Pilgrims are returning to Jerusalem; not quite in former numbers, but they’re back. What they won’t register are the tensions in East Jerusalem as a result of a systemic attempt by Jewish settler groups to change the Christian part of the Old City by strategic purchases of property inside it. One organisation behind the project is Ateret Cohanim, a US-funded body which seeks to make Jer-usalem predominantly Jewish. That project may not have the support of most Israelis, but it may have the backing of parts of the government. Israeli attorney Daniel Seidemann, who has observed the situation for some years, says that “Israel is engaged in policies which allow exclusionary, biblically-motivated settlers to shape the character of the area around the Old City, thereby marginalising and diluting the Christian equities in Jerusalem”.