Fasting and Prayer for Gaza

At the Lutheran church service where we worshipped this morning, the pastors invited us to participate in a day of fasting and prayer for Gaza tomorrow here in Jerusalem. We probably will not fast while traveling, but we will continue to pray for this situation. Israel's current collective punishment program for Gaza is unjust and wrong. Some of us will attend a service for this cause Monday evening.

From the Friends of Sabeel website:
"This week is the World Week of Prayer for Palestine Israel. In a time when solidarity and action are met by such extreme violence, prayer is especially important. May our prayers throughout the week prevent our frustrations from turning to bitterness, encourage us to love our enemies, and remind us of the hope found in Christ.

Sabeel invites you to participate in a day of prayer and fasting in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the passengers of the flotilla. The day long fast will be held Monday, June 7. That evening, Sabeel and other Jerusalem organizations are hosting a prayer service. The litany for that service will be distributed in the next few days so that individuals and churches around the globe can join in prayerful action."

I also ran across another project organized by Ta'anit Tzedek, a Jewish fast for Gaza. They have fasting days scheduled next week, and there are some insightful comments on their site.

I have no reason to think that the Bethlehem Peace Center is associated with these fasts, but I wanted to share the photograph of that building, and this seemed like an appropriate place to do it.