Post by Kaffir Nation on Oct 31, 2008 5:52:06 GMT -7
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/29/news/ML-Israel-Testing-Tolerance.php
Israeli court clears way for Jerusalem museum
The Associated PressPublished: October 29, 2008
JERUSALEM: Plans for a Jerusalem museum dedicated to tolerance and coexistence got the final go-ahead Wednesday from Israel's Supreme Court, which rejected an appeal by Muslims who complained the site covers part of an ancient Muslim cemetery.
The judges ruled they would not block construction since no objections had been lodged in 1960 when the city put a parking lot over a small section of the graveyard.
The Museum of Tolerance is intended to bring the city's warring tribes together. But the planning alone sparked a fight with political, religious and historical dimensions between Muslims and Jews.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Los Angeles-based Jewish organization behind the project, welcomed the court ruling after a two-year delay in work on the $250 million museum caused by legal proceedings.
"All citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews, are the real beneficiaries of this decision," Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Wiesenthal Center the center, said in a statement.
Israeli court clears way for Jerusalem museum
The Associated PressPublished: October 29, 2008
JERUSALEM: Plans for a Jerusalem museum dedicated to tolerance and coexistence got the final go-ahead Wednesday from Israel's Supreme Court, which rejected an appeal by Muslims who complained the site covers part of an ancient Muslim cemetery.
The judges ruled they would not block construction since no objections had been lodged in 1960 when the city put a parking lot over a small section of the graveyard.
The Museum of Tolerance is intended to bring the city's warring tribes together. But the planning alone sparked a fight with political, religious and historical dimensions between Muslims and Jews.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Los Angeles-based Jewish organization behind the project, welcomed the court ruling after a two-year delay in work on the $250 million museum caused by legal proceedings.
"All citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews, are the real beneficiaries of this decision," Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Wiesenthal Center the center, said in a statement.