We – Muslim, Jewish, and Christian – decry the violent attack targeting the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem this week. The murder of eight students is a tragedy for all people of faith.
 
We strongly condemn this act of violence at a Jewish religious seminary.

 
Such aggression contributes to the vicious cycle of violence that has tormented Israel-Palestine and the region. Gaza has been under Israeli military attack for a week. Dozens of Palestinians have died on Israel’s southern border with the territory, where militants have launched Qassam rocket attacks into Israeli southern towns for more than a month. Just this week, international human rights groups announced that the desperate humanitarian conditions in Gaza are the worst they have been since 1967.
 

Holy places must not be abused to incite violence or express hatred. Attacking holy spaces is one way that extremists violently abuse religion. Moderate voices are increasingly unheard. All who oppose violence must not remain silent or be indifferent toward human suffering.
 

The way to advance peace in the region is for religious communities to cooperate, forging an alliance grounded in the moral principles shared by every faith tradition. As Muslim, Jew, and Christian, we are all bound by a common heritage of spiritual struggle under one God. Our collective voice and moral authority is greater than each of us standing alone. Together, we can help calm the rising hostilities and soothe the wounded and the grieving. Each of us is responsible for the well-being and safety of the other. This is a notion of “shared security” that Religions for Peace has helped advance in the international community.
 

Together, we can work to build the peace that each of us finds so sacred—and so desired.
 

Signed,

HRH Prince el Hassan bin Talal
President Emeritus, Religions for Peace
Jordan
 

Rabbi Dr. Walter Homolka
Principal of Abraham Geiger College at the University of Potsdam
Germany
 

Dr. Hans Küng
President, Global Ethic Foundation
Switzerland