JERUSALEM: Palestinians and Israeli Arabs protest the building of a "Museum of Tolerance" on the site of a Muslim cemetery

Hundreds of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians from East Jerusalem gathered in front of the Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 3) to protest the construction of an Israeli 'Museum of Tolerance' on what is believed to be the site of a Muslim cemetery -- in the Mamilla neighbourhood of West Jerusalem -- after bones were discovered during foundation work in February 2006. The demonstrators held posters of the site showing the disinterred human bones reading: "Does building the Tolerance Museum require the disinterring of Muslim graves and desecrating the sanctity of the dead in the Ma'man Allah Cemetery?" Young and old also chanted the slogans: 'In the name of God, In the name of Religion, We protect the graves of Muslims,' and 'Hurry, Hurry, O Muslim. This criminal has dug my grave!' The Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday (January 3) that the construction process could be resumed after having halted it eleven months ago. However, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians remain unsatisfied by the court ruling, saying that it violates the sanctity of the Ma'man Allah cemetery (colloquially known as the Mamilla cemetery), which until 1948 served as the main Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. "Today we are here, in front of the Israeli Supreme Court, to affirm that we consider the very act of considering building on the site of the Ma'man Allah cemetery as an insult and attack on Muslim values. This cemetery is the property of the Islamic Waqf. The unjust and politicised decision to allow the confiscation of this land and construction upon it is an act of desecration of its sanctity and an affront to our feelings, as Muslims. Our presence here today is to reaffirm that none of these decisions will be accepted because the truth of this land -- as the property of the Islamic waqf -- will not change,' Sheikh Kamal Al-Khateeb, Vice-President of the 'Islamic Movement' in Israel, told Reuters Television. The discovery of human remains during construction in Israel and the Palestinian territories is highly sensitive, particularly to Jews and Muslims who have strict rules for burial of the dead. A spokesman for the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, an international Jewish human rights group behind the 'Museum of Tolerance', said the land was not a cemetery when the group took possession of the land. He said the centre was awaiting the court's decision. Muslim leaders say the parking lot on which the museum is planned is above remnants of a Muslim cemetery on land owned by the Muslim Waqf, a religious trust, and confiscated by Israel. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a cornerstone of the museum in 2004. The 150 million U.S. Dollar facility will promote "the vital need for tolerance in Israel and around the globe," the Wiesenthal Centre said on its Web site. Ultra-Orthodox Jews have in the past rioted to demand building plans be halted or road routes changed when workers have found human skeletons on land due for construction.

ITN Source | January 3, 2007

Tags:. .movement. .foundation. .centre. .religious. .criminal