Sacred Conflicts in Jerusalem's History

Jerusalem is sacred not to one faith but to three. For Muslims, it is home to the

Al-Aqsa Mosque, among Islam’s holiest sites. For Christians, it is the site of

Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Control of Jerusalem has therefore carried both political and

spiritual power. This overlapping sacred geography would later magnify political disputes

into existential struggles, making compromise over land far more difficult than in

typical territorial conflicts. Because sovereignty over holy sites is tied to religious

identity, changes in political control are often perceived as existential threats rather than

administrative shifts. This dynamic has repeatedly turned political disagreements into deeply emotional