ADL: Halt museum's work on Muslim grave site

The Anti-Defamation League yesterday urged that construction of the central Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance be halted until the dispute over Muslim graves discovered at the building site is resolved.

"We encourage a temporary cessation of construction until the issue is resolved in a respectful way acceptable to all parties. To do less would weaken the foundation upon which a museum of tolerance stands," it said.

Work on the Museum of Tolerance alongside the capital's Independence Park has become enmeshed in a legal battle. The site served for centuries as the main Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. After 1948, responsibility for the site was transferred to the Custodian of Absentee Property, which in 1992 transferred it to the Jerusalem Municipality. Independence Park was subsequently built on part of the site.

The Palace Hotel, built in the 1930s by the Supreme Islamic Council, sits on another part of the site.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is building the project at an estimated cost of $200 million, went ahead with the work based on a 1894 ruling by the Sharia Court that says the sanctity of a cemetery could be lifted.

"ADL believes a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem can be an important institution for educating against bias and for respect and understanding," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement released yesterday.

"We trust that the same tenets that undergird the museum's mission will be applied to finding a resolution to address the concerns of the Muslim community and the families of those whose graves have been discovered."

Workers have uncovered dozens of skeletons at the construction site of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Reports obtained by Haaretz showed for the first time the extent of the work at the site, Jerusalem's main Muslim cemetery until 1948, as well as claims of carelessness by many of those involved in uncovering the remains.

An expert who visited the site told Haaretz "at least 150 skeletons" had been found, and that they are "no doubt" the remains of Muslims.

Professionals in the field have said the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting a major excavation at the site, headed by three archaeologists. The professionals were critical of the fact that the IAA had not involved Muslim bodies such as the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust, which has the know-how to deal with the remains.

The professionals said the IAA's behavior was motivated by monetary concerns, as the excavation is a source of income for the organization.

IAA spokeswoman Osnat Goaz said no bones had been damaged.

"If there had been damage, we would know about it," she said. Goaz added that the archaeologists in charge of the site had been chosen according to their scientific credentials and not their religion.

But according to workers at the site, skeletons have been damaged because of improper handling by workers who have no training in such work. One worker told Haaretz that he smashed a skull by mistake. The worker said the instructions they were given were that "when we reach [a skeleton] we are not to take it out but to dig around it with a spade and a brush. Real archaeological work."