United Reformed Church

Home Your church Your church: local and global Commitment for Life Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory

Commitment for Life — Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory

Prayer for Gaza’s Children

God who clothes us in warm garments of grace; weave this cry for Gaza into the fabric of your peace…

We are ashamed at the depth to which humanity can sink; how eagerly we march to the drumbeat of war; how easily we are seduced by violence-justifying narratives.

Mend our broken ways; challenge our complacency; protect the children of Gaza; grant their families freedom from oppression, and bring Shalom to all who call The Holy Land home.

DONATE TO THE URC’s GAZA APPEAL 

Reflection On Palestine

“Flight into Egypt”

by Andy Braunston

Have a look at this picture… What do you see?

This painting was created by Sliman Mansour, an artist in Palestine. His style which has come to symbolise Palestinian national identity has inspired generations of Palestinian and international artists.

Using symbols derived from Palestinian life, culture, history, and tradition, Mansour illustrates Palestinians’ resolve and connection with their land. With women wearing traditional embroidered dresses, he represents Palestinian land and protest. With images of Jerusalem and the glistening Dome of the Rock, he represents the Palestinian homeland and the dream of return.

He’s called this piece the “Flight into Egypt’. Let’s now take a moment to remember the story of the flight into Egypt.

To read the full reflection, click Reflection on Palestine

Prayer for Our Communities in a Time of Conflict

Peaceful God:
We are inundated with constant and distressing news of conflict and war.
Among the shouts of accusation
We are told that to we must choose sides,
That the good side’s violence is justifiable and should be accepted, even championed,
Because the bad side is plainly wrong and evil.
Yet choosing sides like this means that too often we no longer hear the cries of those on the other side of the conflict who are hurt, imprisoned, and killed.
Some actors are attempting to import these conflicts into our own settings, pitching one community against another.

Help us only ever to choose the side of peace.
Because when faced with his own arrest and violent crucifixion,
Jesus refused to yield to fear, or hatred, or violence.
Jesus told Peter to put up his sword.
Jesus chose the side of peace.

We know from scripture,
That the absence of conflict does not necessarily signify peace,
That true peace grows in the fertile soil of justice, mercy, humility, and the equal sharing of your free gifts.
And so, you urge us to set aside our misguided attempt to choose whose violence is better,
The misplaced trust in missiles to shield us and usher in peace.
You invite us, God, to beat our swords into ploughshares,
And to sow seeds of sharing, justice, and unconditional love.

God of love, may your true peace be planted anew in us.
May your love fall gently upon our communities like morning dew on thirsting crops.

May your peace surround and bless our neighbours, Muslim, Jewish, Christian or of no faith, filling every one of us with compassion, patience, and understanding.

Finally, help us all to remember that nothing in creation:
Neither heights nor depths, nor Powers, nor Principalities,
can separate us from the indescribable love of the God of never-ending Peace.

Amen

Download the Prayer

Commitment for Life – Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory

The persistent failure to secure a lasting solution to the conflict between the Israeli state and Palestinian people deepens inequality and poverty. Violence and despair persist. Christian Aid has been working with the poorest people in the region since the early 1950s.

Today it works with more than twenty Israeli and Palestinian organisations to protect human rights, access services, and build peace based on justice for all. Its development and humanitarian relief reaches Palestinians and Israelis; Jewish, Muslim, Christian and secular.

The latest report on inequality in Palestine and Israel, authored by Christian Aid’s William Bell, can be found here:

Click here for information about the Middle East crisis appeal by Christian Aid.

Resources

Use the resources below to encourage your congregation to consider contributing to the Commitment for Life scheme.

Poster

Country updates

Moving stories

More stories

Bethlehem Candle Image Gallery

Hope for Gaza by Hazel
Hope for Gaza by Hazel

United Reformed Church