A sanctuary becomes a target again

The first dictionary definition for “sanctuary” is “a holy place,” typically one where worship takes place. The second definition is “a place of refuge or protection.”

This is no accident. Historically houses of worship have been considered safe places for people to go when facing persecution or other troubles in the outside world. When people are there to pray, they expect a peaceful, welcoming atmosphere.

But apparently that’s not how some people see it. To them, a house of worship is a prime target, especially at times when large groups of people they deem enemies are gathered there.

The latest example of this extremely troubling trend took place Wednesday in Halle, Germany. A gunman attempted to lay siege on a synagogue there during Yom Kippur services. Thwarted by the synagogue’s locked, heavy wooden doors, he instead fatally shot a passerby and then killed another person in a nearby kebab shop. Two other people were injured. Prior to the attack the gunman expressed a variety of extremist views, with anti-Semitism at the heart of it all.

This attack is a reminder of several very worrisome trends. One is that extremists see houses of worship as easy targets. In the past year we’ve seen vicious attacks on two U.S. synagogues, two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and several churches in Sri Lanka. What just happened in Halle contains echoes of all of them. To begin with, of course, it was an attack on a synagogue. The Sri Lanka attacks took place on Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar and one that draws large crowds to churches, ensuring a high casualty count. Yom Kippur is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar and typically draws large crowds to synagogues. And like the Christchurch massacres, the assailant came prepared with a camera so that like-minded individuals could watch the attack online as it happened.

These similarities point to the global nature of the threat involved. It’s frightening to think that there’s much of an audience for a bloody attack on innocent people, yet apparently there is.

Wednesday’s attack was livestreamed on Twitch, an Amazon-owned live-streaming platform. It was up on the site for about 30 minutes before it was flagged and removed. During that time 2,200 people viewed the video of the attack. And even after it was taken down from Twitch, the video quickly proliferated on other platforms. The New York Times reported that versions of the video reached more than 15,000 accounts on the messaging platform Telegram within half an hour.

Amazon and other companies that provide live streaming are struggling with the difficult task of regulating the vast amounts of content delivered through their services. Clearly they’re a long way from solving the problem. Until they do, we can expect more attacks geared toward drawing attention online.

It is most fortunate that the building in Halle had sufficient security to thwart the attacker, who even tried to shoot his way in to the building without success. But how sad it is that we live in a world where leaders of houses of worship here and around the world feel that they must lock their doors during their services, hire private security personnel and/or seek police protection just so they can pray for a few hours. After all, the inclination of just about any faith group is to have open doors and invite all to come in for spiritual comfort. How sad it is that many feel that’s no longer possible.

Of course, the specific nature of this attack demands attention. It serves as a terrifying reminder of the continued resurgence anti-Semitism around the world.

Last week we expressed the wish that the coming year would be free of the mourning and fear that marked the previous 12 months. We’re nearing the one-year anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh, followed six months later by shootings during a Passover observance in Poway, Calif. It took just 10 days for the trend to continue into the Jewish year 5780.

Once again, we pray that people of good will around the world rally against the hatemongers and make it clear that their poisonous views will not be tolerated.

These unspeakable attacks must come to an end.