JERUSALEM (AFP) — Hundreds of Palestinians and Arab-Israelis demonstrated on Thursday in Jerusalem against the planned construction of a Museum of Tolerance on the site of an ancient Muslim graveyard.
The mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein and several Palestinian officials were among the protesters who set off from Arab east Jerusalem to march towards the west Jerusalem site.
The protest came after the Israeli High Court on October 29 rejected appeals by two Muslim organisations which complained that the museum would be built over part of an ancient Muslim cemetery.
In their decision, the justices pointed out no objections had been lodged in 1960 when the municipality put a parking lot over part of the graveyard.
Lawyers for the project's promoters, backed by Jerusalem city authorities, have offered to transfer the graves to a section of the graveyard that will not be affected by the construction, but Muslim leaders rejected the suggestion.
The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre is the main promoter of the museum, designed by renowned US architect Frank Gehry.
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