The Supreme Court of Israel just made a very bad decision, one that seems very difficult to understand. It is now allowing the building of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance. The problem is that three-acre sight in Independence Park includes a Muslim cemetery that dates back 300 to 400 years. The cemetery fell into disuse after Israel gained statehood in 1948. The court said that since there had been no objections in 1960, when the city built a parking lot over part of the cemetery, it would not block construction of the museum on the same property, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The $250-million project had been delayed since early 2006, when builders unearthed ancient bones. The Court’s ruling requires builders to consult with Israel’s Antiquities Authority on reburying any remains found during construction. They also must create a barrier between graves and the building’s foundation, according to the Los Angeles Times.  Still, that’s not enough.

Simply put, this is an idea fraught with explosive possibilities. The Wiesenthal Center and the government of Israel simply need to do a better job at handling this most sensitive of matters. One finds it hard to understand how building on such a site after a legal contest promotes tolerance. At minimum, the grounds sacred to Muslims must be preserved as is, including public access.

Regardless, Jews should never place themselves in a position of disturbing the graves of other people – lest we give excuse for such abominable behavior to ourselves. To understand the sensitivities of Muslims in this matter, we simply need to place ourselves in their position. How would we respond were such news coming out of Saudi Arabia or Egypt or Morocco? We would justifiably be outraged and demand action. How can we treat others differently?

You are correct Neil, 2, 10, 100 OR 1000 wrongs NEVER make a right.

Really, Mr. Rubin, you ought not write on topics about which you have nothing more to offer than stream-of-consciousness do-gooderism.

Are you sure you want to take a stand on this logic: if we are nice to muslims, they will be nice to us?

How many Jewish graves have been desecrated, both in Europe and in the Middle East? I’m not sure Germans, Poles, or Ukrainians are too worried about it. I also seem to recall, between 1948 and 1967, Jews, against UN agreements, were barred from the Temple Mount area, and the Jordanians used Jewish gravestones in latrines. What structures sacred to Jews in Hevron have the arabs desecrated in the last intifada? And Saudi Arabia? The wahabbis have a pleasant habit of desecrating muslim graves venerated by other muslims for one reason or another.

Perhaps this comes as news to you, but muslims regard *all* of Israel as their land, whether this or that bit of ground was previously a muslim cemetery or not. The “dispute” is not now, nor ever was, over land, though I understand that is the only “narrative” you can get your mind around. Try thinking outside of the box of “received wisdom” every once and a while.

What we must do is steel ourselves to the necessities of Israel acting like a fully sovereign power in the land of our Fathers, and take actions to preserve, protect, and defend it - regardless of what the perpetually-outraged arabs say or do.