leave Mr. Masadeh, his wife, their six children, and his mother homeless. Mr. Masadeh is currently unemployed. Pray also for Israeli volunteers with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions who will be trying to stop the demolition.

May 24, 2003

Pray for Rabbi Arik Ascherman (Rabbis for Human Rights) and other members of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions. As the following note indicates, Rabbi Ascherman was recently called in by Israel's General Security Services for interrogation regarding his work in rebuilding demolished Palestinian homes. Pray for strength and courage for Rabbi Ascherman and his colleagues. "I just returned from a GSS(Shabak) interogation. The GSS is currently calling in members of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions to ask questions about the activities of ICAHD and warn us that the Attorney-General has determined that rebuilding demolished homes in Jerusalem is illegal. (They refused to give us the decision in writing, but we will try to obtain it.) This along with the systematic use of "Closed Military Area" orders, etc., indicates that the Israeli government is not content to shut down the activities of foreign activists (CPTer Greg Rollins was returned from the airport last night as the government backed down from its intent to deport him before responding to the High Court's demand that the government explain its decision.) but intends to shut down the activities of Israeli organizations as well. The intent is not only to stop activities which can be seen as "illegal," but to also prevent humanitarian activities, the work of Taayush to accompany children to school, etc. Ultimately, it may be that the goal is to prevent any "seeing eye." witnessing what is happening in the Occupied Territories. We need to collectively decide on a strategy to stop this dangerous trend. I know that I personally left the interrogation with a strong urge to rebuild homes. B'Vrakha, Arik Rabbis For Human Rights"

May 23, 2003

Pray for the Bedouin of al-Ramadin tribe in the southern West Bank. Three years ago Mennonite Central Committee assisted farmers in al-Ramadin village to build an agricultural road connecting the village, boxed in by Israeli settlements and only a couple of kilometres from the "Green Line" separating the West Bank from Israel, to some of its agricultural land. Today, if the proposed "separation," i.e., apartheid, wall is built in the southern West Bank (the wall in the northern West Bank is nearing completion), the wall will cut between the village and the rest of the southern West Bank, isolating the villagers from commercial, social and political life. The villagers, meanwhile, will continue to be forbidden to cross the Green Line into Israel. Al-Ramadin village will be imprisoned, surrounded by the Green Line, settlements, and the wall, and its economy will be shattered.

May 22, 2003

Pray for Palestinian health care workers who travel each day from their cities and villages in the West Bank to work at the Augusta Victoria Hospital, operated by the Lutheran World Federation, in East Jerusalem. Today the director of the hospital was not permitted to leave Ramallah for several hours. A bus-load of doctors and nurses coming from Hebron, meanwhile, were detained for an hour at an impromptu checkpoint in Jerusalem. These hospital workers all have Israeli-issued permits and have been thus been cleared by Israeli security; nevertheless, they routinely face obstacles and dealys in getting to their work.

May 21, 2003

Pray for members of Ta'ayush (Arabic for "coexistence"), an Israeli organization that brings Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israeli together for work against the ongoing Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Working with Palestinian farmers who are prevented from accessing their fields, protesting house demolitions, highlighting ongoing land confiscations: through these and other actions, Ta'ayush members build bridges between Palestinians and Israeli Jews. Unfortunately, however, the Israeli military authorities have recently undertaken to enforce a ban on Israelis in places like H1 in Hebron (the part of Hebron under nominal Palestinian control). This step means that the only Israelis that Palesitnians in H1 will encounter are soliders, while Palestinians in H2 (that part of Hebron under full Israeli control) will continue to have their lives defined by army-imposed curfews, military patrols, and the dictates of Israeli settlers.

May 20, 2003

Pray for workers with United Nations organizations unable to enter or leave the Gaza Strip in order to carry out their humanitarian work. "It will become progressively impossible to carry out UN operations in Gaza," UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told the UN Security Council yesterday. The United Nations operates schools and clinics in refugee camps, conducts food distributions to economically marginalized families, and helps to create jobs. Nearly two-thirds of the population of the Gaza Strip are refugees who are heavily dependent on the health, educational, social, and relief services provided by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Erez crossing point in and out of the Gaza Strip has been closed to all foreigners, except those with diplomatic passports, since May 11.

May 19, 2003

Pray for professors and staff at Bethlehem University, a Catholic institution of higher learning that serves Muslim and Christian students alike. Like other universities in the occupied territories, Bethlehem University faces many operational challenges thanks to the ongoing restrictions on Palestinian movement. One staff member, who lives in Jerusalem, normally only a 20-30 minute drive from Bethlehem, routinely faces a commute of two to two-and-a-half hours. Right now students and faculty are preparing for semester exams. All Palestinian movement between towns and villages, however, in the West Bank has been forbidden as of yesterday afternoon, preventing staff and students from reaching classes (or causing them to reach class only with great difficulty).

May 18, 2003

Pray for the families and loved ones of the 7 Israelis killed today in a suicide bombing attack on a bus in northern Jerusalem; may God be with them in their grief. Pray also for the 20 persons injured in the blast; may they find healing.

May 17, 2003

Pray for families in the town of Beit Sahour. On May 3, 2003, Israeli military authorities presented a confiscation order to residents of Beit Sahour, indicating that 300 dunams (1 dunam=1000 square meters) would be confiscated from the Palestinian owners. The confiscations serve the purposes of enlarging the reach of the Har Homa settlement, built on land confiscated from Beit Sahour residents, and of facilitating in the construction of a settler bypass road that will connect the Tekoa and Nokidim settlements south of Bethlehem to Har Homa and to Jerusalem. This road, and the fence/wall that will be built next to it, will close in the Bethlehem area from the east. Twenty homes in the Greek Orthodox housing project in the eastern part of Beit Sahour will be isolated from the town as a result of these confiscations. While the world's politicians speak of a roadmap to peace, on the ground Palestinians see a roadmap to increased colonization.

May 15, 2003

Pray for families in the Khan Younis refuge camp in the Gaza Strip who face life without a home or a secure dwelling. On Tuesday evening, May 13, Israeli military forces invaded neighborhoods in the camp with around 100 military vehicles supported by US-made Apache helicopter gunships. The Israeli military operation left 36 families (247 civilians) homeless and the homes of more than 30 families (200 civilians) were severely damaged. MCC supports summer camps and children's clubs in the Khan Younis refugee camp.

May 14, 2003

Pray for international humanitarian organizations like Mennonite Central Committee trying to work in the Gaza Strip. As of Sunday, May 12, the Israeli military closed the entrance into the Gaza Strip to all expatriates, except for diplomats. The closure, the Israeli miliatry has said, is indefinite. MCC needs to be able to send in staff to the Gaza Strip in order to monitor and evaluate summer camps and children's clubs it supports. Before the indefinite closure, the Israeli military had also started asking foreign nationals to sign waiver, agreeing to hold Israel free of any responsibility if injured or killed by the Israeli military while in the Gaza Strip. The international NGO community is very worried about these developments and has notified members of the "Quartet" (US/UN/European Union/Russia) that the humanitarian work we do depends on free and unrestricted access, access which Israeli is bound to give to humanitarian organizations by its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Also, at a time when the Quartet is promoting its "roadmap" for Middle East peace, a roadmap that calls for an easing of restrictions on access, it is profoundly troubling that restrictions on international humanitarian organizations (not to mention on average Palestinians) are being increased.

May 2, 2003

Pray for the families of those killed and wounded yesterday, after the Israeli military invaded the Sheja'iyeh neighborhood of Gaza city in an attempt to capture or assasinate wanted men. Thirteen Palestinians were killed in the course of the raid, including a two-year-old boy, Amer Ayad; 65 Palestinians were injured, along with 9 Israeli soldiers. May the bloodshed cease. Alain will be at regional MCC meetings and retreat May 3-13. Prayer requests will resume on May 14.

May 1, 2003

Pray for the residents of the village of Sawiya in the northern West Bank. Living near the Israeli settlement of Eli, Palestinians in Sawiya face a host of problems from Israeli settlers, including: the poisoning of olive trees; the blocking up and disruption of water systems; and attacks by settlers on farmers when they go to cultivate their lands. On April 24, for example, Israeli settlers shot up water pipes leading to the village. Pray that villagers in Sawiya might live securely on their land, with access to water.

April 30, 2003

Pray for the families and loved ones of the victims of a suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian at a pub in Tel Aviv. At least four people, including the bomber, have been killed. At least another 30 have been injured, seven of them seriously; pray for their healing and recovery. May peace and security come quickly to all who live in Israel/Palestine.

April 29, 2003

Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the everyday determination shown by Palestinians to celebrate life. On Friday, April 25, a Palestinian lawyer from Jerusalem, Shukri Oudeh, tried to enter Nablus, where he was to marry Maha Khalil, a nurse from Nablus who works in Jerusalem (when she is able to get into the city). Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint refused to allowed Oudeh to pass. After much negotiation with the soldiers, Oudeh and Khalil were allowed to meet, with Khalil's family and with the religious leader conducting the ceremony, in the middle of the checkpoint; it was there at the checkpoint that Oudeh and Khalil were married. Every day, Palestinians like Oudeh and Khalil go about the daily routines of life-going to school, going to the doctor, getting married, giving birth, putting deceased friends and relatives to rest in cemeteries-even as these daily routines become disrupted, or become lengthy ordeals, or become dangerous. Give thanks for this everyday determination.

April 28, 2003

Pray for the families of Shaqer and Jawad Dana of Hebron. The Danas live in two homes close to the Israeli settlement (illlegal under international law) of Kiryat Arba. On Passover Eve in mid-April, he Israeli army has ordered that the Danas' two homes be demolished "for completely military needs." Settlers from Kiryat Arba have routinely attacked the Dana homes without provocation. Pray that the Danas' homes might be "passed over," that they might be spared the destruction that the Israeli military occupation routinely inflicts.

April 24, 2003

Pray for the family of the Israeli security guard killed today (his name has not yet been released) at the train station in Kfar Sava in Israel when a Palestinian blew himself up, killing the guard and injuring at least 10 other Israelis. Pray for healing and comfort for the injured and for their families. Pray that Israelis and Palestinians will soon, much sooner that present appearances would suggest, enjoy the fruits of peace, justice, and reconciliation.

April 23, 2003

Pray for Palestinian children held in administrative detention in the Bet El detention center. The following report from Defense of Children International/Palestine Section provides a disturbing glimpse into realities in the cneter. Pray that Palestinian children in Israeli detention be granted swift due process, a fair trial, and be held in humane conditions.

At least 7 Palestinian children have been detained for over three weeks in inhumane temporary detention conditions at Bet El military base just outside Ramallah. Eleven children are living and sleeping in an area of 5 square metres. They are allowed to take a 30 minute break just once a week. The youngest of the children, is 14 years old. DCI has taken affidavits from six of the children, at least two of whom have been subjected to positional torture, or shabeh. None of the children have been allowed to receive family visits. DCI believes that the current situation contravenes numerous international laws concerning the rights of detained children.

"No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.Children shall be treated with humanity and respect and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age". Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 37)

DCI/PS therefore urgently calls for an immediate transfer of these child detainees to a detention center which accounts for their needs and complies with international law.

April 22, 2003

Pray for the safety of journalists covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. On Sunday, a Palestinian cameraman was killed by Israeli soldiers in Nablus. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights compiled the following summary based on eyewitness reports: "Israeli soldiers opened fire [Sunday] morning at cameraman, Nazeeh Adel Dawazah. Dawazah, 45, from Nablus city and father of five, was a cameraman working for Palestine TV and Associated Press. Dawazah was killed instantly by a bullet to the head. The incident took place at around 7am during an Israeli military incursion into the middle of Nablus city. Dawazah was filming a Palestinian child who was lying wounded on the ground near an Israeli tank. According to eyewitness testimony, one of the soldiers inside the tank pointed his gun towards Dawazah from a distance of just a few metres. Dawazah, who was wearing a jacket clearly inscribed with the word "Press", was heard to clearly identify himself to the soldier as a member of the press. However, the soldier fired one bullet at Dawazah hitting him in the head near the left eye. He died instantly."

April 21, 2003

Pray for Palestinian residents of the Yibna neighborhood of the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. Yesterday five Palestinians were killed and over 30 injured in the course of an Israeli military raid on the camp. The Israeli military claimed that it was attempting to assassinate a local Hamas leader. Palestinians deny he was killed. Whether or not he was killed, the death and injury toll from this attempted assassination/illegal extrajudicial killing was high. One Israeli soldier, meanwhile, was also killed during the raid by a Palestinian gunman. Pray for an end to occupation, for an end to daily realities of violence that create conditions of terror for Palestinians in Rafah and that do not bring security for Israelis.

April 18, 2003

Today, Good Friday, instead of a prayer request, we pass on to you a reflection by Ed Nyce, MCC's peace development worker.

Easter reflection

It's a beautiful time of the year here in Bethlehem, with the weather again warmer but not yet hot, and with the green from the winter rains still evident in many places. In Jerusalem, when seeing the Mt. of Olives and other nearby sites, it is easy for me to wonder how the physical terrain might have looked to Jesus and his apostles and disciples. That pondering is heightened for me during this time when we approach and then experience Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter.

I also wonder about the emotional terrain for Jesus and his companions. I wonder about it for us, too - us being all people the world over, all created by God, all loved by God.

So much about life seems so serious these days [and some will rightly ask, "When hasn't it?" depending on their settings]. It seems that way here in Palestine. It sounds like it is that way for so many in Iraq. It feels that way in the midst of what from afar comes across as a massive shift in the U.S. in on-the-ground policy, reflecting the long held worldview of those currently in power.

What did Jesus and his companions do and say as the ground under their feet shifted at breath-taking speed? What was it like to experience a triumphal entry, an arrest aided in part by a member of their own group, a series of trials in religious and political courtroom settings, a procession to an ominously-named Skull Hill, a crucifixion, a burial, ongoing mourning, and a resurrection, all in a matter of days? Why did life's handles seem to suddenly be so slippery?

You believe something, in their case something good, powerful, hopeful about this person Jesus. And then other people act the way they always have, as though the good news you know and experience, the very foundation of what makes sense for life, doesn't make a dent, doesn't even seem like it exists to them. They pounded somebody's hands on a cross last week, this week there's three more customers - "We're just following orders. The sooner the job's done, the sooner we can go to the barracks and get out of these hot helmets." - Can they really be thinking what it feels like they're thinking? And the people who gave the orders, who made policy - don't they see?!?

How did people cope? Some followed the proceedings, trying to keep warm and stay anonymous by the fire (John 18:15ff). Then some went fishing (John 21). Some watched from a distance (Mark 15:40-41), or perhaps by the cross (John 19:25-28). Some finally headed home, a long trek physically and emotionally (Luke 24:13ff).

Jesus eventually returned. And Jesus welcomed all of his old friends, and new ones, too. Wherever they had stayed or gone, Jesus either found them, or sent word to them that they should come and find him. In the assurance that Jesus will always be with us (Matthew 28:20), may we be granted wisdom to know when and how to speak words of comfort, when and how to speak loving truth to power, when and how to hear words of challenge to our own actions or perspectives, when and how to simply celebrate our own presence in God's family, and when and how to integrate these simultaneously.

by Ed Nyce, MCC Peace Development Worker

April 17, 2003

Join your prayers this Maundy Thursday with the prayers below from Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Palestine.

Gracious God,

We pray for those who have lost hope and live in hopelessness, that their faith and hope may be restored.

We pray for those who believe in the culture of coercion, that God may change their hearts so they may believe in a culture of negotiation and dialogue.

We pray that the war in Iraq will be halted so that the blood shed may end.

We pray for the Palestinian people - the children, young people, women and men - people who live under military occupation, that they may see the promise of God in the liberation of Christ's death on the cross.

We pray for the liberation of Israeli people from their fear and insecurity so they may understand that by ending the military occupation they liberate themselves as well as the Palestinians. We pray for the Christian Church that has been witnessing to Christ's salvific act on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, that the Church may continue to witness for the Risen Lord and advance God's Kingdom of love, forgiveness, just peace and reconciliation. We pray for all those who have lost their dear ones, or are injured, or are handicapped, or are imprisoned, or are bitter, or are living in hatred, that God may grant to them healing and the peace of the cross.

We pray for Palestinian Christians and the unity of the Church, that they may be living witnesses in their suffering.

We pray for world leaders, that they will not burn the bridges of peace and dialogue, and that they may not trust power and force but rather trust in the good will of human beings and in the self-determination of every nation.

We pray for the partner churches of the ELCJ whose voices in the world and the Middle East have composed a symphony of justice and reconciliation, even though their voices have been and continue to be disturbing to others, that they may continue to be voices in the wilderness of ignorance, misunderstanding and war.

We pray that Palestinians may have their own state within the 1967 borders, living side by side with Israel in justice, peace, equality and reconciliation.

We pray for the people of living conscience from various religions that are working together to change our world with mutuality, tolerance, respect for the aspirations of others and a culture of peace.

We pray for the ELCJ bishop, pastors, congregations, schools, diaconal work, reconciliation work, dialogue work and ecumenism, that they may continue with the other Palestinian Christian churches to be salt in their societies and continue to be witnesses of Christ's Resurrection.

Together we bring all our prayers to the foot of the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

April 16, 2003

As Jews prepare to remember and celebrate Passover tomorrow, as Western Christians continue the journey of Holy Week, please pray with Msgr. Michel Sabbah, the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the words of his Easter homily this year: "We celebrate Easter. It means the passage from death to life, from slavery to freedom. I wish to all Christians and to all Palestinians to pass from the present death to a new life, based on a reacquired freedom, on justice, forgiveness, love and reconciliation. I wish to the Jewish people celebrating Passover to pass from the present situation of fear to security, based also on justice, forgiveness, love and reconciliation. A new world order should have the same bases: justice, forgiveness, love and reconciliation. Without forgiveness and without God's presence among men, death will lead only to death, and war will only produce war and terrorism. One cannot; under any pretext, build a new world order while starting with the demolition of the human person in it."

April 15, 2003

Pray for the residents of Tarqumiyya village in the Hebron district. Yesterday, MCC workers visited the village to assess an agricultural project. At the entrance to the village they met the persons responsible for the project: unfortunately, those persons had been detained by at an impromptu military checkpoint, for no reason other than the fact that they were male and Palestinian, and were being made to stand in the sun while soldiers claimed to be using their ID cards to see if any of them had a "security" record. A military jeep deliberately spun his wheels in fronto of them, covering them with dust. One soldier, who spoke Arabic, said quietly that he was ashamed of such behavior. Eventually our friends were released from their mini-detention, and we proceeded on our visit to Tarqumiyya village. More and more villagers are depending on agriculture for income these days, as other economic opportunities have been severely constricted. Unemployment, the farmers we met with estimated, is running up to 70%.

April 14, 2003

Pray for the family and friends of Omar Matar, a 14-year-old boy from the Qalaniyah refugee camp north of Jerusalem who was shot and killed this past week by Israeli military forces. Matar and two friends had gone to the nearby Atarot airport to try to cut down an aerial observation balloon used by the Israeli military to keep track of events in the camp. When they realized that several Israeli jeeps were in the area, they turned and starting running back to the camp. It was as they were running, with their backs turned, that Omar was shot and one of his friends injured. Omar was the 411th child killed by the Israeli military since late September 2000.

April 13, 2003

Pray for the residents of Masha' village in the northern West Bank. Like many other villages, Masha' is slated to lose much of its agricultural land to the construction of the "separation,"or "apartheid," wall being built throughout the West Bank. Palestinians, Israelis and internationals convinced that lasting reconciliation will come through the practice of justice have been holding vigil where the wall will be built and have been planting trees in a bid to help Palestinian farmers hold on to their land.

April 12, 2003

Pray for the family and friends of Tom Hundall, 22, of Manchester, England. A peace worker with the pacifist organization, the International Solidarity Movement, Tom was shot yesterday in the head in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip while trying to escort two Palestinian girls frightened to move because of tank fire. He has been prounounced clinically brain dead and is on a respirator in a hospital. Tom was wearing a bright orange fluorescent vest when he was shot. Tom's death comes less than one month after the killing of another ISM worker, Rachel Corrie, also in Rafah. Earlier in April, another ISM worker was shot in the face in Jenin. The deaths and injuries suffered by ISM workers are disturbing evidence of the general lack of limits on the part of the Israeli military. The Israeli military has, throughout its history, talked proudly of its "purity of arms." The killing and injuring of nonviolent activists clearly marked with bright orange clothing cannot be called "purity of arms." Nor can the killing of over 410 children over the past 30 months. Nor can the routine "collateral damage" deaths in the course of illegal, extrajudicial killings/assassinations.

April 11, 2003

Pray for the 27 schoolchildren in Jaba'village in the northern West Bank who were injured when an explosive went off in the school courtyard. An Israeli settler group originally claimed responsibility for the attack. Palestinian officials in the village believe that the explosive might have been caused by unexploded ordinance from Israeli military actions in the area. Pray that the children of Jaba might recover quickly and that Palestinian schoolchildren in general might enjoy safe, secure schools.

April 3, 2003

Pray for the at least 1,000 men and teenage boys from the Tulkarem refugee camp who were rounded up yesterday by the Israeli military, interrogated, and then driven several kilometres out of the camp, and then dropped off without provisions. The men were told that they were forbidden to return home for three days. The Israeli peace group Gush Shalom summarizes eyewitness and press accounts of the incident: "According to an eye-witness, a Tulkarm resident - and corroborated by accounts in the Israeli and foreign press* - the Tulkarm Refugee camp was on early Wednesday morning invaded by large Israeli forces - infantry, APC's and tanks supported by helicopter gunships. The soldiers ordered all men and boys between 15 and 55 to leave their homes and concentrate at two locations in the camp - the UNRWA Girls' School and the courtyard of the Jipon Paint Factory. There they were kept for many hours and interrogated, one by one. The army detained eleven men which were said to be "wanted terrorists". The other men and boys were then loaded on buses and lorries which took them several kilometres outside Tulkarm, where they were told to get off and forbidden to go back to their homes for the coming three days. There, the army left them, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, making no provision of any kind for their thee days of enforced exile. Inhabitants of the nearby Danabe Village, as well as of the Nur Shams Refugee Camp which is so far untouched by the army raid, tried their best to help the displaced men and boys - but being in difficult economic circumstances themselves, found it difficult to take care of so many. Meanwhile, some women of the Tulkarm Refugee Camp came to bring food and basic provisions to their husbands, brothers and sons -but then found that the soldiers would not let them back into the camp, and became displaced, too."

A year ago yesterday (April 2) I began sending out these daily prayer requests. It has been a good discipline for me, and I appreciate the fact that Susan Mark Landis of the Mennonite Church USA asked me to take this on. Please know that your prayers have been a source of sustenance and support for the MCC Palestine team and for MCC's partner organizations here.

A final note. Due to meetings and visa renewal trips, there will be some breaks in the prayer requests over the coming two months. Today's message will be the last until April 14.

April 2, 2003

Pray for families in the occupied territories struggling to do basic things such as paying the water and electricity bills. With unemployment and the poverty rate running well over 50%, upwards to 60%, and after 30 months of economic devastation, many families in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been left with few resources. Palestinian municipalities and village councils come under pressure to pay water and electricity suppliers or have their lines cut; these governmental bodies in turn must pressure cash-strapped Palestinian families to pay their overdue bills. Palestinians with whom MCC workers converse are tired of surviving from assistance from outside; rather, they simply look for an end to the closures, curfews, roadblocks, and checkpoints which have undermined the economy.

April 1, 2003

Pray again for the residents of the Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip. The Mawasi is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of the Gush Katif settlement block. Their movement in and out of the Mawasi is tightly controlled and restricted. Yesterday MCC joined five other international Christian organizations in delivering basic food stuffs to the Mawasi. Our trucks were not allowed to enter the area, but had to unload back to back, with each container passing through an x-ray machine. As we worked to unload and load the trucks, groups of men and women from the Mawasi sat on different sides of the checkpoint, hoping to be allowed in or out. One woman, Basima, had gone out of the Mawasi after going into labor in her eighth month of pregnancy. She had had a C-section in Khan Younis, the city adjacent to the Mawasi, but her child had not survived. Yesterday she had been trying for several days to get back to her home. Another man, Majd, had been trying for days to get permission to bring in needles for one of the Mawasi's only clinics. While we were not allowed to drive in our trucks, we were allowed to bring in a car so that we could drive to see the warehouse where the local committee in the Mawasi was storing the goods. Driving a car with Palestinian license plates, we had to drive on side roads; the main roads are reserved for the use of Israeli settlers.

March 28, 2003

Pray for families in Deir Hatab village near Nablus in the northern West Bank. The one road in and out of town is barred by an iron gate. Cars, trucks, and ambulances cannot enter into the village. Instead, people must walk on foot past a checkpoint of Israeli soldiers who have final say about whether or not the villagers can get to and from Nablus for schooling, work, commerce, or health care. Pray for freedom of movement for villagers in Deir Hatab and throughout the occupied territories, as such basics as a working economy, the health care system, and the educational system, depend on it.

March 27, 2003

Pray for the family and loved ones of Christine Sa'ada, a ten-year-old girl from the Bethlehem area, shot and killed yesterday on Monday by Israeli military forces as they apparently carried out an assassination/extra-judicial killing (in contravention of international law) of three Palestinians. Also injured in the attack were Christine's father, the principal of the Greek Orthodox school in Beit Sahour, her mother, and her 12-year-old sister. The following news report from the Palestine Monitor summarizes what is known about the incident. Christine's funeral is being held today in Beit Sahour. "Israeli soldiers last night shot and killed a 10 year old girl during their assassination of another Palestinian in Bethlehem. According to witnesses, Israeli uniformed and plain clothed soldiers entered Bethlehem in the late afternoon, and opened fire on two cars that were driving on a main road in a residential area in the vicinity of the Shepherd 's Hotel. Muwaiq Abdel Raziq Badawni, 40 years old from the Aida refugee camp, and two other men, as yet unidentified, were killed. According to a report from the Beit Jala governmental hospital, Badawni died as a result being shot in the head with live ammunition; the bodies of the two other men are still with the Israeli military. It is assumed that Badawni was the target of this latest Israeli extra judicial execution which are illegal under international law and the Geneva Convention. George Saidi', a school teacher from Bethlehem, his wife Najwa and their two daughters, Marianne, 12, and Christine, 10, were driving on the same road when their car was also fired on by Israeli soldiers. All four members of the family were shot, and were taken to the Hadassa hospital in Jerusalem, however Christine died on the way. Later the body of the ten year old was transferred to the Beit Jala governmental hospital; according to the doctors at the hospital she died from a bullet to her head. The doctors also commented that her wounds were consistent with an "exploding" or high velocity bullet. Christine is the third child to be killed by Israeli troops in two days. 14 year old Hakim Bassam Nassas, aged 14 was also shot dead yesterday in Jenin. On March 24, Ahmed Imad A-Bahri, aged 10, also from Jenin was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper."

March 26, 2003

Pray for the residents of Azzoun village in the northern West Bank, midway between Nablus and Qalqilyah. The Israeli military has turned the village into a de facto prison, barring the one road in and out of the village with a padlocked iron gate. The military/economic siege on the village (one which is also imposed on hundreds of other Palestinian towns and villages) has left the village economically devastated and its residents dependent upon food distributions from United Nations agencies and other organizations. Pray that Azzoun's residents might soon again experience free and safe movement.

March 25, 2003

Pray for clergy and religious of the Latin (Catholic) Patriarchate in the Holy Land who are not being granted visas from the Israeli Ministry of the Interior. At least 86 priests, nuns, and monks working in Palestine/Israel are not being granted work visas, while 22 seminarians from Jordan, studying at the Patriarchate's seminary in Beit Jala, are not having their visas renewed. The vital ministries of the Patriarchate depend on its clergy and religious receiving visas to live and work in the Holy Land. Pray for the ministries of the Catholic church in Palesitne/Israel and pray that these ministries might not be disrupted by the Israeli Interior Ministry.

March 24, 2003

Pray for the family of Annan Nabi Abd el-Fatah Labada from Nablus. Mr. Labada, who is parayzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, has been held in administrative detention without charge in the Huwara military base south of Nablus. Scores of Palestinians are being held in administrative detention, without charge, denied due process and access to lawyers, at Huwara. The Huwara facility is overcrowded and lacks light, heating, blankets, and ventilitation in the makeshift cells. Mr. Labada's family notes that he requires medication and worries that he is not receiving it. Pray also for the Israeli organization, the Public Committee Against Torture, which has petitioned the Israeli High Court so that Mr. Labada might have access to a lawyer. Pray that Mr. Labada and other Palestinian detainees might receive due process and not be subjected to weeks, months or even years of administrative detention without charges and without access to legal representation.

March 21, 2003

Pray for Bedouin in the Negev/Naqab desert in southern Israel. Circumscribed by restrictive and discriminatory zoning and land laws, Bedouin communities face house demolitions and crop destruction from Israeli authorities. Recently, Israeli authorities sprayed Bedouin crops they said were being grown illegally with poison, damaging the Bedouins' livelihood. Pray that Bedouins inside Israel might enjoy fair, equal, and just access to land and other natural resources.

March 20, 2003

Pray for the family of Najwan Salhi, an 18 year-old Palestinian woman who died on March 2, 2003, after being prevented by Israeli authorities from traveling to Jordan for treatment for lung cancer. Pray that the family might find comfort in their grief. As the US-led invasion of Iraq begins, and as Palestinians in the occupied territories worry that the already intense, daily violence they face will be escalated, the everyday horrors of Palestinians being denied medical care, sometimes leading to death, the everyday horrors of children unable to get to school thanks to curfew, the everyday horrors of borrowing money just to buy food, will continue. The death of Najwan Salhi was one of these everyday horrors. Please keep Palestinians facing these everyday horrors in your prayers.

March 19, 2003

Pray that political leaders might have the vision to push for a resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on justice and true peace rather than a management of the conflict based on brute force. As the United States completes its preparations to invade Iraq, the Israeli government is pushing ahead with its campaign to undermine any viable two-state solution to the Palesitnian-Israeli conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced this week that the "security fence" it is building throughout the West Bank--creating the de facto annexation of Israeli colonies in the West Bank into Israel, dispossessing thousands of Palestinians from their lands, and separating cities and villages from one another-will in the future be extended to run down the Jordan valley. While the United States and other members of the international community talk about a "road map" to a viable two-state solution, on the ground Israel is taking steps to ensure that any Palestinian state will be, at most, a reservation surrounded by barbed wire fences and cement walls. This is not a road map to an end to the conflict and towards reconciliation, but is rather a temporary way of managing of the conflict through subjugation. Pray for a future of reconciliation through justice.

March 18, 2003

Pray again for the work of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a founder of the Rebuilding Homes Campaign and an MCC partner organization. Below is a moving tribute from ICAHD chairman Jeff Halper to the life of Rachel Corrie, the focus of yesterday's prayer request, who was killed in Rafah while trying to prevent a house demolition.

March 17, 2003

Pray for the family and friends of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old university student from the United States, who was killed after an Israeli military bulldozer ran over her in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Corrie, who was with the International Solidarity Movement, a pacifist organization that engages in nonviolent direct action against the occupation, was attempting to prevent the destruction of a home on the edge of Rafah's refugee camp. Corrie's death has sent a chill not only throughout the group of Europeans and North Americans in the occupied territories as a nonviolent presence but also among Israeli groups that enter the occupied territories to protest the occupation nonviolently.

March 14, 2003

Please join your prayers with the prayers of Christians and Muslims, Palestinians and others, who this Sunday evening will be holding a silent candlelight march in Bethlehem from the Madbassa Square to the square in front of the Church of the Nativity. We will be praying that an invasion of Iraq might be averted, that the lives of civilians and soldiers might be spared.

March 13, 2003

Pray for secure dwellings for families in the Palestinian village of al-Walajeh south of Jerusalem. Three homes were demolished by Israeli bulldozers there today on the pretext that they were built without permits, permits that are difficult for Palestinians to obtain. Pray also for the witness of Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli organization that sent people today to al-Walajeh to try to stop the destruction.

March 12, 2003

Pray for fishermen in the Gaza Strip whose livelihoods have been damaged or destroyed over the past two years. Fishing off of the Gaza coast has been progressively restricted during this period, meaning that fishermen cannot bring in the catches they once did. Many fishing boats and nets, furthermore, have been destroyed by the Israeli military or by Israeli settlers. Pray for the safety of Gaza's fishermen as they go out to sea and pray for a future when they can earn their living unimpeded.

March 11, 2003

Pray for the Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist with the newspaper Ha'aretz. Hass recently was awarded a prize for her journalistic efforts from UNESCO, honoring her dedication to journalism in the cause of freedom, justice, and peace. Give thanks for Hass's courage, honesty, and witness.

March 10, 2003

Pray for families in the Tel el-Sultan neighborhood of the Rafah refugee camp. The Tel el-Sultan area is subjected to nightly shelling and gunfire from Israeli military outposts in Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. The toll on people and on the infrastructure in the neighborhood has been high. Pray for safety and security.

March 7, 2003

Pray for the family and friends of the eleven Palestinians killed in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday during an Israeli army raid on the camp. Pray for swift healing and recovery for the over 100 Palestinians wounded in the raid.

A brief comment on some of these prayer requests: Over the past months, many of the prayer requests I have been sending out ask for prayers the families and friends of Palestinians and Israelis killed or injured. In one sense, these deaths and injuries have been public events, occuring in the midst of a violent occupation and a sometimes-violent, sometimes-nonviolent resistance to that occupation. As public events, these deaths and injuries have various public meanings: they highlight the need for justice, for security, for peace, for example. At the same time, however, these deaths and injuries were also private matters, with individual ramifications: the victims weren't simply numbers and statistics or icons to marshal on behalf of a particular cause, but were individual persons bearing God's image. Given the public nature of these deaths and injuries in Palestine/Israel, it is inevitable that our prayers will touch on broad themes: prayers for an end to the occupation, for example, or for security for Palestinians and Israelis. As we pray for these broader realities, however, let us not lose sight of the individual picture, of the personal losses, of the particular human faces.

March 6, 2003

Pray for the family and friends of the at least 15 Israelis killed yesterday after a Palestinian carried out a suicide bombing on a bus in the Israeli port city of Haifa. Pray for God's presence with them as they mourn. Pray for recovery and healing of the over 40 persons injured in the blast. And pray for a future of security, peace, and justice for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

March 5, 2003

Pray for families in Kafr Qasem, a Palestinian village inside Israel proper, whose homes were recently demolished. On Sunday, March 2, 2003, 16 homes were demolished in Kafr Qasem for having been built without a permit from the Israeli authorities. The local council head, Sami Isa, observed that the Israeli authorities routinely refuse to approve any new building plans in Arab municipalities inside Israel, resulting in an acute housing shortage: "People are suffocating here," Isa explains, "what can you expect them to do? They have no alternative but to build illegally." Pray for an end to housing and land use discrimination inside Israel.

March 4, 2003

Pray for the family of Noha Sabri Sweidan, 37, from Al-Bureij refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip. Noha, a mother of nine who was only days from giving birth, was killed yesterday when Israeli military forces demolished the house next door to Noha's-the force of the blast caused serious damage to Noha's home, crushing her in the process. Noha's husband and children sustained light injuries. Noha was one of eight Palestinians killed during an Israeli raid into the camp to arrest a top official with Hamas. Pray for peace as the civilian "collateral damage" increases.

March 3, 2003

Pray that Palestinians in the Khan Younis refugee camp and the Nimsawi neighborhood of Khan Younis might have secure dwellings. Yesterday the Israeli military destroyed multiple homes in those areas, leaving many people homeless. The following report from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza provides details: "In Khan Younis refugee camp, Israeli forces surrounded a 7-storey apartment building, in which 7 families, counting 54 people, live. The house is owned by Fayez 'Ouda Hussein Abu 'Aker. They called through loudspeakers on residents of the house to get out and used 4 of them as human shields while searching the house. Israeli forces also ordered the 4 persons to tell residents of neighboring houses to get out. Then, Israeli soldiers planted explosives in the house and destroyed it, including some commercial stores that contained foodstuffs for approximately 10,000 US$. As a result of the blast, dozens of neighboring houses were totally or partially destroyed, and the eastern façade of a mosque was destroyed. Israeli military bulldozers also demolished two houses. It is worth noting that early this morning, PCHR submitted an appeal through Tamim Younis, a lawyer working in Israel, to the Israeli Supreme Court to stop demolishing Abu 'Aker's house, but the family was not granted enough space of time and the house was destroyed before the court takes a decision. In al-Nimsawi neighborhood, Israeli heavy military vehicles moved from "Neve Dekalim" settlement, west of Khan Younis, towards Nasser Hospital in the north of the neighborhood. They surrounded the hospital and military bulldozers demolished large parts of its fence. Also in the same area, Israeli military bulldozers demolished large parts of the fence surrounding an UNRWA preparatory school. They then demolished 3 houses, two of which were demolished totally. The bulldozer started demolishing one of these houses while its residents were still inside."

February 28, 2003

Pray for Majd Majdalawi, 30, a Palestinian medic who was shot in the legs this past Sunday while trying to evacuate a wounded person during an Israeli military incursion into the northern Gaza Strip. He is recovering in an Israeli hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society notes that since October 2000, 231 Palestinian ambulances have come under fire, with 109 of them hit and 27 totally destroyed; meanwhile, 187 Red Crescent staff-doctors, medics, and drivers-have been injured in these incidents, with three of them killed. Pray for the safety of all medical personnel as they try to care for the wounded.

February 26, 2003

Pray for Palestinian schoolchildren losing their educational opportunities thanks to military curfews. At the end of five months into the current school year (September 2002 - January 2003) the following figures of lost school days were compiled by the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Ramallah:
Hebron region: 47
Jenin region: 42
Ramallah region: 22
Bethlehem region: 26
Nablus region: 59
Tulkarem region: 56
South Hebron region: 5
Qabatia region: 12
Salfit region: 1
Qalqilia region: 25

These figures only include full school days lost, not those partially lost. Most of us take it for granted that our children will have access to school, except in the event of snowstorms or other natural events. In the occupied territories, children can't get to school because of a military policy of limiting Palestinian freedom of movement.

February 25, 2003

Pray for the 250 residents of Daba'a village near Qalqilya. The Palestinian Environmental NGO Network, an MCC partner organization, reports (see below) that many of the villagers are living under the threat of their homes being destroyed for the building of the "separation fence," which Palestinians refer to as the Apartheid Wall. Pray that the people of Daba'a might enjoy secure dwellings.

"The Daba'a Municipality has yesterday for the first time this week been able to access village lands near the village residential area, where they found some 250 explosives, placed some 3 meters deep, that will be used to clear the rocky landscape in the area to make way for the Apartheid Wall. These explosives are located an average of 50 meters away from the village's residential area, and whose blasts will cause the complete damage of a number of homes and partial damage to others. In the case of Daba'a, previous military explosions for the Wall severely damaged one of the two village school, a school which is to be located just 10 meters from the Wall itself.

Daba'a is one of the many alarming cases of communities whose residential areas are near the Wall and therefore within the Wall's 30-100 meter "buffer zone", which by definition sets these areas at high-risk for demolitions and expulsion. Daba'a, located in the district of Qalqiliya, is a small community of some 250 individuals. The impact of this latest move for the building of the Wall threatens the majority of the village's inhabitants.

Since the explosives have already been placed in the area, there is legitimate fear that they will be set-off in the coming days. Due to location, it is expected that 7 homes will be completely destroyed by the impact of the explosions, and others will be partially destroyed. Seven homes in the village amounts to some 20% of the population. Residents of these houses are to become homeless and therefore to flee from their lands for mere survival. This paves the road for the confiscation of the remainder of the village lands.

Since the commencement of the Wall, Daba'a has had confiscated 250 dunums for the footprint of the Wall. In addition, the Wall is separating the village from 1,200 dunums of its land, lands located east of the Wall while the residential area is to the west, making the lands de facto inaccessible to the community due to construction and military presence. All that remains today of Daba'a village is 700 dunums, including the built-up areas, which are located alongside the Wall, in the "buffer zone".

Ultimately, the Wall in Daba'a is to bring about the expropriation of the rest of the village lands for the construction of the Wall, the disappearance of the village itself, and the expansion of the near-by settlement of Alfei Menashe.

Since the Occupation, the village of Daba'a has depended on agriculture and the Israeli labor market for survival. Since the start of the second Intifada, as is the case with other Palestinian communities, Daba'a has suffered severe economic hardship due to the closure and curfew policy; agriculture had therefore become the only source of income and survival. With the construction of the Wall has come the confiscation of lands and livelihoods, as well as the creation of a hermetically sealed community, which is expected to be surrounded by an 8-meter high concrete wall. As people have not been able to reach their lands, unemployment has neared 85%. In whatever which way, Israel, through the Wall, is sealing the fate of the community.

PENGON looks at the international community with great despair at this latest Israeli measure. The setting-off of the explosives for the Wall in Daba'a is to bring about, if not expedite, the destruction of this village. The residents of Daba'a are horrifyingly aware of the likely prospect that they themselves may soon be Palestinian refugees.

We call on individuals and organizations to act immediately and mobilize to make the issue known and to help prevent the destruction of the village."

For more information on the apartheid wall, see http://www.pengon.org/

February 24, 2003

Pray for the safety of people in the Gaza Strip. This past week saw multiple incursions by the Israeli military into areas of the Gaza Strip controlled (at least nominally) by the Palestinian Authority: Beit Hanoun village, the Shejaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City. These incursions left death and destruction in their wake: homes and workshops were demolished, and civilians, resistance fighters, and members of the Palestinian Authority's police and security services were killed. The Israeli military routinely invokes "security" as a justification for these raids, claiming that they were demolishing workshops used to make the crude missiles fired at Israel from Gaza or that they were after wanted men. Undoubtedly these claims are sometimes true. At the same time, Israeli journalist Amira Hass has cast doubt on the claims that the scores of metal workshops destroyed by the Israeli military were used for military purposes, suggesting that an underlying purpose of the demolitions is retributive punishment of the Palestinian economy. And at the same time, even if Israeli raids are targeting wanted individuals, one is left with the moral problems of extra-judicial killing and a soberingly high rate of civilian "collateral damage." Pray that the lives of all in the Gaza Strip-be they Palestinian civilians, Palestinian policemen or security officals, Palestinian resistance fighters, Israeli settlers, or Israeli military personnel-be spared. And pray for a quick end to the military occupation of the Gaza Strip, for the first steps towards a real peace and reconciliation based on justice.

February 21, 2003

Pray for the residents of Habla village near Qalqilyah in the northern West Bank. Like many in that area, the villagers of Habla are in the process of losing most of their agricultural land as it is being confiscated for the construction of a "separation" wall. The wall is destoying the economic livelihood of thousands of people and tearing people away from their traditional lands.

February 20, 2003

Pray for Bethlehemites who will be trapped in a "no man's land" after the construction of walls, roads, and fences designed to implement a de facto annexation of Rachel's Tomb to Jerusalem. A prayer request earlier this week addressed this matter. For a detailed report of Israeli confiscation and colonization measures in northern Bethlehem visit the webiste of the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, an MCC partner organization: http://www.poica.org/casestudies/Bethlehem%2018-02-03/index.htm

February 19, 2003

Pray that Palestinians in Israeli prisons might receive timely, due process. In the largest prison, Ketziot (or Ansar III), near Nitzana, 1,149 Palestinians are held as prisoners, but only 240 of them have been tried in court. The remaining prisoners are being held in administrative detention. The Israeli legal system allows for prisoners to be held in renewable administrative detention for an unlimited period of time without ever being charged with a crime, a system which violates these prisoners' due process.

February 18, 2003

Pray for families in the Aida refugee camp north of Bethlehem. Families in the northern part of the camp this week were given orders from the Israeli military announcing the planned confiscation of 18,000 square meters of land for the construction of a road to connect Jerusalem with Rachel's Tomb (known by Muslims as the mosque of Bilal ibn Rabah). This confiscation represents another step in the progressive enclosure of Bethlehem by Israeli colonies, settler roads, barbed wire fences, and trenches.

February 17, 2003

Pray for the work of the Palestinian Environmental NGO Network (PENGON), a consortium of several Palestinian organizations committed to a sustainable r