Haaretz
Shvat 12, 5766
A senior Muslim cleric said on
Thursday he asked the Supreme Court to stop construction of a museum
dedicated to human rights and tolerance in Jerusalem after bones from an
old Muslim cemetery were found during
foundation work.
"We
adhere to our legitimate right to protect the Ma'man Allah graveyard and
all other Muslim cemeteries. This is the oldest Muslim graveyard in
Palestine," said Irkima al-Sabri, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the
Palestinian Territories.
A petition to halt construction of the
museum had been presented to the Supreme Court, he said.
The
discovery of human remains during construction in Israel is highly
sensitive, particularly to Jews and Muslims who have strict rules for
burial of the dead.
A spokesman for the Simon Wiesenthal Center,
an international Jewish human rights group behind the Museum of Tolerance,
said the court would hear the appeal next week.
"The land wasn't a
cemetery when we got it from city hall and the government and we are
waiting to know the (court's) decision," the spokesman, Hagai Elias,
said.
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 facility will promote "the vital need for tolerance
in Israel and around the globe," the Wiesenthal Center said on its Web
site.
"The entire city of Jerusalem is built on an archaeological
site and human remains are frequently discovered," said Osnat Goaz, a
spokeswoman for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The remains are
often removed and reburied by religious authorities, she
said.
Haredi 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.
The Moriah Company for the
Development of Jerusalem, which is excavating foundations on behalf of the
Jerusalem Municipality before it gives the land to the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, said it would "abide by the Supreme Court's decision."