Background to the Supreme Court Case

When the idea to build a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem was first conceived, we had no particular land in mind.  We were shown various properties before we saw the current site in the center of west Jerusalem.  The site, which was jointly owned by the Israel Land Authority (the government) and the Jerusalem municipality, was given to us for the purpose of constructing the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. 

For almost half a century, the site had been a large car park (a portion of it with three levels of underground parking), serving the diverse community of Jerusalem.  The City of Jerusalem had also laid electrical cables as well as sewerage lines below ground. Each day, since the 1960s, hundreds of Jews, Christians, and Moslems parked their cars there. 

At the Supreme Court hearing, the lawyers representing Sheikh Raed Salah (for more information on Sheikh Salah, go to: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1219218627343&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull), head of the Al-Aksa Association, made it clear to the Court that it was common knowledge that the site had always been part of a Moslem cemetery.  And yet, during the almost half-century, no Moslem group, including today’s critics of the Museum -  Hamas; Hezbollah; and Gershon Baskin, of the Israel/Palestine Center - ever protested that a Moslem cemetery was being desecrated by being turned into a parking lot. 

Additionally, when the project was in its initial design stage, the model was on display in Jerusalem’s City Hall and newspaper ads announcing the new project were taken out in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.  Yet again - no protest from anyone. 

Their silence can best be explained by what the Supreme Court concluded in its ruling, “that the area has not been classified as a cemetery for decades.” The bones found during construction on our site were between 100 and 300 years old. They were unaccompanied by a single marker identifying any individual family or religion.

Throughout the Moslem world, scholars and religious leaders have ruled that a cemetery not in use for 37 years is considered ‘mundras’ – an abandoned cemetery that has lost its sanctity.  Jews do not have such rules – but Moslems do. In fact, in 1946, the Mufti of Jerusalem, a hater of Jews, had planned to build a Moslem University of 15 buildings on the entire Mamilla cemetery (now Independence Park). He made that proposal because he was aware of the Moslem rule of ‘mundras’, which today is widely sanctioned and practiced throughout the Arab world, in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories.

To hold Jews to a higher standard than the Moslems hold for themselves is preposterous, dishonest, and hypocritical. 

Finally, the Simon Wiesenthal Center did not initiate the proceedings before the Supreme Court; Sheikh Salah did, on behalf of the Al-Aksa Association.  When the Supreme Court ordered mediation between the parties to be conducted by former Chief Justice Meir Shamgar, the Center was very sensitive to the issue and offered numerous compromises, but they were all rejected out-of-hand by Sheikh Salah, who insisted that the Court rule on the matter.  Now, after over two years of deliberation, the Court has handed down a unanimous verdict in favor of the Simon Wiesenthal Center on all the issues.

“Jerusalem is 3,000 years old and every stone and parcel of land has a history that is revered by people of many faiths,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Hardly a street or neighborhood is without bones or relics. We are deeply committed to do everything in our power to respect and honor that sacred past but, at the same time, we must not choke off Jerusalem’s right to have a future and we are honored to be given the responsibility and opportunity to be a part of that future.”