they support an institutional religious hierarchy often graced by the presence of leading clerics who have considerable political influence, locally, nationally, and regionally
2. holy cities have an administrative apparatus controlling large swathes of property as well as religious, welfare, and educational services that provide the clerics and senior functionaries with an important local constituency and undergird a communal identity
3. they have an independent financial base in the form of endowments and donations. This allows holy cities to absorb external funds independent of the strength or weakness of the local economy, which, in turn, allows them to finance religious personnel and projects relatively free from state intervention.
4. , they can point to an important network of diasporic and international contacts built up through pilgrimage and educational activities. Such contacts and interactions offer a degree of protection to the clergy and their administrations and can strengthen their immunity from state intervention.
It is hard to come up with a solution for the problem of sacred places in Jerusalem. If a peaceful arrangement can not be reached it seems as if a trust should be set up with a counsel of people who wish to preserve these sites. The main goal would be for them to protect the sacred sites for future pilgrimage. It is hard to say just one specific religion should hold control of these sacred