Prayer Hub

Israel: video of axe assault goes online

04 Mar 2016

The family of Israeli security guard Tzvika Cohen, critically injured in a West Bank terror attack last week, expressed dismay as security camera footage of the attack was shared via social media and on the internet. In the grainy video clip, the attacker can be seen swinging wildly at Cohen, who was unarmed, as he lies on his back on the floor trying to fend off the blows with his arms and legs. The attacker fled the scene and was later arrested by security forces. ‘Children are passing the horrible, uncensored pictures from one to the other,’ the victim’s brother, Moshe Cohen, told Army Radio. The eight-year-old son of Rahamim, one of Tzvika Cohen’s brothers, was sent the clip of the attack via WhatsApp; Rahamim himself has been traumatised since he was the victim of a stabbing attack in 2000.

Haiti: refugees in the Dominican Republic

04 Mar 2016

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share both the island of Hispaniola and a painful and controversial history. On Tuesday the former Guatemala president said that the international community has abandoned Haiti to its fate and left the Dominican Republic to deal with the consequences of political instability, an economic crisis and the human drama of refugees crossing the Hispaniola borders. He drew the international community’s attention to Haiti’s suffering and asked for major powers to help the Dominican Republic assist the hemisphere’s poorest country. ‘The country on the east of the island, with its own problems, cannot withstand the burden of another poor sister nation.’ The Haitian people’s only escape is the Dominican Republic ‘because all the world’s doors have been closed and that has a huge impact on the economy. Uncontrolled migration strikes directly at health care and education, and contributes to job insecurity.’ Voodoo and Roman Catholicism are the official religions of Haiti. See also outreach ministries to Haiti at:

Brazil: containing and researching the Zika virus

04 Mar 2016

Today a week-long meeting by officials including the director-general of the World Health Organisation and the director of the Pan American Health Organisation has ended. They met with top Brazilian officials, including the minister of health. They were working to support the country’s efforts to respond to the outbreak of the Zika virus and to exchanging experiences on epidemiological surveillance and treatment of cases of the virus across various nations. They studied the issues surrounding possible neurological complications associated with the virus. Their mission was to enhance the capacity of countries to respond to Zika in the Americas. In addition, a group of experts convened in Colombia last week to support that country’s efforts towards eradicating the virus. To date there have been 107 cases of Zika among US travellers returning from infected areas.

India: new partnership to catch traffickers

04 Mar 2016

A US anti-trafficking organisation, in partnership with a Nepalese NGO, has just completed a first-of-its-kind raid and arrest of two major traffickers. For the first time, the Indian Police Special Task force partnered with US and Nepalese organisations in this way. The Kathmandu Post reported, ‘After a tip-off received by the crime branch of the Indian Police, officers raided an apartment in New Delhi on Friday and rounded up two suspected traffickers and eleven women. This was after Shanti Peace Rehabilitation Centre and Free for Life International, organisations working against trafficking, had given information about the trafficking of Nepali women to various Gulf countries via New Delhi and Colombo.’ It has now been revealed that the two traffickers had been sending up to forty trafficked women a month to Iraq and Kuwait. See also