Jesus Christ, who had foretold his return after coming back to life after being crucified nearly two thousand years ago, attempted to enter Jerusalem yesterday to fulfill that promise, but was stymied when the Palestinian and Jordanian governments each protested that they, not Israel, should handle the official record of his arrival. Israel currently controls all of Jerusalem and considers the undivided city its capital. Jordan had control of the eastern sections, including the ancient Old City, between 1948 and 1967, while the Palestinians are engaged in an effort to oust Israel from all areas taken in 1967 and assert their political independence there. Processing Jesus's passport would constitute a political and diplomatic coup almost on par with recognition of Palestine as a member state by the UN Security Council.

While the Palestinians and Jordanians agreed that Israel must not be allowed to demonstrate its jurisdiction over all of Jerusalem, each one insisted that its own ties to the city superseded the other's, and that Jesus should therefore grant divine legitimacy to only that government's claim.