The Simon Wiesenthal Center is building its Museum of Tolerance on a 3.5 acre plot in the northern section of the original Mamilla cemetery where replacing a parking lot built in 1964. The association claimed it was unaware that the site was located on a cemetery and was told by the municipality that the land was owned by the Israel Lands Administration. The Mamilla Cemetery is a historic Muslim cemetery located just to the west of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The cemetery contains the remains of figures from the early Islamic period, Sufi shrines and Mamluk era tombs. The cemetery grounds also contain the bodies of thousands of Christians killed in the pre Islamic era as well as several tombs from the time of the Crusades. Its identity as an Islamic cemetery is noted by Arab and Persian writers as early as the 11th century. It was used as a burial site until 1927 when the Supreme Muslim Council decided to preserve it as a historic site. Following the 1948 Arab Israeli War the cemetery and other Waqf properties in West Jerusalem fell under the control of Israeli governmental bodies. A number of buildings, a road, a park, a parking lot and public lavatories have since been constructed on the cemetery grounds, destroying grave markers and tombs.
The Mamilla Cemetery is a historic Muslim cemetery located just to the west of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The cemetery contains the remains of figures from the early Islamic period, Sufi shrines and Mamluk era tombs. The cemetery grounds also contain the bodies of thousands of Christians killed in the pre Islamic era as well as several tombs from the time of the Crusades. Its identity as an Islamic cemetery is noted by Arab and Persian writers as early as the 11th century. It was used as a burial site until 1927 when the Supreme Muslim Council decided to preserve it as a historic site. Following the 1948 Arab Israeli War the cemetery and other Waqf properties in West Jerusalem fell under the control of Israeli governmental bodies. A number of buildings, a road, a park, a parking lot and public lavatories have since been constructed on the cemetery grounds, destroying grave markers and tombs.
