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Source: http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=306081
Hoenlein Appeals to Save Mount of Olives
(Jerusalem Post) Sam Sokol - Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice-chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, delivered a letter to the prime minister during a visit to Israel in February calling to secure the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the world. The 3,000-year-old Jewish graveyard faces "continuous violence against visitors, rampant grave desecrations, dumping of refuse and gross defilement of the cemetery by local Arab youths." Some 150,000 Jews "are buried there, including three of our prophets, foremost Torah scholars, heads of hassidic dynasties, and many of our national leaders over the ages, including prime minister Begin," said the letter. "There are reports almost every three to four days of rocks being thrown at vehicles or visitors." More than 30 American states have laws which mandate "severe penalties" for crimes committed in, or near, a cemetery.