Let us hold the Palestinian people in the light.
(Inspired by the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)
God, make us instruments of your justice,
Where there is a false and untenable peace
let us sow dissent;
Where there is injustice, fury;
Where there is oppression, hope;
Where there is false fluorescence, profound darkness;
Where there is social depression, life;
Where there is crime and poverty,
a sustainable economic infrastructure
Grant that we may not so much seek to be uplifted as to uplift,
To be seen as to see others.
For it is in protesting the sin of the system
that we can more fully acknowledge our own sin;
It is in demanding justice of the powerful
that we live out God’s vision for us;
and it is in rejecting the “Nationalist” dream
that we are born into God’s dream.
Amen
–Kenji Kuramitsu “A Booklet of Uncommon Prayer”
In saying the above prayer, please remember the following intentions of the Palestinian people:
- Pray for the Bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar, near East Jerusalem, which is under threat of demolition in order to expand the illegal Israeli settlements and dismember the potential Palestinian state into two.
- Pray that the proposed legislation in Israel will not be passed, that would make the photographing, video-taping, or recording of Israeli military a crime. This bill would be used to target journalists and human rights monitors who document the abuses of the Israeli forces.
- Pray for the Palestinians on Shuhada Street, who face daily physical attacks by extreme and violent settlers and soldiers.
“Our grief today is profound— but it will be repeated over and over again if we do not respond by building a better world. To memorialize the victims of war and violence, let us pray and work for justice so that we may create peace.“ (Jean Zaru, Ramallah)
