Yacoub Hussein Nusseibeh (standing on the ladder) and the grandfather of the late Abdul Ra'uf Salih Nusseibeh (standing below) are opening the door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, October 1933.

Since the arrival of Islam in Jerusalem in the 7th century, the Nusseibehs, a Sunni Muslim family has held the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre alongside the Joudeh Al-Goudia family (who were added to the original arrangement in the time of Saladin, the Muslim conqueror who seized the Holy City from the Crusaders in 1187). This arrangement emerged during the days of the second Sunni caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab, who hoped to avoid clashes among rival Christian sects for control over the church. Although symbolic, the arrangement has provided the stability the Christians of the city needed, and is a symbol of tolerance and inter-religious harmony.