All believers, and all people of decency irrespective of their faith (or lack thereof), should be concerned about the senseless violence yesterday at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Certainly, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders ought to raise their voices and condemn such violence while people are praying at houses of worship.

The month of Ramadan for Muslims serves as one of the most important means to getting close to God, and tranquility descends on worshippers praying and fasting, especially during the last 10 days of the sacred month. A believer, if accosted, is told to say, “I am fasting.”

That tranquility was brutally shattered at the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims, while many Muslims were praying. A provocative incitement by Israeli extremists marching, coupled with the assault by Israeli forces at the mosque, caused a conflagration that resulted in hundreds of Palestinians hospitalized, and stun grenades landing inside the mosque where people were praying (further violence ensued elsewhere later with rockets and airstrikes). The people at the Sacred Precinct had no weapons. While some were seeking refuge in that sacred space, from all accounts most were simply observing their prayers in peace.

Empathizing with their plight should not be difficult. This is akin to an assault by government forces on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, or on the Wailing Wall during Yom Kippur. If one of our sanctuaries is violated, then all of them are. For believers, this is surely a cause for alliance, for raising our voices in unison to protect the sanctity of sacred spaces.

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