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Israel | A Palestinian Christian finds a way to be at peace in Jerusalem | Warren Cole Smith

FOCUSED ON RECONCILIATION: Dhynes outside the home built by his great-grandfather.

JERUSALEM—Allyn Dhynes' ancestral home is a two-story stone mansion in booming downtown Jerusalem. It sits on some of the most expensive real estate in the Middle East, just across the street from the iconic King David Hotel, with its fully restored rooms routinely going for more than $300 a night. Nearby, high-rise condominium units a fraction the size of this home sell for more than $1 million.

This part of town Dhynes doesn't see often. In fact, the relief worker with World Vision has never been inside the home built by his great-grandfather, Dimitri Salameh, a Christian businessman whose roots in the region go back 1,000 years. "Mitri," as Dhynes called him, ran Middle East operations for the legendary travel agency Thomas Cook.