Tomb Planters revisited

TOMB PLANTERS revisited:

Work resumes on removal of 500 fake gravestones in capital

By MELANIE LIDMAN (Jerusalem Post)
07/21/2011 03:55

Leader of preservation campaign: I don’t think the argument is "real or not" – we know that this is a cemetery.


After nearly a year, the Israel Lands Authority this month resumed work removing 500 fake tombstones from the Muslim Mamilla Cemetery in downtown Jerusalem, prompting furious condemnation from Muslim groups.

Last August, Jerusalem municipality officials, working in conjunction with the ILA and the Israel Antiquities Authority, removed around 300 counterfeit tombstones, calling their erection “one of the largest acts of deception in recent years.”

The Islamic Movement accused the authorities of wantonly destroying graves, and appealed to the courts to impose a stop-work order on the removal. The order was rescinded in late June, said ILA spokeswoman Ortal Tzabar.

Since then, authorities have removed an additional 100 fake gravestones.

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HT Joseph Lauer. Background here and here. Related here and links (regarding the Museum of Tolerance controversy).