Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Latest on Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance

THE LATEST on the Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance and the Mamilla Cemetery:
Grave concerns
International archaeologists are calling for work to stop at the Museum of Tolerance.


By Noam Dvir (Haaretz)

Eighty-four senior archaeologists from leading research institutions around the world have called on the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jerusalem municipality and the Israel Antiquities Authority to put an end to construction of the Museum of Tolerance in the center of the city. In a letter sent to the three bodies over the weekend, the archaeologists argue that the establishment of the museum on the site of the Mamilla Muslim cemetery contradicts ethical standards in the archaeological world, as well as Israeli law. In May 2010, Haaretz published a comprehensive report on the secret removal of remains from the cemetery.

"The bulldozing of historic cemeteries is the ultimate act of territorial aggrandizement: the erasure of prior residents," says Prof. Harvey Weiss of Yale University, a leading expert on the beginning of urbanization in the world. "Desecration of Jerusalem's Mamilla cemetery is a continuing cultural and historical tragedy," he said.

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Background here with many links.