JERUSALEM -- For centuries, Christian factions in the divided city have battled for control of their most sacred site: the church that stands where they believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.
Rivalries over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher have sparked brawls, riots and even a 19th-Century war. Nothing is too small to fight about, not even a key.
Under an 800-year-old peace agreement, two Muslim men share the power to open and close the church's 3-ton wooden doors. One holds the key; the other opens the door. Neither can agree on who plays the more important role.
The spat is one tiny reflection of the complex and deep-rooted religious, political and tribal divisions that have split the holy city of Jerusalem for centuries.
To 75-year-old Abed Joudeh, whose family has held the key for centuries, his rival is nothing more than a porter who would have nothing to do without the key.
To 55-year-old Wajeeh Nuseibeh, the Joudehs are basically assistants who are there to provide his family members with the tools to do their job.
"It's like having a million dollars and not being able to spend a single cent," Nuseibeh said of the Joudeh family.
Of the Nuseibeh clan, Joudeh said: "You are doorkeepers. You can't open the door until I give you the key to open it."
Why and how these families were chosen remains shrouded in mystery.
According to Nuseibeh, his family was made the church gatekeeper when Muslims first took control of Jerusalem in the seventh century and agreed to protect the city's Christian holy sites. Christian crusaders chased them from Jerusalem in 1099, but the family returned 88 years later alongside the legendary Muslim warrior Saladin.
It was then, both men say, that the duties of opening and closing the church were split between the Nuseibehs and the Joudehs.
Like the responsibility of opening the doors, the church itself is divided.
Six different groups look after various sections. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Catholic churches divide responsibilities for maintaining and guarding the church's major sites: the spot where Jesus was crucified and the tomb where he was buried. Other parts of the church are under the control of the Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox churches.
For elaborate door-opening ceremonies, such as those during the church's Easter celebrations, the two men play a personal role: Joudeh brings the key to the church, and Nuseibeh uses it to open the two iron spring locks. But most days, the job is done by a young Palestinian the families hired to open and close the church with a copy of the original key.
If the two disagree on who plays the more crucial role, both see the honor in being descendents of the Muslim families that have looked after the Christian site for centuries.
"We feel like it's a way to make friendship with everybody," Nuseibeh said.
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