Hold a prayer vigil in your local area on the 24th of the month and join the global voice praying for peace.

We are reinvigorating the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East, in response to a call from the ACT Palestine Forum. This global ecumenical prayer vigil began on Dec. 24, 2012, and will continue across the globe, on the 24th of every month, until the Israeli occupation is dismantled, violence in the Middle East ends, and all can celebrate a just and lasting negotiated resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Please sign your congregation or group up for the prayer vigil here.

You can find prayer resources here.

Many of you have actively participated in the prayer vigil since 2000 — please help us raise awareness about and bring energy to the new prayer vigil. Encourage people to pray together as a family, as office or parish colleagues, or as a congregation, on the 24th of each month as part of this vigil.

Please email Karin Brown (Karin.Brown@elca.org), Peace Not Walls coordinator, with any prayer vigil resources or ideas that you want to share with the wider network.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bNqaZwXLVo&feature=share&list=UU9FKTVBng6XeDUEArww1S3g

Pastor Mitri Raheb of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem shares an advent greeting from the Holy Land. Christmas Lutheran does a simulcast Christmas Service between Bethlehem and the National Cathedral in Washington DC each year.  Find out more about this year’s simulcast on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 10 am EST.   Check out the new website for Bright Stars of Bethlehem, a US organization that supports the work of DIYAR Consortium, begun by Pastor Raheb in cooperation with  the ELCJHL.

In another article, Pastor Raheb reflects on the Christmas story in his hometown of Bethlehem:

Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus was a besieged city. Today Bethlehem is again a besieged city surrounded from three sides by a 25 foot high concrete wall.  So what if Jesus were to be born today in Bethlehem? If Jesus were to be born this year, he would not be born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph would not be allowed to enter from the Israeli checkpoint, and so too the Magi. The shepherds would be stuck inside the walls, unable to leave their little town. Jesus might have been born at the checkpoint like so many Palestinian children while having the Magi and shepherds on both sides of the wall.

Full article

On the way to celebrate what happened in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, let us not forget the people who yearn for peace with justice now in Bethlehem and all over the Holy Land. Here are some Advent reflections by various people and organizations to help us remember:

• Kairos Palestine’s Advent Devotions
• The Israel Palestine Mission Network Advent Devotional
• Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) Advent Reflections 2012

In this Haaretz article current plans for Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank are further explained. Check out this article for interactive maps that show settlement expansion over the years in Har Gilo, Har Homa, and Ma’aleh Adumim.

The outline in red shows the expansion of the settlement Har Homa since 2003. See the article link above for the interactive map that shows growth over time.

In a letter to President Obama on Nov. 26, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson advocates for the US to support the upcoming Palestinian bid for non-member observer state status at the UN in the General Assembly:

With the present Palestinian effort to seek observer state status in the United Nations, the U.S. has another opportunity to demonstrate its support for self-determination and freedom. The U.S. should support these announced plans by the Palestinians when they come before the General Assembly later this month.

Over the past year, we have witnessed efforts to restart talks with the objective of achieving a two-state solution. We have also witnessed worrying developments on the ground which have inhibited those efforts, mainly the continuing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and the increased displacement of Palestinians from their homes and villages. U.S. support for observer state status at the UN for the Palestinians would be an important signal to the parties that reaching a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement, where both communities may live in peace and security is still the fervent goal of our government.