Statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center Regarding its Center for Human Dignity, Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem

Statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center on its JerusalemProject

You may have read some recent articles in the press regarding the discovery of humanremains at the construction site of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Center for Human Dignity-Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. Unfortunately many of these articles areinaccurate and we would like to set the record straight.

A group of Islamic organizations petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel to permanentlyhalt the construction of this project on the grounds that it is a Moslem cemetery. Here are the critical points:

• The Center for Human Dignity is being built in the heart of West Jerusalem, on land granted tothe Simon Wiesenthal Center by the Government of Israel and the City of Jerusalem. At no time did the Government of Israel or the City of Jerusalemdesignate the site as a Moslem cemetery. Rather, it had a legal status as a ‘public open space.’ The site, an ancient burialsite, ceased to be regarded as a cemetery for many years, both de facto and de jure . No burials have taken place in the Mamilla cemeterysince the beginning of the 20th century.

• More importantly, the religious leaders of the Moslem community, have, for manyyears, regarded this area, including the Center for Human Dignity site, as land which could be developed for public purposes after moving and reburying graves and humanremains.

•In 1927, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini, issued a religiousruling that forbade continued burials in this area in order to change its use to a commercial designation so that the land could be used as an economic impetus for Arabgrowth.

•In 1929, the Grand Mufti, initiated the building of the Palace Hotelon the southern part of the Mamilla cemetery and re-interred human remains found during construction, as already then the cemetery was considered‘Mundras’ (abandoned), which according to Moslem law would permit it to be used for public purposes.

•Moreover, at that time, the High Moslem Council set an areaof the cemetery for public buildings and an Arab university which was never built due to lack of funds.

• On June 7, 1964, the issue was brought before the Sha’aria (MoslemReligious Law) Court. The president of this Moslem Court of Appeals in Jaffa ruled the cemetery “a Mundras…that its sanctity has ceased to exist in it…andit is permitted to do whatever is permitted to do in any other land which was never a cemetery….” To this day, this religious law approach that permitsgraves to be moved for public and/or commercial use purposes remains in effect in Moslem countries like Egypt and Lebanon.

• For the last thirty years, the site consisted of two parkinglots, an underground (four-level) parking lot, and an open, paved lot bordering the old Mamilla cemetery. Hundreds of cars parked in these lots every day. There were never any objections.

• The Simon Wiesenthal Center initiated a town plan to build a museum on theparcel allocated to it by the Government of Israel and the Municipality of Jerusalem and the City of Jerusalem issued a building permit to construct a museum. For five years during the public planning process, the Center for Human Dignity was the subject of hearings at open City Council meetings, throughnotices published in both Hebrew and Arabic newspapers, and the architectural model was on public display at City Hall. At no time throughout that entirepublic process, did a single person or organization come forward to object to the use of the grounds on the premise that the site was a Moslem cemetery.

• All of Jerusalem is layered in memory and history and it is not unusual forconstruction work in Jerusalem, a 3,000-year-old city, to encounter archeological artifacts and remains. That is why there is a special department called theIsrael Antiquities Authority, charged with the special handling of any archeological artifacts or remains that are found. Since the commencement of excavation, theproject has been under their supervision, and every instruction has been followed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center made its case to the Israeli Supreme Court on February 15, 2006 and awaitsits decision. Further, the Center is fully committed to finding an acceptable solution according to the highest norms of Judaism and Islam. The Centerhas offered three possible remedies to the Court, which it would underwrite, including re-interrment of the ancient bones to a Moslem cemetery, erecting adignified monument to those whose remains were removed, and cleaning up and restoring the adjacent Moslem cemetery, which sadly, has been unkempt and neglected fordecades.

Unfortunately, some parties wish to pre-empt the Israeli Supreme Court and do not havethe courtesy to allow justice to take its course. In so doing, they only embolden those extreme elements whose sole objective is to reclaim the heart ofJerusalem and to permanently stop the construction of the Center for Human Dignity-Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. They will not succeed!

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