500 hours down the line. Safety of all holy sites in Jerusalem must be ensured ASAP. Or, else…

The hand of the Devil that does it could be of any religion, with any motive, and can be blamed on any, and try to leave no fingerprints.

Jerusalem is seat of the holiest-of-holy sites of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths.

Your column today is an attempt to raise an urgent red flag so that world and regional leaders in the Middle East double-triple-quadruple down on the security and safety of the religious sites in Jerusalem. Or else, a lava of fire and fury may flow across the region and the world.

Here below I lay out a simple case of why the above warning is so dire:

• You know well the background – the barbaric attack and terroristic killings of Israeli citizens by Hamas on October 7, 2023. We also know the pain, shock, and rage of the Israeli people and leadership in this horrendous attack. Now, as the conflict crosses 500 hours, the danger of an ugly downward spiral in the wider Middle East and beyond looms as never before in the past 70 years.

READ: What if a ‘sea-water flood-bomb’ awaits IDF in Gaza? (October 15, 2023)

Since day 1 of the Hamas attack, October 7, an unsaid fear has been at the back of my mind, while I have been in discussion panels on some of India’s top-rated TV channels, 9 am to 6 pm, every day, analyzing and commenting on this conflict for the past 500 hours.

• Thus far I have never articulated this fear in public, on TV, or in my print media interviews. But now it is the proverbial high time to raise this red flag. If you are a terrorist, a devil, of any religious background, any twisted ideology, and you want to create an Armageddon, in the current context of Middle East and world affairs, what will you do?

Elementary, Watson. Why not bomb any one of the holiest-of-holy sites in Jerusalem? A desecration, attack, or explosion at any of the religious sites – of Jews, Christians, or Muslims – will be an emotional nuclear bomb in the region and beyond. Carried out by any mad lone wolf, or by any fringe, or by sophisticated design, by any religious or ideological instrument or vector, to ignite a wider or Holy or chaotic war or vengeance to unleash a bloodbath.

READ: Reading Vodka rings: Prigozhin as defense minister of Russia after three months? (June 25, 2023)

I studied international relations at American University, Washington, DC. I used to also teach about the role of psychological and cross-cultural communications in international relations, and conflicts at AU. One of the core principles that we study and teach to students of international affairs is to grow an antenna for “empathy” – that is., put yourself in the shoes of your enemy and think like the enemy.

• Thus, in the present Israel-Hamas conflict, what will the “enemy” do, want to “do”? If I were the enemy, I would think of ways that would escalate hatred and anger, uncontrollable reaction by my enemy, which would up-spiral the fire and fury, and which in turn would help me grow the cycle of hate and violence between religions, and faiths in the Middle East.

If I were the Devil, what could be sweeter for my objectives than to arrange a huge, or mini, bomb blast at any of the revered holy sites in Jerusalem? The hand of the Devil that does it could be of any religion, with any motive, and can be blamed on any, and try to leave no fingerprints.

Therefore, I list below two of the top Holy Sites of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths in Jerusalem that are most at risk in the next 500 hours of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The locations are:

• Jews – The Western Wall, or The Temple Mount
• Christians – The Church of Holy Sepulchre, or Mount Zion
• Muslims – Al Aqsa Mosque, or Dome of The Rock

I pray that none of my above fears comes true. Or else…

(Robinder Sachdev is the President of The Imagindia Institute, based in New Delhi.)