Jesus taught the multitudes, saying: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.¹ He then spoke of eternal damnation that arises when brothers hate each other, and taught that love takes priority over religion. Therefore , he said, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has aught against you; Leave your gift before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.²

Today, Jerusalem is divided by three religions, split between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. All of these according to their own traditions are Abraham's children, the children of God . Some Jews and Christians believe that Christ will expel the Arabs (the descendants of Hagar) from the land promised to Israel.³ God told Abraham, however: And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a great nation, because he is your seed.⁴ Christians often believe that they are taking sides with the nation God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob without knowing that it is the same nation he promised to Ishmael. Jesus said the kingdom of God will be taken from the religious leaders of Israel and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits sought by God.⁵ That nation, according to Isaiah, will include both Jews and Arabs:  Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.⁶

Abraham left behind a great legacy by defending his family while at the same time making peace with his neighbors. When Sarah died in Hebron, Abraham said to the people: I am a stranger and a sojourner with you ; and, they replied: You are a mighty prince among us … none of us shall withhold from you his sepulcher.⁷ Yet, that city is now a place of violence between Israel and the Palestinians; and, the children of Abraham in Jerusalem have no sepulcher to offer a stranger in that land who became their enemy.

The blood being shed to possess Jerusalem stands to consume the whole world. Peace will not come, and cannot come, until people in that region accept the fact that if they pave the way to their holy places with the blood of their brothers, God will not be there at the end of the road to receive them.

References
¹Mt 5:9
²Mt 5:23-24; Compare Mic 6:7-8
³Gal 4:22-31
⁴Gen 21:13, 17-18
⁵Mt 21:43
⁶Is 19:23-25
⁷Gen 23:4-6