World Week for Peace in Palestine & Israel

22.11.2022. Palestine: Sunset over Jerusalem old city and east Jerusalem. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

The World Council of Churches (WCC) invites people and churches all over the world to pray, advocate, and stand in solidarity with people in the Holy Land during the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel which begins on Saturday, 16 September.

While commemorating 75 years of Nakba (catastrophe) of the Palestinian people since 1948, the preparatory committee for this year's materials questioned the injustice in all this for the family and chose the Bible verse Matthew 8:20 to lay down the issue as presented by Jesus Christ: 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'

Fore more information see: www.oikoumene.org/events/world-week-for-peace-in-palestine-and-israel

During this week, which includes the International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21 September, church organizations, congregations, and people of faith are encouraged to bear a common witness by participating in worship services, educational events, and acts of support in favour of peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis.

LINKS

WCC Resources: www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/materials-for-world-week-for-peace-in-palestine-and-israel-16-23-september-2023

Pax Christi Events and Resources: https://paxchristi.org.uk/campaigns/israel-and-palestine/world-week-for-peace-in-pi/

Prayer

Among the Rubble

Compassionate God,

In our minds, we pray among the rubble,

the unholy mess of demolitions

in the land we call Holy.

In our hearts we hold

families who have lost their homes,

children who have seen their schools destroyed,

communities which no longer have a clinic.

We pray for them as they weep for all that is lost.

We pray that they will not lose hope.

And we pray, too, for

the men who drive the bulldozers,

soldiers who beat back protestors,

politicians who sign the orders -

aware that such actions destroy their humanity.

Bless those who campaign against injustice;

bless the patient rebuilders;

bless those who hope against hope

that peace with justice will prevail

in the land that we call Holy.

Amen

©Jan Sutch Pickard, UK