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The Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem

[Jerusalem Post] Rabbi Marvin Hier - When the idea to build a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem was first conceived, the Simon Wiesenthal Center had no particular location in mind. We were offered the current site in the center of Jerusalem, which was jointly owned by the Israel Lands Administration and the Jerusalem Municipality. For almost half a century, that parcel functioned as the city's municipal car park. During that time, no Muslim group, including today's most vociferous critics of the museum, raised a word of protest. When the project was in its design stage and newspaper ads announced it in Hebrew, Arabic and English, not a word of protest was heard from anyone. They were silent because, as Israel's High Court said, "the area has not been classified as a cemetery for decades." The bones found during construction were between 100 and 300 years old. They were unaccompanied by a single marker or monument identifying any individual name, family or religion. Jerusalem is more than 3,000 years old and hardly a street or neighborhood is without bones or relics. We could declare Jerusalem one large cemetery, off limits to everyone. Muslim scholars and religious leaders have dealt with such issues for centuries, and have ruled that a cemetery not in use for 37 years is considered mundras - an abandoned cemetery that has lost its sanctity. In 1946, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, a supporter of Hitler, presented plans to build a Muslim university of 15 buildings on the entire Mamilla cemetery. To suddenly demand that Jews be held to a higher standard than the Muslims hold for themselves is preposterous and dishonest. It is not those who lie beneath the ground who threaten the stability of the Middle East. It is the blind hatred and intolerance of extremists above the ground which impede any prospects for civility and peace. Rabbi Hier is the founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance.
2008-11-11 01:00:00
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