The Islamic Movement on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it has rejected recommendations to move Muslim graves from the Jerusalem construction site slated to hold the new Museum of Tolerance.

The museum is to be constructed in the Mamila neighborhood of Jerusalem, where a number of Muslim graves were recently found. The museum's management recommended to the organization that it move the graves to a nearby cemetery, and volunteered to finance the renovations.

An Islamic Movement statement said the options presented are "against Islamic law" and constitute a "continuation of the violation of the sanctity of the graves."

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The Supreme Court must rule on the petition presented by the movement against further excavations carried out at the site.

The site chosen for the museum, in central Jerusalem, served for decades as a public parking lot.

In recent years it was allocated to the city of Jerusalem for the construction of the Museum of Tolerance, and excavations have recently begun.

The graves were discovered after the upper layer of asphalt was removed, indicating that the area was once used as the Muslim cemetery of Mamila.

The Islamic Movement's Northern Branch and family members of those buried in the area, appealed to the High Court of Justice to stop the excavations. The court subsequently issued an interim order to stop the digging.

The museum management claims that it followed all of the legal processes demanded of it, and as such there is no reason to suspend the excavations.

Instead, it offered the Islamic Movement a number of alternatives, including transferring the graves to a nearby cemetery.

An additional recommendation included a change in the museum structure, and lowering the graves into underground cavities.

Sources close to the museum administration have said in the past that in similar situations throughout history, Muslim clerics have authorized the transfer of graves.