Prayers for the Middle East: Archive

This archive is of older prayer requests. (April 2002 - December 2002)
You will also want to view the most recent prayers.

Additional Prayers can be found on the MCC site:

May there be restraint.
     Susan Mark Landis

December 24, 2002

Please pray for the family of Sami Awad, the director of the Holy Land Trust, and the other families in his apartment building in Bethlehem. The following letter from Sami details how his building has been occupied by Israeli soldiers and the families in the building are being kept locked in their apartments. The Holy Land Trust is an MCC partner which is developing a training manual in Arabic for training in nonviolent direct action.

December 20, 2002

Over the coming three weeks, as Palestinian Christians observe Western and Eastern Christmas and Epiphany, please keep the Palestinian churches in your prayers and pray that all Palestinians, Christian and Muslim, might live free from occupation, and that Palestinians as well as Israelis, might experience the justice, peace, and reconciliation that come from God. Come, Lord Jesus!

December 18, 2002

Pray for the Latin Patriarchate (Roman Catholic) in Jerusalem as it struggles with the obstacles imposed by the Israeli authorities on its ability to educate new leaders for the church and on the ability of its priests to move freely in their parishes to offer spiritual support and nurture. A press release from the Patriarchate reports the following: "The Latin Patriarchate, which represents the principal Catholic Church in Jerusalem, has recently witnessed different measures taken by the Israeli government with regard to its Arab clergy and its Jordanian seminarians (Jordan is part of the Patriarchate). This has also been the case with regard to certain religious congregations present in the Holy Land. Entry visas into the country have been refused and the renewal of residency permits for some has been put off indefinitely. These actions hinder the pastoral activity of the Church because they make travel within the diocese almost impossible for priests. Furthermore, these actions threaten the very existence of the seminary, which is the heart of the Patriarchate. Two thirds of the seminarians come from Jordan. Numerous procedures have been undertaken over the past months by the seminary itself, by the official organs of the Patriarchate and by the Apostolic Delegation of Jerusalem (the representative of the Holy Father). Until the present time, no satisfactory response has been given. These measures are unjustifiable and unacceptable on the part of a government that seeks to respect religious freedom for all in the Holy Land. Jerusalem, December 13, 2002"

December 17, 2002

Pray for families in the 'Oraiba section of the Rafah district in the southern Gaza Strip. On Sunday evening, 15 December 2002, Israeli military forces demolished 16 houses and destroyed 8 greenhouses belonging to Palestinian families in 'Oraiba. A dairy farm and a smithy's workshop were also destroyed. The demolitions leave around 120 people homeless.

December 16, 2002

Pray for Palestinians trying to maintain cultural life under curfew. The Jerusalem Chorus, the premier vocal chours in the occupied territories, performs concerts at Christmas and in the spring. Many of its members live in Ramallah, separated from members in Jerusalem, only 10 minutes away under normal conditions. This morning the Chorus is protesting this unnatural separation imposed by the Israeli military by gathering to perform a Christmas concert at the Qalandia checkpoint dividing Jerusalem from Ramallah. Pray for their safety and for the removal of checkpoints and roadblocks which not only cause devastation to the economic, health, and educational sectors but also dismember Palestinian cultural life.

December 13, 2002

Pray for Palestinian Christians in the Bethlehem area who are facing a third Advent Sunday under curfew and forbidden to pray in the Church of the Nativity. The State of Israel routinely attempts to drive wedges between Palestinian Christians and Muslims. This Advent season, however, Muslims and Christians in the Bethlehem area and throughout the occupied territories are living the same life: one of siege, unemployment, and curfew.

December 12, 2002

Pray for the volunteers of the Arab Orthodox Society in Beit Jala. This Palestinian Christian group is organizing this Advent to give every child in Beit Jala, Christian and Muslim, a small package of toys from "Baba Noel" (Arabic for Santa Claus). Children and adults in Beit Jala, the "hometown" of the historical St. Nicholas, have been living under curfew since mid-November, being let out of the house for only a few hours each week. The Israeli military has indicated that the curfew will most likely continue through the Christmas season (both Western Christmas on Dec. 25 and Eastern Christmas on Jan. 7). Volunteers from the Arab Orthodox Society will accompany "Baba Noel" as he breaks curfew to distribute toys to children living under round-the-clock curfew. MCC is contributing to this initiative.

December 11, 2002

Pray that Palestinians might have secure dwellings. The Geneva- based human-rights group, the Center for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), released a report this week naming Israel one of the world's top ten violators of housing rights. COHRE notes the following as some of Israel's major violations of Palestinian housing rights in 2002:

  In April 2002 Israeli forces destroyed hundreds of homes in the Jenin Refugee Camp leaving 4,000 people homeless. From April 2001 to April 2002 over 400 houses were completely destroyed and another 200 seriously damaged in the Gaza Strip, leaving 5,000 people homeless. Between September 2000 and September 2001, 5,000 residential buildings were destroyed in the West Bank. Homes are demolished for 'administrative' and 'punitive' reasons.

  Palestinian Arabs - who in 1948 owned most of Israel and now own only 3 per cent of the land - are severely restricted from building on this 3 per cent because of discriminatory laws and practices. Thus thousands of Palestinians who had no chance of ever getting a building a permit live in fear of having their non- permitted homes demolished by the Israeli Authorities. In July 2002 the Israeli cabinet voted for the adoption of a bill to restrict access to 'state land' (predominantly expropriated land from Palestinians) to Jews only. Non-Jews may not purchase the land and are rarely permitted to even use the land, leaving them with nowhere to go.

  In January 2002, the Israeli Attorney General rejected a request to compel the Israeli Custodian of Absentees' Property to release information on property belonging to Palestinian refugees on the grounds that it might damage Israel's foreign relations and would require too much effort. Since 1948 more than five million Palestinians have had the entire contents of their homes and businesses taken, with no recompense, by the Israeli government.

December 10, 2002

Today is the United Nations Human Rights Day, commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pray that the rights affirmed therein, integral to human flourishing and wholeness under God, might be enjoyed by the millions of Palestinians under occupation who in their daily lives are routinely denied fundamental righs. For more information on human rights violations in the occupied territories, see:
http://www.pchrgaza.org
http://www.lawsociety.org

December 9, 2002

Pray for the family of Nahla Ajel, a thirty-six-year-old Palestinian woman killed yesterday in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Ajel's three children, aged 10, 7, and 5, were also injured when an Israeli tank crew in the Gush Katif settlement block opened fire which claims that it was trying to hit an armed Palestinian cell. Pray for the safety of civilians living under occupation and violence.

December 6, 2002

Pray with Palestinian Christians as the prepare for the second Sunday of Advent. Many Palestinian Christians, such as those living in Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour, have spent all but a few hours of Advent this year living under round-the-clock curfew imposed by the Israeli military.

December 5, 2002

Pray for the family of Fatima Mohammed Hassan Abeid from Attara village near Ramallah. Two days ago this 95 year old woman was on her way into Ramallah to buy supplies and presents in preparation for the Eid al-Fitr holiday which marks the end of Ramadan (and which began today). Because one of the checkpoints into Ramallah was closed, Fatima rode in a minibus taxi which, like so many other taxis, was forced to take a back road into the city if entry into Ramallah was going to be possible. Israeli soldiers opened fire on the minibus, killing Fatima.

December 4, 2002

Pray for workers with United Nations organizations in the occupied territories. One of these organizations, the World Food Progamme, affiliated with the United Nations, recently had its food warehouse in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya destroyed by soldiers who blew up the building with dynamite after it had been surrounded by six Israeli tanks. The WFP notes that the warehouse contained food worth $271,000 dollars, food aid which had been destined for more than 40,000 Palestinians facing severe economic hardships because of two years of Palestinian-Israeli violence. In another development, according to a press release, "international UN staff today took the unprecedented measure of calling on Israel to hold its military to account and protect all UN and other aid workers operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) from harm, in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law. The demand is an independent initiative taken by over 60 international staff from 22 countries. The call for justice follows the death of a UN worker, Iain Hook, a 53 year old British citizen, who was shot in the back by an Israeli sniper on November 22, 2002 while negotiating an evacuation of Palestinian civilians and UN staff from a UN compound in Jenin refugee camp. Following the fatal shooting, the Israeli military further refused to permit the access of an ambulance to assist Mr Hook."

[For further details see http://www.reliefweb.net]

December 3, 2002

Pray for schoolchildren throughout the occupied Palestinian territories being denied an education by weeks-long curfews. In Nablus, many schoolchildren have stopped attending school, with their parents fearing to send them out in streets patrolled by Israeli tanks, jeeps and armored personnel carriers. In Bethlehem, schools managed to fit in an abbreviated day of study while the curfew was lifted from 1 pm to 5 pm: this was the first day of school in 10 days of nearly continuous curfew.

December 2, 2002

Pray for the families of two Palestinian civilians killed in Beit Lahiya village in the north of the Gaza Strip as Israeli military forces destroyed homes and conducted military operations as collective punishment against the families and neighbors of Palestinian militants. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in the Gaza provided the following information on the attack: "According to PCHR's investigation, at approximately 22:30 on Saturday, 30 November 2002, Israeli forces, reinforced with tanks, bulldozers and combat helicopters, and covered by intense shelling, invaded the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia. They surrounded three houses owned by families of three Palestinians who have carried out attacks against Israeli targets. Without prior warning, Israeli soldiers called on the residents through loudspeakers to leave and then they destroyed the houses. One of the houses that were destroyed last night was owned by 'Aashour 'Abdul Malik D'ib, 70, who suffered from hearing difficulties. D'ib was still in his room on the third floor of the house when the Israeli forces destroyed the house, suggesting that he didn't hear the Israeli soldiers order to leave the house. Rescue teams discovered his body under the ruins of his house this morning. His family managed to escape the house.The three-hour Israeli incursion ended at approximately 01:30 on Sunday, as Israeli occupying forces began to withdraw to their military locations in "Dogit" settlement, established on the land of Beit Lahia, which has been occupied since 1967. Meanwhile, 32-year-old Mahmoud Saleh Mohammed al-Na'rani was traveling in his car towards his house in al-Nada housing compound, east of Beit Lahia. When he passed by Beit Lahia, Israeli soldiers opened fire at his car for no apparent reason. He was killed by several live bullets throughout the body. In addition, 20 Palestinian civilians, including 9 children, were wounded by live bullets and shrapnel. The PCHR fieldworker in the area reports that more than 30 houses were severely damaged and a number of civilian cars were destroyed during the incursion." Destroying the homes of the extended families of Palestinian militants is a form of collective punishment which is prohibited under international law.

November 29, 2002

Below you will find a message sent out yesterday by Sami Awad, a Palestinian Christian in Bethlehem who directs the Holy Land Trust. In addition to the prayers outlined in his message, please pray a prayer of thanksgiving that no one was killed in the missile attack on the plane full of Israeli tourists leaving Kenya yesterday and pray for comfort and healing for the families and friends of those Israelis and Kenyans killed in the bomb blast at the hotel near Mombasa.--Alain Epp Weaver

A Thanksgiving Day Message from Palestine

This week, millions of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving. This will be an occasion for families to get together and enjoy each other's company and love. This will be a time where many will give thanks for good things in their lives such as health, prosperity, good friends and loving families. We cannot forget the big traditional feast that will be part of this event as well.

In Palestine, like many other countries around the world, we do not have Thanksgiving Day. I felt, even in this time, when we have been living for six days under house arrest (curfew) in Bethlehem, when for the past two years, we have been suffering from continuous Israeli military aggression, oppression, and incursions, and when for the past 35 years, we have lived under a brutal occupation, that I - as a Palestinian and as an American - should write this letter in order to express what we are thankful for during this season.

On the 22nd of November, at 4:30 in the morning, Israeli military jeeps with loud speakers, accompanied by tanks and armed personnel carriers, reentered Bethlehem announcing that the entire Bethlehem district, with its towns, villages and refugee camps was under curfew. I write this letter from our apartment where my wife, my daughter and I, like tens of thousands of other families, have been trapped for six days and are not able to leave.

What am I thankful for? What are we as Palestinians thankful for?

1) Those who have it, are thankful for the little food they were able to buy and save before the Israeli troops came into Bethlehem this past week.

2) Those who have it, are thankful for electricity that has not been cut and for the water that has not been stopped from their neighborhoods or has not been lost when their water storage tanks were destroyed by Israeli soldiers wanting to empty them. (Unlike Israeli settlements a few miles away, Palestinians only get water once every 10 days on average).

3) Those who can, are thankful for being able to wake up every morning alive. Thankful that an Israeli sniper bullet or a missile fired on their home from an Israeli army tank or F-16 fighter jet did not kill them.

4) Those who can, are thankful that their homes have not yet been demolished (only 6 homes in Bethlehem this week), or their homes were not raided by Israeli soldiers who rampaged all their furniture, shooting bullets and destroying all their belongings, and blow up their walls (tens of homes in Bethlehem this week).

5) Those who can, are thankful that they or other members of their family have not been arrested and taken to unknown places with no access to anyone (tens of Palestinians from Bethlehem this week).

6) Those who are able to, are thankful that no one in their family has fallen ill. It would take hours, at best, to arrange for an ambulance to pick a sick person these days, not counting the other hours that are wasted by Israeli troops stopping ambulances in the streets.

7) Those who can, are thankful for telephone lines that connect them to their family and their loved ones. We have not been able to see our parents for a week and we live less than a mile away. We are truly thankful for the telephone line.

8) Those who can, are thankful that their lands have not yet been confiscated for illegal settlement buildings, which continue to grow and expand at a faster pace, in front of our eyes, as we sit imprisoned in our homes.

9) We are thankful for the many friends from different parts of this world that have either called or have written to us letters of prayer and support.

10) We are thankful for the growing number of people around the world and within Israel itself that have come to the realization that security for Israel can only be achieved if justice is given to the Palestinians.

11) Most of all we are thankful for the hope that we continue to have. Hope in seeing this brutal occupation end for our sake and for the sake of our Israeli neighbors. Hope in seeing a free and democratic Palestinian state established where the rights of all are respected and honored and where every Palestinian has the right to live. Hope in seeing the two peoples of this Holy Land treat each other as equals, with equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal freedoms.

If we did not have hope then we would not have much to be thankful for.

In Hope, Thanksgiving, and Peace,

Sami Awad

November 27, 2002

Pray for residents of the Bethlehem area, now into their sixth day of full curfew. Several other West Bank cities and villages, such as Qalqilyah, Jenin and Nablus are also routinely held under curfew. The economic, social, educational, and pyschological effects of keeping families under round-the-clock house arrest for days, weeks, even months at a time continue to multiply.

November 26, 2002

Pray for the family of Jihad Tahsin al-Faqeh , an 8 year old boy from Nablus. Jihad was shot in the head by Israeli forces while he was on his way home from school. Jihad, who had been with children throwing stones at Israeli tanks in the city, was killed instantly. Pray for the safety of Palestinian schoolchildren whose path to school is lined with tanks and APCs. Pray also for Palestinian parents who agonize each time they send their children to school, fearing for their safety.

November 25, 2002

Pray for Salma Mahmoud Sharhab, 21, from Nablus, who was killed on Saturday when Israeli forces shelled and fired randomly at civilian homes just east of Nablus city. According to eyewitnesses, Salma went to the roof of her house to hang her laundry to dry when tanks approached on her street. The minute she saw the tanks she tried to escape by running to the stairs. Before she could get to the stairs, she was shot in the chest.

November 22, 2002

Pray also for Palestinians in Bethlehem. The Israeli military reinvaded the Bethlehem area late last night. Residents in Bethlehem worry that this signals a return to weeks and months of curfew.

November 20, 2002

Pray for Palestinian Muslims during their fast of Ramadan. In addition to being a time of reflection and fasting, Ramadan is typically also a festive month, with families and friends gathering together for festive meals every evening to break the day's fast. With unemployment at an all-time high and resources stretched to the limit, most families cannot afford to celebrate the month as they would like.

November 19, 2002

Pray for fifteen Palestinian families living near the Kiryat Arba settlement in the Hebron district of the West Bank. The Israeli Civil Administration in the occupied West Bank has decided to use Friday's attack by Palestinians against Israeli soldiers and security guards as a pretext for accelerating the process of destroying the homes of these fifteen families. Pray that Palestinians in the Hebron area might enjoy secure dwellings.

November 18, 2002

Pray for the family of Samar Mahmoud Sharab, a 21 year old woman who was killed yesterday morning by random shooting by Israeli forces in Nablus while she was standing on her family's balcony. Pray that God's comforting Spirit might surround the family as they mourn.

November 16, 2002

Pray for the families and friends of the 12 Israeli settlers and soldiers killed last night in Hebron. The death, destruction, and months-long curfew faced by Palestinians in Hebron cannot, from a Christian perspective, justify such violence. Pray for healing and comfort and pray for the liberation and security which will come for Israelis and Palestinians alike through an end to the occupation.

November 15, 2002

Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for "the Other Israel," for those Israelis who step outside the consensus that security can be gained through occupation and siege and envision and work for a future when Palestinians and Israelis might live together as equals. A new collection of essays, entitled The Other Israel: Voices of Refusal and Dissent (ed. Roane Carey and Jonathan Shainin; New York: New Press, 2002), highlights some of these voices of prophetic hope in the midst of an increasingly desparate situation.

November 14, 2002

Pray that Mennonite workers in the occupied Palestinian territories might be granted the wisdom to know when and how to "take sides." As Christians, we do not "take sides" for Palestinians and against Israelis, knowing that Palestinians and Israelis are both God's children, made in His image. We do not "take sides" in prayer, but rather petition God that Israelis and Palestinians alike might dwell in God's peace. We "take sides" with the good news of Christ that reconciliation between enemies is possible and that reconciliation involves the doing of justice. We "take sides" against all forms of violence, be it perpetrated by Israeli or Palestinian. We "take sides" against a false neutrality which portrays Palestinians and Israelis as equal parties to the conflict and which avoids the task of naming military occupation, siege, and dispossession as injustice. Finally, we "take sides" with courageous Israeli peace groups such as Rabbis for Human Rights and Gush Shalom and with Palestinian groups like the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement, the Wi'am Conflict Resolution Center, and the Holy Land Trust which struggle nonviolently against military occupation and through that struggle form new bonds of solidarity and cooperation. Pray that Mennonite workers in the occupied territories might have wisdom, love, courage, and strength as we grapple with seek to discern how and when to "take sides."

November 13, 2002

Pray for the family of two-year old Nafed Khaled Mishad of the Tel el-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. Nafed died in his father's arms yesterday afternoon when the Israeli military opened fire from outposts in the Gush Qatif settlement bloc. Nafed and his father had been sitting outside their home. Two other Palestinian boys were injured in the same attack. Pray for the safety and well-being of all children here, both Palestinian and Israeli.

November 12, 2002

Pray for Palestinian schoochildren whose schools have been closed due to curfew and other military restrictions. There are approximately 185 schools with 120,000 students which have been closed for some or all of the current school year. Israeli troops, tanks, and army bases are sometimes located near schools, which presents increased risk for children. Pray for the safety of schoolchildren and their teachers and for the uninterrupted opportunity to learn.

November 5, 2002

Pray for people of Ajjul village north of Ramallah. Villagers in Ajjul, as with those from almost every village in the West Bank, can no longer access the main road to the nearest large city (Ramallah), but must take dirt roads, leading to increased travel costs and wasted time. Unemployment is running well over 60% in the village. MCC works in Ajjul through support of a kindergarten operated by the village women's committee.

November 1, 2002

Pray for schoolchildren in the Mawasi in the south of the Gaza Strip. The 7,000 Palestinians living in the Mawasi are surrounded by Israeli military outposts and illegal Israeli settlements. They are routinely subjected to weeks-long curfews and can only enter and exit the Mawasi with great difficulty. In the northern part of the Mawasi there is one school for Palestinian children. 1400 students attends the school. The school is staffed by only seven teachers: normally the school would have 17 teachers, but 10 teachers in the past came from Khan Younis, to the east, and these teachers are no longer permitted to cross into the Mawasi.

October 31, 2002

Pray for pregnant Palestinian women facing increasingly difficult conditions. A new report by the Israeli section of Physicians for Human Rights notes with alarm that stillbirths in the occupied territories have risen 500% during the past two years, thanks to a sharp increase of women giving birth at home and without medical assistance, due to the difficulties and danger often involved in traveling from one's home in the village to medical centers in the cities.

October 30, 2002

Pray for farmers in Beit Kahel village next to Hebron in the south of the West Bank. This is grape season and the siege on the occupied territories means that grape farmers such as those in Beit Kahel cannot market their produce outside of Hebron. As a result, prices are nearly 5 times less than average. Pray also for the workers at The Center for Agricultural Services (an MCC partner) in Hebron which is helping women in Beit Kahel market dibs, a honey-like spread made from grapes, which brings in better income than the grapes alone.

October 28, 2002

Pray for farmers in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip. Over the past two years much of their farmland has been "exposed" or "shaved" by Israeli military operations, meaning that Caterpillar bulldozers uproot trees and crops. Farmers lose valuable income opportunities as a result. Pray for food and income security for these Palestinian families.

October 25, 2002

Pray for the residents of Huwara village south of Nablus. Located between the Tapuah and Itamar/Yizhar settlements, Huwara has been devastated by the Israeli siege on the occupied territories, suffering under a months-long curfew. The once bustling main road has become deserted, the shops shuttered, as the main traffic on the road consists of Israeli military jeeps and Israeli settler cars. Unemployment has surpassed the 80% mark, and villagers are cut off from the social, health and educational services in Nablus, normally only a five minute drive away but now for inaccessible.

October 24, 2002

Please continue to pray for the safety of Palestinians trying to harvest their olive trees. Israeli, as the occupying power in the West Bank, is obliged under the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the civilian population. Instead, the Israeli military and police in the occupied territories routinely turn a blind eye when Israeli settler/colonists, whose presence in the occupied territories is also in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, harrass, abuse and attack Palestinian civilians harvesting their olive crops. The olive tree has deep emotional significance for Palestinians, serving not only as a source of food and income but also symbolizing Palestinian rootedness to the land. Settler attacks on olive harvesters and Israeli military indifference to those attacks thus not only hurt Palestinian farmers economically, but also send a pointed symbolic message of delegitimizing the presence of Palestinians in their own land.

October 23, 2002

Pray for members of the Sobih family from Khirbat Yanun who have returned to their village near Nablus after leaving it abandoned this past week in the wake of repeated attacks by Israeli settlers from the Israeli colony of Itamar. Members of the Sobih family have returned accompanied by Israeli and international peace activists. Pray for their safety.

October 22, 2002

Pray for the families and friends of the victims of yesterday's car bombing in northern Israel which claimed the lives of at least 14 Israelis and injured 42 more. Pray that Palestinian voices which speak against such attacks might be strengthened and for healing of body, mind and spirit for those injured.

October 21, 2002

Pray for the Sobih family of Khirbat Yanun, a hamlet in the Nablus district of the northern West Bank. Most of the Sobih clan now live in the nearby village of Aqrabah. Six families from the extended Sobih clan, however, continued to live in the family's original village of Khirbat Yanun. This past week the six families left the village out of fear from the routine attacks on the village by masked Israeli settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar. Settlers raided the village at night with dogs and horses, stealing sheep, breaking windows, and destroying the village's electrical generator and some water tanks. Village men were beaten with rifle butts. Pray for the swift return of the Sobih family to their homes and for their safety and pray that the pogroms carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villagers in the Nablus district may cease.

October 19, 2002

Pray for the people of Beit Amin village near Qalqilya. A medical team from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel recently joined the Union of Medical Palestinian Relief Committees in organizing a "medical day" in the village. The following is a report from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on the economic, environmental, and health situation in the village.

"The medical day in Beit Amin revealed the day-to-day hardships facing a rural, once relatively prosperous community cut off from the network of roads and from an urban support system. Beit Amin, as well as the villages of Habla, Azzun-Atma, Sannirya and others have been separated from their surroundings and have been left, in regards to transportation of any kind (from truck to donkey and cart), isolated within an enclosed compound. People here are not under constant curfew as in other parts of the West Bank, they are not targeted as threatening or dangerous; the soldiers we met were not particularly cruel or heartless. Palestinians here simply live under occupation, and this touches nearly every aspect of their lives. PHR-Israel staff members spoke with residents of the area and gathered their own impressions on the manifestations of life in the compound:

Agriculture: the area south of Qalqiliya is known for its cabbage, cucumber and tomato fields, as well as its citrus orchards and olive groves. The IDF will occasionally, arbitrarily, set up roadblocks within the area and deny access to agricultural lands. When crops are harvested, trucks are often denied entry through the main checkpoint at Habla and cannot, therefore, sell the produce in other regions of the West Bank. Many of the lands originally owned by the villages have been denied access to Palestinians for the past three years because of their proximity to Israeli settlements, such as Oranit and Sha'are Tikva; among the confiscated fields are many of the villages' olive groves.

The Separation Wall: The wall being built by Israel separating the West Bank from Israel will cut off many villages lying close to the 'Green Line' from major Palestinian cities that have traditionally supported the rural area. A ten minute drive to Qalqiliya will take over an hour at best.

Access to Medical Care: Traveling the southern road leading to Nablus, the regions' largest medical center, is difficult for Palestinians because of the road's proximity to the Israeli settlement of Elkana. The northern route passes by the settlement of Alfe Menashe and is similarly inaccessible. As a result, people will often reach Nablus only when their medical symptoms have deteriorated. For those in need of urgent medical care, leaving 'the compound' requires getting to the checkpoint in the north of Habla, crossing the 'settler's road' by foot only, passing through a manned checkpoint and being met on the other side by an ambulance.

For Palestinians of this region, ambulances today are the only means of traveling to the private clinics in Qalqiliya, consequently, these are often required to pick up non-urgent medical cases which make the wait for those with urgent cases even longer. Medical personnel cannot travel by car to their places of work so the already over-worked ambulances have also become the only transportation service available.

Daily Life: Palestinians who need to exit 'the compound' at the north Habla manned checkpoint for reasons defined as non-humanitarian, such as attending a funeral, are not permitted through. Instead they are required to take the long route through Azzun, an additional hour and a half's detour.

Construction: Israeli planning authorities have declared most of this area 'green', namely land which cannot be built upon. Restrictions are enforced diligently upon the population, so that when the local school decided to build a 90 square meter restroom facility it was promptly taken to military court. Similar restrictions on construction and expansion do not apply to neighboring Israeli settlements.

Water: While the village of Beit Amin has recently constructed a water tower with funding from the UN, some of the neighboring villages have no running water at all. Residents of the village of Kafr Thulth, for example, must travel a precarious dirt road in order to collect water, often by foot. Water is rationed by the Israeli army, so that amounts drawn from local wells cannot exceed the amount decreed upon in 1967; this does not take into account the growth of the population in the area."

October 18, 2002

Pray for the safety of Palestinian families living in neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah which are directly adjacent to the border with Egypt. Israeli army bases along the border have routinely shelled homes in Rafah over the past two years. Scores of homes have been demolished. Yesterday Israeli shells hit several homes and a school operated by the United Nations, killing at least seven and injuring 40. Among the dead were two women, aged 72 and 32, an 11-year old boy and an eight-year-old girl. The dead were Palestinian refugees. While the world community has supported social services to Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief Works Agency for over 50 years, until now no protection regime has been provided to Palestinian refugees to ensure their safety. Yesterday's attack in Rafah highlights the ongoing need for not only international humanitarian assistance but also international protection for Palestinian refugees.

October 17, 2002

Pray for the Union of Charitable Societies as they identify Palestinian schoochildren who are unable to attend school for financial reasons and then help their families obtain school bags and uniforms. In an environment of unemployment well over 60%, many families are barely able to afford the minimal school fees. The Union of Charitable Societies plays a role in helping keep children in school.

October 16, 2002

Pray for children walking cacross the Qalandia checkpoint school every day. Students from the Atarot, Kufr Aqab, and Qalandia, who hold Jerusalem ID cards, must cross the checkpoint to reach school. Pray for their safety as they cross.

October 14, 2002

Pray for unemployed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The coordinator for the Israeli military's activities in the occupied territories, Amos Gilad, told the Israeli cabinet yesterday that 80% of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are currently living below the poverty line. Gen. Gilad also observed that two million Palestinians in the occupied territories are partially or fully dependent on assistance from international bodies such as the World Food Program or international aid and charitable organizations. Pray for international organizations like MCC struggling to determine how to respond to this reality: humanitarian assistance has become necessary to prevent the complete implosion of Palestinian society, but at the same time international humanitarian assistance allows Israel to avoid taking responsibility for the worsening humanitarian crisis which its policies of siege and curfew have created.

October 11, 2002

Pray for the staff and volunteers at the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem, a Palestinian Christian organization seeking to promote nonviolent resistance against the occupation and a nonviolent style of living in Palestine. As the organization plans training sessions in the West Bank, pray that its leaders might be given discernment about how to plan and implement such training most effectively.

October 10, 2002

Pray for the organizations and individuals organizing Palestinian workers and farmers to collect this year's olive harvest from fields close to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In the Bethlehem area the East Jerusalem YMCA (an MCC partner organizations) is joining with the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees to bring hundreds of unemployed Palestinian workers (identified by the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Labor) to work with farmers fearing to pick their olives alone due to the threat of violence from Israeli settler groups. Pray for the safety of these Palestinian farmers and laborers as they engage in the simple, nonviolent act of harvesting a traditional crop.

October 9, 2002

Pray for the families of Beit Sahour next to Bethlehem. Residents of the town fear that the Orthodox Housing Project, established to provide low-cost housing for Palestinian Christian families, could be in danger of being demolished within the coming ten days. Pray for those living under threat of house demolitions.

October 8, 2002

Pray for the families of the fifteen dead and the more than 100 wounded in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. Palestinians and Israelis argue about whether or not and how many of the dead were civilians. Regardless of the answers, it is clear that civilians died and scores were injured; it is also clear that, from a Christian perspective, all who died were made in God's image, and their deaths are cause for grief. Pray for healing and comfort; pray for all in the Gaza Strip worried about Israeli newspaper stories reporting that Israel has told the United States that a full reinvasion of the Gaza Strip is "a matters of statistics and time"; pray for Mennonite Central Committee's partners in Khan Younis-- the Ameera Society, the Culture and Free Thought Association, al- Najda Women's Society--as they work to empower children, youth and women.

October 7, 2002

Pray for the family of Hani Beni Maniyeh, 24, from the village of Aqrabah in the Nablus district. Hani was killed yesterday by Israeli settlers who were shooting at Palestinian villagers from Aqrabah trying to harvest this year's olive crop.

October 4, 2002

Pray for the residents of Yasuf village south of Nablus. Armed Israeli settlers from the Tapuah settlement have been threatening villagers from Yasuf as they attempt to collect their olive harvest. Settlers have been chasing off the villagers and collecting the olives themselves. Volunteers from Rabbis for Human Rights went yesterday to try to help people from Yasuf bring in their olive harvest. The Israeli military and police orders the members from Rabbis for Human Rights to leave while turning a blind eye to threats from the Israeli settlers. Pray for all Palestinian farmers, particularly those living near Israeli settlements, as they try to bring in this year's olive harvest.

October 3, 2002

Pray for Palestinian schoolchildren. Yesterday the UNICEF Special Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Pierre Poupard, expressed serious concern over the number of Palestinian children being prevented from attending school by Israel-imposed restrictions.

"Right now the Israeli military is preventing thousands of Palestinian children and teachers from attending school," Mr Poupard said. "A generation of Palestinian children is being denied their right to an education."

The UNICEF report continued that while "most Palestinian children have either returned to school or are receiving alternative schooling, it said that more than 226,000 children and over 9,300 teachers are unable to reach their regular classrooms and at least 580 schools have been closed due to Israeli military curfews, closures and home confinement."

UNICEF continued that "Israel has an obligation to ensure education is accessible to every Palestinian child, in accordance with the 4th Geneva Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As an absolute minimum, mobility restrictions on Palestinian civilians must be lifted throughout the OPT during school hours. There are almost 1 million Palestinian children of school age. Children living in the districts of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Hebron are most affected."

"The mobility restrictions in these areas have necessitated the creation of a substitute schooling system," UNICEF noted. "Many Palestinian school children are now being home-schooled by their parents, or gathering in makeshift classrooms such as mosques, basements, and alleyways. 'Alternative schooling initiatives are an indication of the extent to which the regular lives of Palestinian children are being devastated by this conflict,' said Mr Poupard."

October 2, 2002

Pray for the people of Beit Furik village, five kilometers south-east of Nablus. Physicians for Human Rights, an Israeli organization, organized a mobile clinic to the village last week, as villagers experience great difficulty getting to proper medical facilities in Nablus. PHR reports that "because of deterioriating conditions in the village, Beit Furik has seen an increase in the number of cases of hepatitis among children. Among the children who regularly visit the clinic, some 80% have been diagnosed with hepatitis. 45% of patients have some form of intestinal disease. Over the past few months the number of cases of children suffering from anxiety, depression and bladder incontinence has increased dramatically." The ongoing closure, or siege, on West Bank towns and villages is destroying the health care network. Beit Furik is sadly only one of hundreds of similar cases.

October 1, 2002

Pray for families in Jayus village in the north of the West Bank. Jayus is losing more than 75% of its agricultural land (10,000 dunams out of 13,000 dunams--one dunam equals 1000 square meters) to the construction of the separation fence/wall being built in the Qalqilyah region. Families are consequently deprived of their land, heritage, and a source of income.

September 30, 2002

Give thanks for the witness of 100 Israeli academics who last week issued a warning to the international community that a US-led war against Iraq could be used by the Israeli government as an opportunity, under the "fog of war," "to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing." Israelis and Palestinians committed to peace and justice worry that harsh measures could be taken against Palestinians in the occupied territories during the looming war.

September 27, 2002

Pray for the family of 14-month-old Aram Mana of Hebron. Doctors at Alia Hospital in Hebron report that the infant girl was brought to the hospital after she inhaled tear gas shot by Israeli military forces. Palestinians in Hebron, as in some other West Bank cities such as Nablus and Jenin, have been living under curfew for weeks, even months. People leaving their homes to buy groceries, go the hospital, visit family, or attend makeshift "schools" in private homes do so under threat of being shot and tear gassed.

September 25, 2002

Pray for teachers and volunteers organizing impromptu classrooms in private homes to teach tens of thousands of Palestinian children living under curfew in cities and villages in the Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin areas. The round-the-clock curfews mean that schoolchildren and their teachers are prevented from going to school by foot soldiers, tanks and armed personnel carriers. Children's education thus becomes the responsibility of neighborhood committees.

September 24, 2002

Pray for Palestinians facing a bleak economic future. A report prepared by UNSCO (United Nations Special Coordinator) reports that in the occupied Palestinian territories, thanks to two years of siege and closure, "The economy is near collapse, with longer-term consequences more evident each day the current situation persists. The economy can no longer 'bounce back,' even if closures were lifted and conditions returned to pre-Intifada levels.' Total economic breakdown is prevented only with continued injuections of budgetary support form international donors, the release of a small percentage of Palestinian Authority revenues withheld by Israel, and humanitarian aid . . . The humanitarian crisis is deepening, with living conditions plummeting as household coping strategies erode. The hard measurements of misery are stark: malnutrition, anemia, and hundreds of thousands dependent on food assistance. The psychological consequences will be long term on a population that lacks work, hope and future prospects. Adolescent males and children are notably effected, as are populations that have been isolated by closure and curfew, which includes both urban and rural areas." For the full UNSCO report, seehttp://www.un.org/News/dh/mideast/econ-report-final.pdf

September 23, 2002

Pray for the safety of all civilians in Palestine/Israel. The danger to Israeli civilians is highlighted by the suicide bombing last week. Less well covered has been hat fact that in the past six weeks 70 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers; more than two- thirds of these were civilians who were not involved in any kind of violent acts. 12 were children.

September 20, 2002

Pray for forces within Palestinian society working for a nonviolent political struggle. This movement was making some headway over the past few months, with more and more Palestinian leaders publicly questioning attacks on civilians. The attacks inside Israel over the past two days, coupled with the fact that tens of Palestinian civilians were killed during the past few weeks of calm within Israel, threaten to derail the growing support for a struggle against occupation which does not target civilians. Pray that the forces of peace, justice and reconciliation might be strengthened.

September 19, 2002

Pray for the families of David Buhbut, Yossi Ajami and Moshe Hizkiyahu, Israelis killed yesterday by Palestinians. Pray that Israelis and Palestinians alike might experience the security of justice and peace.

September 18, 2002

Pray for residents of Bethlehem living near Rachel's Tomb. There is increasing talk in the Israeli government about annexing the tomb to Jerusalem and/or taking "security" measures to make access to the tomb faster and safer. Either of these actions would most likely lead to the destruction of tens of homes, with security as a pretext.

September 17, 2002

Pray for schoolchildren in Nablus, a city in the north of the West Bank. The round-the-clock curfew continues to be imposed most of the time in Nablus, so the school year has gotten off to a very difficult beginning. Pray that children in Nablus might attend school safely and without restrictions.

September 15, 2002

As Jews worldwide mark Yom Kippur tomorrow, the Day of Atonement, pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the many Jewish individuals and organizations--Rabbis for Human Rights, Not in My Name, Gush Shalom, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions--who do teshuva (repentance, turning back/around) by working for tikkun olam (the renewal of the world).

September 13, 2002

Pray for the Alternative Information Center, a joint Israeli- Palestinian initiative which works for justice and peace. In a time of increased polarization, the AIC is one of the very few organizations in which Palestinians and Israelis work together as partners.

September 12, 2002

Pray for Noor Ismail, 15 years old, of Artas village. Noor was injured by unexploded ordnance which detonated in May 2002 near Noor while he was in Bethlehem. He lost both legs and some fingers. Noor is currently in residence at the YMCA in Beit Sahour, an MCC partner organization, where is undergoing physical therapy, counseling and vocational training. Pray for healing, comfort and strength for Noor and pray for the staff at the YMCA which work with hundreds of cases like Noor's every year.

September 10, 2002

Pray for the Rebuilding Homes initiative of the Jerusalem Center for Economic and Social Rights and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. This new, joint Palestinian-Israeli initiative brings together Palestinians, Israelis and others for joint work, as groups rebuild homes demolished by the Israeli authorities. Together, these groups highlight the ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people and their need for secure dwellings.

September 6, 2002

Pray for Palestinian school children as they return back to classes. This week was the first week of the new scholastic year. Last year was marked by prolonged periods, stretching to weeks at a time, of cancelled classes, thanks to Israeli invasions of West Bank cities and round-the-clock curfews. Pray that this year students, parents, and teachers might experience an uninterrupted year of learning in safety.

September 5, 2002

Pray for the safety of medical professionals as they travel in the West Bank. Yesterday a doctor from the Augusta Victoria Hospital was stopped at a checkpoint for two hours as he tried to return to Jerusalem after conducting a weekly clinic in Hebron. The soldiers at the checkpoint damaged his Jerusalem ID, initially claiming that it was not a real ID and saying that the police would come to arrest him. The police eventually arrived and immediately sent him on his way, noting that the ID was in fact genuine.

September 4, 2002

Pray for the family of Fayez 'Ali Mohammed Abu Hussein in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, whose home was demolished yesterday. The following report from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights provides an eyewitness account to the demolition:

At "approximately 05:00, nine tanks and armored personnel carriers and a bulldozer of the Israeli occupying forces moved approximately 200m into al-Salam neighborhood in Rafah, adjacent to the Palestinian-Egyptian border. The Israeli bulldozer began demolishing Fayez 'Ali Mohammed Abu Hussein's house while its inhabitants were sleeping. In his testimony to PCHR, Abu Hussein said: 'At approximately 05:00, I woke up hearing sounds of Israeli heavy military vehicles around my house in al-Salam neighborhood, adjacent to the Palestinian-Egyptian border in the south of Rafah. Immediately, I went to my childrens bedroom to wake them to leave the house. My house was located approximately 100m away from the border. My wife also woke the rest of the family, comprised of 12 persons. As soon as we moved to leave the house, the Israeli bulldozer demolished the southeastern side of the house. It demolished walls and the asbestos roof fell onto some of my children. When I was at the door of the house, I could see an Israeli tank surrounded by Israeli soldiers. I screamed at them saying: 'you are demolishing my house over my children; stop it.' An Israeli soldier asked me my name and ordered me to move towards the tank, which was approximately 20m away from the house. I did not obey their order and ran back towards my house to evacuate my children who were under the collapsing walls. I called on neighbors to help me save my family. When some neighbors tried to offer help, Israeli soldiers fired at them. I saw my sons Jihad, 20, and Ahmed, 17, who were injured, escaping. Neighbors again attempted to offer us help, but Israeli tanks fired at them. Nevertheless, one of my relatives, Hussam 'Abdul 'Aal, was able to reach the house. He was able to remove my 2-year-old child Manal from under the debris of the house, while I could carry my wife who was injured in the foot. Israeli forces continued to fire at whoever tried to evacuate my family. Only one hour later, a number of my neighbors and relatives were able to reach the house and evacuate all of my family. We were all taken to hospital in an ambulance and a number of civilian cars.' According to medical sources in Rafah, nine members of the family, who were wounded, were evacuated to the hospital:

1. Bahjat Fayez Abu Hussein, 20, wounded in the head, the right shoulder, the chest and the left hand;
2. Ahmed Fayez Abu Hussein, 17, wounded in the hands;
3. Majeda Radwan Abu Hussein, 42, wounded in the feet;
4. Nour Fayez Abu Hussein, 11, wounded in the head;
5. Hanan Fayez Abu Hussein, 3, wounded in the abdomen and the right foot;
6. Manal Fayez Abu Hussein, 2, wounded in the feet;
7. Insherah Fayez Abu Hussein, 13, suffering from shock;
8. Fadwa Fayez Abu Hussein, 15, suffering from shock; and
9. Sabah Fayez Abu Hussein, 12, suffering from shock.

Pray that the Abu Hussein family may come to experience comfort and security.

September 2, 2002

Pray for an end to the Israeli policy of "targeted killings," or assassinations. In addition to violating international law by being a form of extra-judicial killing, these assassinations and assassination attempts have had frighteningly high "collateral damage": most recently five Palestinian civilians were killed in an unsuccessful assassination attempt on August 31 in the city of Tubas. Such military practices do nothing to defuse tensions and produce security--for Palestinians and Israelis alike--but simply create anger and bitterness and enflame passions,

August 29, 2002

Pray for the Hajien family, a Bedouin family which lives west of the Netzarim settlement in the Gaza Strip. Last night Israeli shells hit the Hajien family's encampment, killing Rawaida Hajien, 50, two of her sons, Ashraf, 23, and Mehad, 17, and a cousin, Mohammed, 20. Four others were injured. Pray for comfort and healing and for safety for those living near Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

August 28, 2002

Pray for the residents of al-Mugharka village in the Gaza Strip. Al- Mugharka is located to the south of the Netzarim settlement, an isolated settlement which separates Gaza City and the north of the Gaza Strip from the "middle camps" area of the Gaza Strip. Using the pretext of "security," Israeli military troops have demolished several homes in al-Mugharka, and remaining homes in al- Mugharka are routinely subject to shelling from Israeli military outposts in the settlement. Pray that the people in al-Mugharka might live safely and securely.

August 27, 2002

Pray for farmers in Qalqilyah whose lands are being confiscated and "isolated" (i.e., placed in a "closed military zone," with access only possible via special permits; isolation is usually the first step towards confiscation). Last week the Israeli military authorities issued an order confiscating and isolating thousands of dunams of land to the north and the south of the city. People in Qalqilyah note that these confiscations would allow for the Israeli military to continue building the twenty-foot high cement wall, already completed on Qalqilyah's western side, around the city, leaving only one entrance, to the east. Two years ago the main sources of income in Qalqilyah were work inside Israel and sales to Israelis coming in on the weekend for cheaper prices. This income has disappeared over the past two years, leaving farming as the main source of income; now farm land is being confiscated, too.

August 26, 2002

Pray for the family of Nabil Shraym in Qalqilyah. Nabil's home was built during the heyday of the peace process. He obtained the necessary permits from the Israeli military authorities to build the home, permits which he filed with the Qalqliyah municipality. Over the past three months, however, the Israeli military authorities have been building a twenty-foot high cement wall, complete with guard towers on the western edge of the city (and plans are in the works eventually to encircle the city). Nabil's home has the misfortune of being close to the new wall. One week ago Israeli soldiers came to Nabil's home to tell him that his home was "illegal" and would be destroyed. The family is now waiting for the day or night when the bulldozers come. Please keep the family in your prayers.

August 23, 2002

Pray for Palestinians living in Kufr Aqab, a northern neighborhood of East Jerusalem which currently lies north of the Qalandia checkpoint. Several families have received military orders informing them that the "security fence" which is being built to ring parts of Jerusalem will run through their land. These families, who hold Jerusalem ID cards, will be left outside the fence and without access to Jerusalem, while their lands will be inside the fence, inside what Israel claims as Jerusalem.

August 21, 2002

Pray for the members of New Profile. New Profile is a group of Israeli conscientious objectors, both to military service in general and to military service in the occupied territories. May God sustain them in their witness.

August 20, 2002

Pray for the people of Nablus. For the past sixty days, since June 19, Nablus has been under almost constant curfew. The curfew has been officially lifted for only 52 hours during that time--little more than 2 days. In order to meet basic needs, Nablus's residents must often defy the curfew, at potential risk to themselves. Pray for endurance and freedom.

August 18, 2002

Pray for the churches in Jerusalem as they gather every evening for two weeks of ecumenical prayers for peace. In the face of checkpoints, land confiscation, suicide bombings, collective punishment, and all of the violent mechanisms used to implement a military occupation and to resist it, prayer might seem a hopelessly naive, non-functional, undynamic action. But as Christians, confident that God inclines God's ear to our halting words, we believe that prayer is one of the most powerful witnesses we can make. Join your prayers with the churches in Jerusalem at prayer.

August 16, 2002

Pray for the courageous witness of Palestinian church leaders such as the Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the Lutheran bishop Munib Younan and the Anglican bishop Riah Abu al-Asal who meet this past week with leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and urged for an end to suicide bombings. These leaders gave voice to the sentiments of many Palestinians, Christians and Muslims, who deplore suicide bombings as a method of struggle against the injustices of military occupation.

August 15, 2002

Pray for the safety of Palestinian civilians being used as human shields by the Israeli military. Yesterday 19-year-old Nidal Abu Muhsein was killed in Tubas while being forced by Israeli soldiers to proceed them and knock on doors as part of a house-to-house search for wanted men. It is still unclear who shot Abu Muhsein. Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have condemned the practice of using civilians as human shields during military operations. The Israeli government had also told the Israeli High Court of Justice that the Israeli military would stop this practice.

August 14, 2002

Pray for Palestinian children preparing for a return to school. Last year the school calendar was disrupted by repeated invasions and weeks-long curfews. Pray for a less eventful year. Pray also for families who lack the funds to purchase basic school equipment for their chidlren and for families facing financial crises who must ask older children to look for work instead of complete their studies.

August 13, 2002

Pray for the safety of journalists in the occupied territories. On July 12, Palestinian freelance journalist Imad Abu Zahra was shot by Israeli troops in Jenin and bled to death while the military prevented emergency workers from reaching him. Two days ago, meanwhile, the car in which Ha'aretz journalist Gideon Levy had been driving in the West Bank city of Tulkarem had its windshield shot up, despite prior coordination with the Israeli military-- fortunately, no one was injured. Pray that those who seek to report on the realities of life in the occupied territories are kept free from harm.

August 12, 2002

Pray for families in the Old City of Hebron being evicted from their homes by Israeli settlers. Israeli police have complained to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office that settlers in Hebron routinely physically intimidate Palestinian families into leaving their properties in Hebron's Old City; settler youth then break into the buildings and take them over. In today's Ha'aretz newspaper, an Israeli security source observes that settler youth "start by cutting water pipes, tossing around goods, or overturning market stalls; in the end, the Arab families flee." Israeli police and army fail to provide protection for Palestinians in Hebron against settlers, resulting in more Palestinian dispossession and more settlement expansion. Pray for a day when Palestinians can live freely and securely in Hebron's Old City.

August 8, 2002

Pray for 19 year-old Jonathan Ben Artzi, an Israeli pacifist refusing induction into the army. As Israeli law makes no provision for conscientious objection to military service, Jonathan, who happens to be the nephew of former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, faces a military tribunal today and will most likely be sentenced to jail. The few dozen Israeli pacifists who reject all military service are joined by a few hundred more reserve officers who refuse service in the occupied territories. Give thanks for the courageous witness of Jonathan and others like him and pray that the movement for conscientious objection might be strengthened.

August 7, 2002

Pray for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel being organized by the World Council of Churches. Twelve people from Europe and North America are scheduled to arrive in Palestine/Israel in mid-August to volunteer with local Palestinian institutions such as the East Jerusalem YMCA and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program to accompany these organizations' Palestinian staff as they carry out their work. Pray that the program will strengthen and empower Palestinian churches and Palestinian institutions seeking to do humanitarian work.

August 6, 2002

Pray for Palestinian children not receiving adequate food, thanks to sieges and curfews which have devastated the economy. A study released yesterday by CARE, conducted by Johns Hopkins University and Al Quds University and funded by USAID, found that 9.3% of Palestinian children from 6 to 60 months are acutely malnourished while an additional 13/2% are chornically malnourished. 53% of households have had to borrow money to buy food, while 17% of households have been selling assets (e.g., the mother's dowry--her gold) to buy food.

August 5, 2002

Where to begin to pray, how to pray for Palestine/Israel? Our minds and hearts go those Israelis and injured yesterday in bombings and shootings in Safad and Jerusalem and in attacks in the West Bank. Our minds and hearts are also consumed with the realities of the lives of millions of Palestinians living under military occupation, curfew, and siege, remembering the death, injury, and economic, political and social disintegration those bring about. How to pray in the midst of this suffering and death? How to remember all victims of violence while lamenting a politics of dispossession which engenders violence? Lord, take our confused and conflicting words and emotions and teach us to pray.

August 2, 2002

Pray for the Palestinian residents of the Old City of Hebron. The rampage by Israeli settlers last week following a funeral of a settler killed by Palestinian gunmen which left a Palestinian girl dead was, sadly, only the latest example of violence by Israeli settlers against Hebron's Palestinian civilian population. Economic and social life in the Old City, meanwhile, is stifled by ongoing curfews and restrictions on Palestinian movement. Pray for freedom, safety and security for all in Hebron, Palestinian and Israeli.

August 1, 2002

Pray for Palestinian farmers who are facing bleak economic realities. Today MCC staff spoke with a family in Zebabdeh village which planted okra this past spring. Last year one kilogram of okra sold for 12 shekels. This year, because of closures, roadblocks and curfews which prevent goods getting to market, okra has been selling for one shekel/kilogram. Farmers throughout the West Bank and Gaza are operating at a loss this year, not because of drought or poor crop production but simply because they can't get goods to market.

July 31, 2002

Pray for the families and friends of those killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus today: may they find God's presence in their grief. Pray also for healing for the tens of people injured in the blast. The last week saw tentative talk of a cease-fire from Palestinian groups; then, the F-16 bombing of a residential quarter in Gaza as part of an assassination, followed by two suicide bombings this week, have shaken these hopes for a cease-fire. Pray for new, fragile hope amidst grief.

July 30, 2002

Pray for the staff at the Community Based Rehabilitation Center in Ramallah. CBR staff this year are trying to implement an MCC- sponsored project to upgrade the infrastructure of 10 kindergartens in the Ramallah and Jericho districts. Roadblocks and curfews make visits to these kindergartens challenging at best. Pray for the safety of CBR staff as they make these visits and pray for the successful implementation of the project.

July 29, 2002

Yesterday the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., in the country with an interfaith delegation as a guest of the Middle East Council of Churches, preached at St. Stephen's Domincan church outside of Damascus Gate. Rev. Jackson exhorted the local churches to be a "third way" of hope, reconciliation and nonviolent resistance. Jackson pointed to the civil rights struggle in the US and the resistance to apartheid in South Africa as signs of hope that one day Palestinians and Israelis will be able to live together as equals, free from violence and fear. Pray for groups like the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement and Rabbis for Human Rights who dream of and work for a future of justice and peace.

July 26, 2002

Pray for Palestinian hospitals operating in East Jerusalem. These hospitals face many challenges: much of their staff comes from the West Bank, and so much enter Jerusalem without permits which are no longer issued; hospitals which operate mobile clinics in the West Bank often find access and travel severely restricted; patients from the West Bank who in the past would have come to Jerusalem for medical care now find the road to Jerusalem difficult to impossible to navigate, resulting in a financial crunch for hospitals.

July 25, 2002

Pray for farmers in the Hebron district. Many farmers find their livelihoods threatened due to land confiscations for Israeli settlements, to water restrictions, and to the marketing difficulties posed by reinvasions and curfews. MCC and The Center for Agricultural Services are working with farmers in Halhul north of Hebron to buil an agricultural road to facilitate transportation of goods from the field.

July 24, 2002

Pray for the staff and students at al-Najda Women's Society's children's club in the Rafah refugee camp in the south of the Gaza Strip. Rafah is subject to nightly shelling from nearby Israeli military outposts guarding Israeli settlements. Children's clubs like al-Najda's try to provide a safe, clean space for children who live with violence daily.

July 23, 2002

Pray for the families of the victims of yesterday's air strike in Gaza. The Israeli air strike involved the assassination of a leader of the Hamas' military wing. The "collateral damage" in the strike was high, with 14 dead, among them nine children. While Israel claims that such strikes are necessary for its security, the anger and bitterness aroused by these civilian deaths cannot create a secure future for either Palestinians or Israelis. Pray for an end to the killing by both sides.

July 22, 2002

Pray for the church in Ein Arik. A village to the west of Ramallah, Ein Arik shares the fate of other villages in the area, that of being cut off and isolated by Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks. Schools are an example of these villages' isolation: schools in Ramallah's western villages are often dependent on teachers coming in from Ramallah, so when Ramallah was reinvaded and curfew imposed on a routine basis, schools in villages like Ein Arik were severely disrupted. Ein Arik is often also cut off from the wider church, as even the Roman Catholic patiarch often finds travel to the village difficult to impossible.

July 19, 2002

Pray for families living in the Tuffah neighborhood of the Khan Younis refugee camp. Nightly shooting comes from Israeli military outposts immediately adjacent to the west of the camp. Tens of apartment blocks on the outskirt of the camp have been bulldozed, forcing hundreds to find makeshift housing elsewhere: walking through the ruins of the buildings, one finds tomato plants growing, sprouting up from seeds left from tomatoes that had been in these families' kitchens. Other buildings are pockmarked with bullet holes. Nightly sleep is routinely disturbed. Pray that these families might come to epxerience peace and security.

July 18, 2002

Pray for real security for Palestinians and Israelis. Israel currently justifies its round-the-clock curfews on Palestinian towns and its construction of walls and fences on the basis of security for its citizens. As deadly attacks in the settlement of Immanuel and in Tel Aviv this week indicate, security through military means is difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, millions of Palestinians are living an insecure existence, thanks to life under siege and curfew. As we mourn for the loss of life on both sides, pray that both Palestinians and Israelis may come to experience real security, security built on the foundations of justice and peace.

July 16, 2002

Pray for persons living in between the current Israeli checkpoint into Bethlehem (at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute) and Rachel's Tomb. Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert has announced his intention to have a separation fence cut through that area, a move which Israeli military sources estimate would require the destruction of 35-40 homes.

July 15, 2002

Pray for those who must mourn at a distance. Yesterday I (Alain) visited with an old MCC friend, Fr. Manuel Musallem, the Roman Catholic parish priest in Gaza. Abuna Manuel, originally from Bir Zeit in the West Bank, has lived in Gaza since 1995; his sister, Siham, lives with him. Two years ago, Abuna Manuel brought his parents from Bir Zeit to live with him: he was concerned about their failing health, and he and his brothers living in Ramallah decided that he would be in a better position to look after them.

Abuna's mother passed away late this winter. The family wanted her to be buried in Bir Zeit, the family's ancestral village. Getting the corpse from Gaza to Bir Zeit proved to be an ordeal, with three separate ambulances required, with a stop of four hours at the Erez checkpoint out of the Gaza Strip, and with being denied entry at two checkpoints into Bir Zeit.

While the body of the deceased eventually made it to Bir Zeit, her relatives--her husband, her daughter, her son--living in Gaza did not, barred passage by Israeli restrictions on movement.

Pray that God will bring comfort to those who mourn.

July 11, 2002

Pray for the students and staff at Al-Quds University. On Tuesday the Israeli police raided and closed the administrative offices of the university. The university's president, Sari Nusseibeh, has been an outspoken proponent of peace, coexistence and reconciliation. The Israeli government's move against the university came because of Nusseibeh's role as the representative of the PLO in Jerusalem. Israeli peace activists have decried the closing of the offices, not only for the harm it does to Palestinian higher education in Jerusalem but for the signal that vigorous proponents of peace such as Nusseibeh are not considered partners by the current Israeli government.

July 10, 2002

Pray for Palestinian families trying to celebrate weddings this summer. The summer months are the months for weddings here. Curfews mean that Christian families, for example, must grab the opportunities presented by the sporadic lifting of the curfews to run to the church and then try to fit in a little celebration before the curfew is re-imposed. Suleiman Noor, the director of the Hope Secondary School in Beit Jala, reports that this past Sunday he and other members of his extended family on their way home from a wedding party were fired on with tear gas by Israeli soldiers. The reason: the requisite visits to families of the bride and groom after the wedding had made them miss the re-imposition of the curfew at 2 pm by 15 minutes. Pray that the day will come soon when Palestinians and Israelis celebrating joyous events such as weddings will be able to do so free from danger and fear.

July 9, 2002

Pray for the students at staff at Bethlehem University. This Catholic university should have concluded its spring semester in early June. Given the recent reinvasion and ongoing curfew of Bethlehem, however, two more weeks (one week of classes, one week of exams) remain to be held. Whenever the curfew is lifted, students and staff head to the university to try to fit in some teaching/studying. Students living outside of the Bethlehem-Beit Jala-Beit Sahour cluster find it difficult to impossible, meanwhile, to get in for these emergency classes. The Israeli military has made it clear that it plans to remain in Palestinian towns for months. The disruption of higher education will be only one of the ways in which normal life for Palestinians will become impossible.

July 8, 2002

Pray for patience, endurance, and grace for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now living under curfew. The Israeli military reiterated this weekend that it plans to remain in Palestinian population centers for several months--at least four, perhaps up to eight. During this time Palestinians will be living under regular curfew, never knowing when the military will announce that a temporary lifting of the curfew. Parents will need patience with children, spouses patience with one another, as the sense of confinement grows and money supplies are further reduced.

July 4, 2002

Please continue praying for students taking the high school matriculation exam, the tawjihi. Yesterday students were scheduled to sit for one of the portions of the exam, only to have a blanket curfew imposed for the entire day, postponing the test. Nerves are normally frayed during the exam period; curfews and the military presence only exacerbate these frayed nerves.

July 3, 2002

Pray for the five thousand residents of al-Mawasi. The Mawasi is rich agricultural land along the coast in the south of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians living and farming there are surrounded by the thirteen settlements of the "Gush Qatif." Residents of al-Mawasi have lived as virtual prisoners in their small block of land, with travel to nearby Khan Younis or Rafah for school, health care, market (for buying, or for selling agricultural produce), or family visits made difficult to impossible by Israeli military moves to seal entry into and exit from the Gush Qatif settlement block. Residents of Rafah and Khan Younis, meanwhile, cannot visit the sea, even though it is only a kilometer or so away.

July 2, 2002

Pray for unemployed laborers in the Gaza Strip and their dependents. During Israel's rule of the Gaza Strip it promoted a policy of "de-development," ensuring that tens of thousands of Gazans were available as a cheap labor pool for Israeli industry and agriculture. For the past 20 months the border between Gaza and Israel has been shut to these workers. NGOs and the UN estimate unemployment levels at 60% or higher in the Gaza Strip, with hundreds of thousands subsisting on handouts. Pray that a changed political climate might bring economic hope to despairing families.

July 1, 2002

Pray for the 15,000 residents of the neighborhoods of Sameer Amees, Kufr Aqab, Qalandia, and "the airport." These people are Jerusalem residents, with Israeli-issued Jerusalem ID cards, and pay municipal taxes and fees. They live, however, on the other side of the Qalandia checkpoint. This prevents the 15,000 residents of these neighborhoods from accessing work, education, and health care, as travel through the checkpoint requires hours--when it is open--and is often completely shut down. The residents of these neighborhoods are in the position of paying taxes to the Jerusalem municipality while being unable to access services (schools, health care) provided by the municipality. Pray that these people might have freedom of movement restored to them.

June 28, 2002

Pray for those who need to travel between Ramallah and Bethlehem. Yesterday the Israeli military authorities too steps to block off the long, windy (and fairly dangerous) Wadi Naar road, the road which Palestinians traveling from the north to the south of the West Bank (or vice versa) had to take, since travel through Jerusalem was prevented. Pray that Palestinians might be able to enjoy the ability to travel from town to town freely, something which most of us take for granted.

June 27, 2002

Pray for David Zonsheine, a First Lieutenant (reserves) in the Israeli army. Zonsheine is a "refusenik," a soldier refusing to serve in the occupied territories. His lawyers have been pressing for his case to be heard in a military tribunal (a public venue where witnesses can be summoned) rather than at a military disciplinary hearing. Zonsheine and his lawyers hope to highlight the various breaches of international law committed by the Israeli military in the occupied territories, illegalities which lead Zonsheine and others to refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza.

June 26, 2002

Pray for Palestinian high school students currently sitting for the tawjihi, or matriculation exam. The tawjihi is an incredibly important test within Palestinian society, with results typically proving determinative for career path and educational possibilities. Students this year must not only cope with the pressure normally experienced when facing the exam, but those in major cities, recently reinvaded, must also cope with the fact that they are living under curfew and are going to the exam only during periods when the curfew is lifted or under special exemptions for tawjihi students from the Israeli military. Pray for these students' safety as they go to write the exams and for the safety of teachers administering the exams.

June 25, 2002

I am writing to solicit your prayers MCC's two senior staff members, Adla Issa and Sahir Dajani, will be ending their service with MCC Palestine at the end of August 2002. This comes not from any change in Sahir and Adla's dedication, commitment, and unflagging service to MCC, nor from any change in the high quality of their work. The MCC Palestine program has been undergoing some painful changes over the past two years: the closing of the Palestinian Needlework Shop, thanks to the disappearance of the tourist economy; the subsequent move from MCC's offices of 46 years; and now the decision to reduce local staffing from two full- time equivalent positions to one.

Adla and Sahir are gifted, unique individuals. Adla, who has worked for MCC for 38 years as bookkeeper and in other roles, and Sahir, MCC's development officer for nearly 27 years, have provided MCC with invaluable expertise and counsel and have been close friends of many MCC workers over the past decades. It is sad and painful to have two such wonderful, talented individuals go, though we will certainly keep in touch with them and have asked that they continue to be available for informal consultation over the next months.

As Mennonite Central Committee seeks to be supporter of catalytic initiatives by Palestinians for justice, peace, and sustainable development within Palestine, and as Adla and Sahir make a transition to life after MCC, your prayers are welcomed and solicited for Adla, Sahir, and the MCC program in the occupied territories.

June 24, 2002

Pray for Palestinian civilians who are being left without any governmental authority to look after civilian affairs. The following paragraph comes from this morning's Ha'aretz newspaper: "Although the government has said that there is no deadline on the operation - Foreign Minister Shimon Peres admitted to CNN that the troops could remain in the Palestinian towns "for months." Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer yesterday insisted that the IDF had no intention of taking responsibility for any of the civilian administration of the Palestinian areas under IDF control and that orders to the army were to allow the PA civilian functions to proceed as smoothly as possible, adding that the various international humanitarian aid organizations would be allowed to proceed with their efforts." With the Israeli military in Palestinian towns and cities, imposing regular curfews on the civilian population, the Palestinian Authority will be unable to function effectively (in such areas as education, health care, etc.), if at all. The Israeli government is implementing a policy of occupying the land while absolving itself of the responsibility of attending to the needs of the Palestinian civilian population. International aid organizations, such as MCC, are asking themselves whether or not they are complicit in such a system by continuing to channel assistance. Pray for Palestinian civilians living under this new reality and pray that MCC and other organizations might be able to discern how to respond.

June 21, 2002

Summer officially begins today, and summer in Palestine/Israel usually means a dry heat. Pray for families throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip whose water supplies will, thanks to the realities of reinvasion and curfew, most likely be even lower than usual. Unequal distribution of water resources means that while Israelis, including those in illegal Israeli settlements, enjoy running water 24 hours a day, Palestinians, particularly in the summer and particularly in the south of the West Bank, only have running water a few days each month.

June 20, 2002

Pray for the work of the Badil Refugee Resource Center in Bethlehem. Badil recently organized a study trip by Palestinian refugees to Bosnia to study logistics of refugee return and compensation. Pray for a just resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees, one which does not ignore the dreams of the refugees themselves.

June 19, 2002

Pray for the residents of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Qalqilyah whose towns were reinvaded last night. The Israeli government has declared that it will remain in these areas indefinitely. Pray for civilians living under curfew, and pray for a future when Palestinians and Israelis will be able to walk out of their homes without fear.

June 18, 2002

Pray for the families of the victims of this morning's suicide bombing in the south of Jerusalem. Pray for comfort and healing. When violence escalates and injustice deepens, all words begin to feel like hopeless cliches, and so we turn to God with a desperate prayer for justice and peace, healing and hope.

June 17, 2002

Pray for families whose lands have been confiscated to build the new "security" fence which will cross through parts of the northern West Bank. Good fences make good neighbors, the poet writes, but when fences cage people in, rather than set boundaries between plots of land in which both neighbors live securely, then fences do not make good neighbors, or bring security, but rather fuel hopelessness and despair by people denied access to education, health care and work by the fence.

June 14, 2002

Pray for the work of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp south of Bethlehem. With 10,000 people in .5 kilometers square, the camp has a large percentage of its population which are children. These children find in Ibdaa (creativity/initiative in Arabic) a place for self-expression, discovery, and the building of confidence and skills. Girls participate equally with boys. Pray for the children who participate in Ibdaa's program and the Palestinian volunteers and employees who oversee the center.

June 13, 2002

Pray for the Abu Tabeekh family of Jenin. According to a report from the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, on June 10, the "Israeli-imposed closure claimed yet another Palestinian life when 75-year-old Youssef Mohammed Abu Tabeekh died at the Hamra checkpoint close to Jenin. Abu Tabeekh was on his way home to Jenin from Jordan where he had received medical treatment. According to his daughter, 'Affaf, who was traveling with him, Israeli soldiers stopped and detained them for more than two hours at the Hamra checkpoint in the Jordan valley. Mr. Abu Tabeekh, still very ill, suffered in the intense heat and his condition deteriorated quickly. The Israeli soldiers would not let him pass, and after two hours of waiting, Mr. Abu Tabeekh died of dehydration." We have passed through the Hamra checkpoint several times before on our way to visit friends in Zebabdeh, a village in the Jenin district where we used to work. Not only do checkpoints like this one place severe restrictions on movement, devastating the economy and tearing apart the seams which hold a society together, they also, as the case of Mr. Abu Tabeekh shows, can lead to death.

June 12, 2002

For the past week my (Alain Epp Weaver's) parents have been visiting us in Jerusalem. Going around to the various churches and tourist sites has brought home once again how hard hit are those Palestinians whose income is heavily dependent on tourism. A Catholic priest at St. Anne's church in the Old City noted that in 1999 the church had 384,000 visitors. So far in 2002, they have only had 4,000. On the day we went to Jericho, we were the only tourists in town, not surprising, given the fact that Israeli yellow- plated cars are not allowed into town and we had to "sneak" into town. Please pray for all families whose economic fortunes have been devastated by the disappearance of tourism.

June 5, 2002

Pray for the victims of today's bus bombings in the northern Israeli town of Meggido and for their families. Pray for an end to senseless, unproductive violence, violence which does not bring about freedom, but which only leaves loss, pain, and hatred in its wake.

June 4, 2002

Pray for farmers in the villages east of Bethlehem, specifically Ras al-Wad and Za'atarah. Yesterday MCC staff visited three farmers whose lands are being confiscated to make way for a bypass road to connect the illegal Israeli settlements of Tekoa, Nokidim, and Har Homa. These farmers happened to be participating in a project funded by MCC and the Canadian Food Grains Bank, implemented by the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, to test different seed varieties adapted to rain fed farming conditions. "It's more than having your land bulldozed and plants uprooted," noted Nader Hreimat, the project director. "It's about having your culture and history uprooted."

May 3, 2002

Pray that the international conference on peace in the Middle East, announced yesterday by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and planned for later in the summer, will be rooted in the just and durable provisions of relevant international resolutions and law. Pray that, as the conference takes shape, it might be constituted in such a way that it will lay the foundation of justice and stability on which peace and reconciliation might be built.

April 30, 2002

Pray for Zaheda Abu Aishah, the project director for the Nablus branch of the Palestinian Center for Helping Resolve Community Disputes. Zaheda is scheduled to attend the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University. As the person responsible for the Center's conflict resolution programs, Zaheda is a prime candidate for this training. Unfortunately, Zaheda has been unable, due to curfew, siege and closure, to travel from her home in Nablus to the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem for a visa interview. MCC staff is attempting to help Zaheda obtain her visa so that she can travel on Sunday. Pray that Zaheda will be able to attend the training and will have safe travels.

April 29, 2002

Pray for Palestinian families thirsty for water. During the summer months in West Bank towns residents often only have running water a few days out of the month, while illegal Israeli settlements have water continuously. Israel confiscates water from West Bank aquifers, again in contravention of international law. Meanwhile, hundreds of families have had their water tanks, in which they store water for days when the taps are shut, shot up and ruined by the Israeli military. MCC is exploring with the Women's Training Project of the East Jerusalem YMCA an emergency response which would provide 160 families in the Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem districts with water tanks produced in the West Bank.

April 25, 2002

Pray for families returning to the Jenin refugee camp.
Yesterday MCC joined five other Christian organizations in delivering food and medicines to Jenin. Representatives from Jenin camp then met our group and we walked through the camp for one hour. In the middle of the camp (the camp is only 1 km square) is an expanse of rubble, the remains of scores of homes. Families are returning during the day to the camp, using shovels, hands, and bulldozers to dig through the wreckage, looking for personal belongings and, most horrifically, loved ones.

Families--usually the elderly--sat dazed and forlorn in the doorways (now with no door) of their former homes (which often had been partially or mostly destroyed).

Scripture presents a vision of the day when all will dwell securely, living under vine and fig tree. The refugees of Jenin camp are searching and yearning for that day. May it come quickly.

April 24, 2002

Pray for the work of the East Jerusalem YMCA, specifically its branches in Ramallah and Nablus. MCC supports the Women's Training Program and the Rehabilitation Program (for persons with disabilities) of the East Jerusalem YMCA. Its offices in Nablus and Ramallah have been vandalized and looted by Israeli troops during the past three weeks, with client records destroyed and scattered. Pray that YMCA staff may quickly recover from this blow and start once more offering vital services.

April 22, 2002

Pray for Palestinian medical professionals working under incredibly difficult conditions. Hospitals are facing shortages of medicines. Doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff face challenges getting to work, with many choosing to sleep over at the hospitals so that their vital work isn't interrupted. Ambulances are routinely denied access to the sick, wounded and dead and are sometimes fired upon.
Lord, may your healing spirit guide and protect these people as they attend to the sick and the injured.

April 19, 2002

Pray for the work of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between Peoples. In a climate and context where violent revenge, by both Palestinians and Israelis, is all-too-frequent, Rapprochement promotes nonviolent forms of resistance to occupation.

April 18, 2002

Pray for people in Nablus and Jenin who are facing severe water shortages. While the Israeli military has begun pulling out of Jenin and Nablus today, it leaves behind a trail of destruction, including to the water-delivery system. MCC is sending in a truck full of water to Jenin tomorrow as part of a larger convoy of material aid. Pray that water resources might be shared justly and equitably in Palestine/Israel.

April 17, 2002

Please pray for the over 150 people in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. These include Palestinian policemen, security officers, and militants, and also civilians and clergy. We have received word that food supplies have completely run out in the church. Pray that food might be allowed to enter and that no harm come to anyone, Palestinian or Israeli, civilian or soldier, in the standoff around the church.

April 16, 2002

Pray for the faculty and students of the Hope Secondary School, formerly the Mennonite Secondary School, in Beit Jala. Students at this school (like students throughout the West Bank) have not had classes since the Easter break, due to the Israeli reinvasion of West Bank cities and the round-the-clock curfew imposed upon them. Students have missed weeks, going on months, of school this year. Palestinian students are eager to learn. Pray that they might simply be able to attend school.

April 15, 2002

Please pray for the people of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour. Today MCC, together with four other international Christian organizations, donated cartons of basic foodstuffs designed to last a family of five for 7-10 days. Many times today as we unloaded goods from the trucks, together with members of the cities' local emergency committees, we heard the following refrain: "We appreciate the food, but what we really need is our freedom." Pray that people in these cities, and throughout the occupied territories, might enjoy freedom.

April 12, 2002

Pray for Ed Nyce, MCC's peace development worker living in Bethlehem. Ed has been living under curfew for 11 days now. Most of this time he has been confined to his apartment, although he has been able to visit his landlords, as they share one walled-off compound. While Ed did not have electricity during the first week of the Israeli reinvasion of Bethlehem, it was recently restored to his apartment. So far food and water are holding out, although there is no longer any produce (fruit, vegetables) in the compound. The Israeli military authorities have announced a lifting of the curfew for four hours this afternoon; in practice, however, the times end up being much shorter and people are frightened to go out, unsure as to whether or not soldiers either know about the lifting of the curfew or will respect it. Pray that Ed might be graced with love, courage, and stillness of heart.

April 11, 2002

Please pray for the people of Jenin, particularly of Jenin refugee camp. Reports are coming out of the camp of many, many dead and wounded (Israeli sources say 150 dead; Palestinians believe many more), not to mention the demolition and looting of homes and the destruction of infrastructure that has characterized these reinvasions. LAW, a leading Palestinian human rights organization, has received reports of Israeli military digging mass graves in the camp and of extra judicial executions. Billed as a blow against the "terrorist infrastructure," this invasion is one where the damage to the civilian infrastructure and the "collateral damage" are terribly high. MCC will join with other international and Palestinian humanitarian aid organizations in a humanitarian aid convoy to Jenin on Saturday. MCC so far has committed $45,750 in foodstuffs to various humanitarian aid convoys to Palestinian cities whose residents have been living under siege and with chronic unemployment at 60-80% for the past 19 months and now have been under curfew nearly round the clock for almost three weeks.

April 9, 2002

Pray for MCC's peace development worker Ed Nyce. Ed is living in Bethlehem and has essentially been confined to his apartment for the past week. Most of this time he has been without electricity. Soldiers, tanks, and armored personnel carriers are congregated on the street outside his home. Pray for Ed's safety and well-being.

April 8, 2002

Tomorrow, April 9, 2002, MCC will join other international and local humanitarian aid organizations in a convoy of humanitarian aid (food and medicines) to Nablus. MCC is contributing $5000 worth of basic food products (flour, rice, etc.) to the effort. The curfew in Nablus is creating a looming humanitarian crisis. The convoy will attempt to deliver food and medicines to families most affected by the crisis. The convoy will also be highlighting the fact that, under international law, humanitarian aid organizations should be given free and unrestricted access in order to carry out their work. Pray for the safety of the convoy and for the lifting of the siege that is creating humanitarian crises throughout the occupied territories.

April 5, 2002

Yesterday morning our development officer, Sahir Dajani, was looking for the phone number of Muna Abdeh, the director of the Association of Women's Social Work Committees, an organization that operates several kindergartens in the Bethlehem area. MCC has helped the Association's kindergartens in different ways over the years: bathrooms, stationery, carpeting, and, last year, repairs after a rocket slammed into the Association's kindergarten in the Aida refugee camp.

When Sahir said the name "Abdeh," my mind went to news reports I'd seen yesterday concerning an Abdeh family in Bethlehem. The matriarch of the family, 60 years old, had gone down from the top floor of the apartment block where she lived to the ground floor where her youngest son, 27, lived. She had taken with her children from the top floor on the assumption that the ground floor would be safer if shooting started.

While she was on the ground floor, Israeli soldiers approached the apartment block, having been engaged in a firefight with Palestinian gunmen. The soldiers wished to enter the house. The matriarch went to open the door, at which point she and her son were shot and killed. The 60-year old woman was Muna's mother; her son was Muna's brother.

For over 24 hours the corpses were in the building, as the Israeli military would not let ambulances come to the house. The bodies are now in hospital; the Israeli authorities have yet to grant permission for the bodies to be buried.

We at MCC are in mourning with Muna's family and hope to pay a condolence call as soon as the situation permits. Your prayers for the Abdeh family are solicited.

April 4, 2002

Please pray for the faculty and students at the Latin Patriarchate (Catholic) School in Zebabdeh. Zebabdeh is the only predominantly Christian town in the north of the West Bank. Yesterday only half of the students made it to school: because of the Israeli invasion of Jenin, school buses couldn't bring commuting students from Jenin to Zebabdeh. During the middle of the school day students from Tubas were quickly shepherded onto a bus home when word came that Israeli tanks were poised to invade Tubas. Fortunately the children made it home safely. Pray for the safety of the students, faculty and their families and for the church in Zebabdeh as it seeks to be a witness amidst the falling darkness.

April 3, 2002

Pray for Palestinian families living in Ramallah, which has been under siege and curfew for nearly one solid week. Water, electricity, and phone connections have been cut off in most areas for most of this period. With families trapped indoors, food supplies are beginning to run low and water has to be more carefully rationed than usual.

April 2, 2002

Today's prayer request: "Please pray for the family of Zoughbi and Elaine Zoughbi, a Christian family in Bethlehem. Zoughbi is the director of the Wi'am Conflict Resolution Center and a promoter of nonviolent conflict resolution. Pray for Zoughbi in his work and for the entire family (children's names are Marcelle, Tariq, Luka, and Rafiq) as they face uncertain days following last night's reinvasion of Bethlehem. Constant gunfire and shelling make it difficult to sleep; the children's schools, meanwhile, have had to close their doors."