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Last update - 19:13 22/11/2008
Debate over Museum of Tolerance - an exchange
By Bradley Burston, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: museum of tolerance 

Click here for more from Bradley Burston


Dear Rabbi Hier,
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It saddens me to find myself in opposition to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, whose goals and good works I have long supported.

But I have an honest and personal disagreement with a decision the center has taken, the location of the Museum of Tolerance on a Muslim burial ground.

I detailed my objection in an article entitled Dividing Jerusalem, one bad wall at a time. I noted that in the past, SWC had worked diligently and admirably in protecting the sanctity of cemeteries, in particular, that of the unmarked Jewish graves of Auschwitz.

You responded with a letter headed "Museum of Tolerance is a beacon of light, not a wall." You begin by saying that I deliberately hid the fact that the land was given to the Simon Wiesenthal Center by the government of Israel and the City of Jerusalem, who presented petitions to the Supreme Court in support of the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.

It remains unclear to me why I or anyone else would want, deliberately or otherwise, to hide that fact. But, since you brought it up, here's something else that I did not include:
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post in February, 2006, when you said that the plot of land was not considered a cemetery and was given to the center in good faith by the government of Israel and the Jerusalem Municipality, you went on to say:

"We never would have accepted a site if the government of Israel or the Jerusalem Municipality had said it was a Muslim cemetery."

"We would have laughed. It would have been preposterous. We never would have accepted it."

I believe you. Just as I still believe that as soon as bones began to be unearthed at the site, it was time to recognize that the idea of building a Museum of Tolerance over a cemetery - whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian, non-denominational or animist - is, at its root, preposterous.

The same 2006 Post article, citing the Israel Antiquities Authority, notes that "The authority has already removed 250 skeletons and skulls from the site and has reported to the court that the cemetery dates back centuries and that there are at least five layers of density of graves there."

You have marshaled learned arguments to prove that the land is no longer legally sacred to Muslims.

But do you truly believe that Muslim individuals, who have come forward to state that their ancestors were buried there, are lying? Do you believe that they do not, in fact, consider this land sacred, or that their dismay over the museum plan is unjustified?

You have said that many of the critics of the plan are extremists, and that is true.

But seriously, on the most basic, human level, can you say in all honesty that you cannot understand why many Israeli citizens, moderate, tolerant Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, are vexed by the concept of a Museum of Tolerance built on a graveyard?

You have spoken eloquently and convincingly of the potential importance and contribution of the museum.

But you have not made one compelling argument for preferring the Mamilla site over other possible building sites in Jerusalem.

Finally, you have stressed that the bones found during construction were between 300 and 400 years old, the graves unmarked.

Are you telling us that in another 300 or 400 years, it will be all right for the Catholic Church to go ahead and re-build the convent near

Auschwitz that you so strongly opposed 20 years ago?
Are you telling us that there is a statute of limitations on memory?
People of good will in Jerusalem and its environs, intelligent, sensitive, tolerant Christians, Muslims and Jews, want to support a museum like this. These are exactly the kinds of people the museum needs to attract. These are exactly the kinds of people you need to listen to.

They are telling you that your flagship project may have lost its moral compass.

They are telling you that for all of your good will, this project, and, no less, your legacy, are in clear danger of defeating their own purpose.

______________________

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  1.   A debate by two Jews about tolerance 10:17  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 21/11/08
  2.   I Saw Simon Wiesenthal At Sinai Temple... 10:24  |  Yosemite 21/11/08
  3.   Moral outrage as a tool 10:43  |  Natallie Durson 21/11/08
  4.   Strength Through Joy and related bombast 11:32  |  sh 21/11/08
  5.   zionism and tolerance like hell and paradise two different things 11:52  |  George 21/11/08
  6.   Did the Wiesenthal Center become hostage to "New Management"? 12:57  |  S 21/11/08
  7.   George 13:28  |  sh 21/11/08
  8.   AFTER THE NAZI, NOW MUSLIM IS THE NEXT 13:29  |  indrajaya 21/11/08
  9.   A Small reminder for Mr.Burston 13:47  |  Kathy 21/11/08
  10.   Bradley is right 13:58  |  Sylvie 21/11/08
  11.   #5 George Zuionism and tolerance like hell,Okay,What about Our. 14:36  |  Kathy 21/11/08
  12.   A Question 15:09  |  The Northern Wind 21/11/08
  13.   It`s The Short Sighted Bunglers Bradley 15:28  |  Yosemite 21/11/08
  14.   And What Are You Saying, Kathy? 15:43  |  Yaakov Sullivan 21/11/08
  15.   And What Are You Saying, Kathy? 15:43  |  Yaakov Sullivan 21/11/08
  16.   Intolerance? 16:41  |  Daniel Pupko 21/11/08
  17.   Warning, people will spit on the Museum 17:06  |  Dutch 21/11/08
  18.   Like Everything In The Middle East, It`s Complicated 17:28  |  Jeff Northridge 21/11/08
  19.   #7 AND sh..You hope the Christians will be.. 19:50  |  KATHY 21/11/08
  20.   r.i.p 02:37  |  s 22/11/08
  21.   Input by Islamic community is required to settle dispute 18:58  |  Smadar 22/11/08
  22.   The Joy of Intolerance 19:24  |  Mark Lincoln 22/11/08
  23.   #1 Margie in Tel Aviv-being silly 19:28  |  Roo 22/11/08
  24.   The Kangaroo finds old villages to be sacred 21:21  |  resurrectionist 22/11/08
  25.   RIP 22:35  |  Chrisona 22/11/08
  26.   Suprised Haaretz Published Hier`s Reasoned Rebuttal 22:47  |  Steve 22/11/08
  27.   HYPOCRISY EXPOSED 01:05  |  Arik Silverman 23/11/08
  28.   Margie in Tel Aviv 02:09  |  Mark Lincoln 23/11/08
  29.   debate over museum of tolerance 02:23  |  mgeraldfried 23/11/08
  30.   It`s not complicated at all... 03:49  |  BBSNews 23/11/08
  31.   The usual `holocaust` analogy 06:47  |  Nathaniel 23/11/08
  32.   Marvin Hier family, over $1 million dollar salary 07:00  |  Seymour 23/11/08
  33.   Israel needs museum of diplomatic follies & missed opportunitis 09:15  |  Ivar 23/11/08
  34.   Nathaniel That`s A Good Argument 09:43  |  Yosemite 23/11/08
  35.   My ancesteral bones are there. 10:03  |  Bandar Michaels 23/11/08
  36.   My ancesteral bones are there. 10:08  |  Bandar Michaesl 23/11/08
  37.   Yosemite, before you donate further to SWC 12:24  |  Seymour 23/11/08
  38.   Said I Mean Seymour 02:58  |  Yosemite 24/11/08
  39.   Seymour 04:40  |  Yosemite 24/11/08
  40.   Oxymoronic name 18:05  |  David 24/11/08
  41.   Disgusting 19:54  |  Respect 24/11/08
  42.   Kathy of Karkur #19 12:54  |  sh 25/11/08
  43.   Implications 17:49  |  Joseph 25/11/08
  44.   sign the petition on this issue - act for tolerance 09:19  |  Andre Sullivan 26/11/08
  45.   The Simon Wiesenthal Center? 18:23  |  Al 26/11/08
  46.   The center is fulfilling its function perfectly 20:31  |  Colin Wright 29/11/08
  47.   re #1 Margie `A debate...` 21:01  |  Colin Wright 29/11/08
  48.   Double standards are usually complicated 18:03  |  American in NY 30/11/08
  49.   Misdirected outrage 17:48  |  Yaakov K. 01/12/08
  50.   Yaakov K. `Misdirected outrage` 20:46  |  Colin Wright 01/12/08
  51.   Moslem Standards for Reuse Differ 01:51  |  Dean 30/12/08
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