For over three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the scene of recurring and progressively greater conflict. In large part, this was due to the presence within its borders of the sacred sites of the three faiths of the Book: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For the last fifteen hundred years, after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 638 c.e. each political authority in control of Jerusalem, itself often representing one of those religious traditions, had to decide how to administer the sites of the other two faiths. The issue confronted by these administrations was not simply a question of religious freedom or freedom of worship. Somewhat surprisingly, throughout most of this period, minority religions were not persecuted – particularly during periods of Muslim rule – they were free to practice their faiths. The problem was of a greater symbolic level. Jerusalem is the home not just of sites of worship and cultus, it is one of the primary historical places where the founders of the three faiths and/or foundational events of the faith took place on earth. As faiths grounded in historical revelation, these sites incorporate the essence of these faiths. For peoples and governments who feel themselves to be grounded in their religious affinity, these places take on iconic meaning.

The holy sites also bore historical and political significance as a locus for conflict between East and West.