Wiesenthal Center Responds to New Protests Against the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the February 10 protest in Jerusalem, the Simon Wiesenthal Center issued the following statement:

"The Museum of Tolerance project is not being built on the Mamilla Cemetery.  It is being built on Jerusalem's former municipal car park, where every day for nearly half a century, thousands of Muslims, Christians and Jews parked their cars without any protest whatsoever from the Muslim religious leaders, academics and NGOs," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean and Founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  "Additionally, telephone cables, electrical lines, drainage and sewerage lines were laid deep into the ground in the early 1960s, again without any protest," he said.

"We also want to emphasize that the Israeli Antiquities Authority has confirmed that there are no bones or remains on the site, which is currently undergoing infrastructure work.  Remains found on the site, which have now been reinterred in a nearby Muslim cemetery were between 300-400 years old.  No remains from the 12th century era were found," Rabbi Hier added.

The Supreme Court of Israel is acknowledged as one of the most independent and respected judicial bodies in the world. The Court spent nearly three years vetting the arguments of this lawsuit, backed by (among others) Sheik Raed Salah, a sympathizer of Hamas – a terrorist organization devoted to the destruction of the Jewish State. The Court unanimously concluded in a 119-page decision that the Museum project should go forward.  This decision was reiterated on December 23, 2009, by Her Honor D. Beinisch, President of the Israeli Supreme Court, when she rejected public petitioners trying to reopen the case - after the remains had been reinterred - of "an abuse of court proceedings" and fined them.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100212/LA54635)

SOURCE Simon Wiesenthal Center