London: Prayer vigil for peace in Palestine Israel

Vigil at Friends House

Pax Christi members joined with Quakers and members of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine & Israel at a vigil of readings, prayer and silence in central London to mark the fifth year of the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel - an initiative of the World Council of Churches.

During the vigil, flowers were laid in memory of peacemakers, living and dead, who have worked for a just peace in Israel-Palestine, including Juliano Mer-Khamis - Israeli actor and peace activist who was murdered in Jenin in April 2011, Tom Hurndell and groups such as Pax Christi partner the Arab Educational Institute, Women in Black and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

Those gathering also heard readings of Christian, Jewish and Muslim experiences of injustice and exclusion within the city of Jerusalem - Jerusalem being the theme of the 2011 Week. They shared a prayer, especially written for the day: "We long for Jerusalem to be a place where every child is know to be a child of God, and where, like Jesus, they may grow in wisdom and grace, and in the full knowledge of the God of Abraham".

A focal point for the gathering was an eight metre replica of the Separation Barrier which cuts into Palestinian land - separating families and preventing movement by Palestinians into Israel.

At the same time a vigil was held at Shenstone UAV engine factory, near Lichfield in the Midlands. See: www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=18348 This was followed by service at Shenstone Methodist Church organised by Friends of Sabeel and Pax Christi.