THE future of Jerusalem’s Old City will be determined internationally, and there is a “moral imperative” to protect its vulnerable Palestinians, a report from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) has said.
The report, Jerusalem’s Old City: A future in the balance, calls on church leaders “and people of conscience everywhere” to press for a future in which the historical character of the Old City, and the dignity and rights of all its residents, are protected.
The WCC recommends designating the Old City — which is holy to Jews, Muslims, and Christians — as a developmental and preservation priority.
“Donor agencies, world governments, and international bodies must recognise the Old City not only as a holy site, but as a community in urgent need of sustainable development,” the report says. “This requires dedicated funding and programmatic focus.”
The WCC also recommends that partners and Churches push for the removal of economic restrictions. “The international community, including church leaders and government policymakers, should pressure the government of Israel to ease the economic restrictions on Palestinian businesses,” the report concludes.
“This includes facilitating access to finance, simplifying trade from the West Bank, and ensuring fair and equitable taxation.”
The document also proposes the promotion of a new, sustainable, “holistic”, and “dignified” tourism model. “A shift is needed from basic pilgrimage management to a holistic tourism model that highlights Palestinian culture, heritage, and identity,” it says. “This includes marketing the Old City’s 220 historic monuments, promoting its unique cuisine and traditions, and ensuring that tourism revenue benefits the local community.”
Responding to the report, a former British Consul-General to Jerusalem, Sir Vincent Fean, told the Church Times: “This factsheet is a concise and well-researched analysis of deterioration in living conditions in the Old City, sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths.
“The overwhelming majority of its inhabitants are Muslim and Christian, with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan acting since 1917 as custodian of its Islamic and Christian holy sites. That community, as the WCC shows, is in urgent need of sustainable development. Its future is indeed ‘in the balance’, as is the future of the state of Palestine, rightly recognised by our Government in September 2025.
“The Old City is part of what Britain called the Occupied Palestinian Territories when I was Consul-General. Now we call it Palestine.”
He continued: “The WCC sets out objectively the economic and social hardships facing the Palestinian community in the Old City. The root cause is the Israeli military occupation of 1967 and subsequent illegal annexation of Jerusalem. Access to the Old City from the West Bank is severely restricted.
“The Palestinian community pays its taxes in full to the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality, which neglects Palestinian neighbourhoods. Since the appalling Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, and the genocidal actions of the Israeli army in Gaza, tourism has dried up, causing immense hardship to a community dependent on pilgrims from abroad. The British pilgrims need to return.”
Sir Vincent, a trustee of the Britain Palestine Project, concluded: “The Old City must not be separated from the plight of Palestine as a whole.
“The Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Gloucester, Norwich, and Chelmsford have expressed righteous anger after visiting the Holy Land — well documented in the Church Times [News, 6 February]. They are right to challenge our Government to uphold the law in deed. Words are not enough. A just peace is founded on equal rights. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem — prayer leading to action.”