Dhabi, Nov. 12, 2008 -- A major UAE English daily today commented on the Israeli move to built a so-called "museum of tolerance" over an ancient Muslim cemetery in West Jerusalem. The paper said the move was another clear manifestation of Tel Aviv's determination to create irreversible facts on the ground that would obliterate all symbols of Muslim presence in Palestine prior to the creation of the Jewish entity.

Commenting editorially on the issue today, the Sharjah-based "The Gulf Today" said: "THE ISRAELI move to go ahead with a project to build a Jewish "museum of tolerance" over an ancient Muslim cemetery in West Jerusalem is yet another manifestation of the Jewish state's determination to create irreversible facts on the ground that would obliterate all symbols of Muslim presence in Palestine prior to its creation.

"In a ruling last week, the Israeli supreme court allowed the Israeli authorities to build the proposed museum after overruling a bid by Muslim authorities to stop the project at the site of the Mamilla cemetery.

"The cemetery, which is close to the walls of the Old City, contains the burial site of the Prophet Mohammed's companions, and, as such, it is a place of high reverence to Muslims, a fact that the Israeli authorities have deliberately opted to ignore. It fits into the pattern of Israeli efforts to obscure all signs of the Muslim presence in West Jerusalem and the rest of pre-1948 Palestine.

"The Israelis overran the Mamilla cemetery in the first few days of the creation of Israel in 1948. They consistently denied all efforts to restore the site to the control of Muslim authorities and rebuffed all appeals that Muslims be allowed to rehabilitate and maintain the graves.

"They used many ruses to claim the site as beyond the jurisdiction of Muslim authorities and applied invalid legislation to serve their purpose of denying Muslim any access to the site.

"The campaign to deny the religious rights of Muslims is part and parcel of Israel's policy. The regular "discoveries" of sites and artifacts linked to Judaism in occupied Arab East Jerusalem is no accidents; they are designed to reaffirm Israel's claims by keeping the world reminded of the "Jewishness" of the Holy City.

"It was not as if the Israelis were unaware that the site that they wanted to build the proposed "museum of tolerance" was a Muslim cemetery. Dozens of skeletons were unearthed during early excavations and the Israeli had even tried in secret to move the remains without informing the concerned Muslim authorities. Some of the skeletons were damaged when the Israelis tried to move them.

"It is only ironic that the Israeli "museum of tolerance" project negates the very concept of tolerance and highlights their intolerance of other faiths and beliefs." (WAM/SA)