While Israeli Embassy officials in Ankara said that no political interference into a judicial ruling was possible, the Palestinian ambassador to Turkey asked for the Turkish government’s help after the court decision was issued, rejecting an appeal by Muslims who complained the site covers part of an ancient Muslim cemetery in which companions of the Prophet Muhammad are buried.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled late last month that it would not block the 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 sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based Jewish organization, and is intended to bring the city’s warring tribes together.

The court sought to address religious demands for respecting the dead by giving the project 60 days to reach an agreement with the state-run Antiquities Authority on a plan for either removing human remains for reburial or installing a barrier between the museum’s foundation and the ground below to avoid disturbing graves.

Amit Zarouk, spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, told Today’s Zaman that 12 percent of the museum is planned to be built atop the cemetery, suggesting that there were two options to relieve Muslims’ concerns. “Muslim cemeteries can be carried away to another area or tombs can be protected on the ground floor with the museum being built atop this area,” Zarouk said.

"Political authorities have nothing to do on this issue since the decision was made by the Supreme Court," he added. Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Nabil Maarouf described the museum plan as "a typical Israeli attack." Referring to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's harsh reaction against Israeli archaeological work near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in the Haram al-Sharif complex -- the third most important site in Islam, Maarouf urged Ankara to introduce assistance for stopping the project.

The archeological work being carried out by Israeli authorities at the Mughrabi ramp, which climbs to the southwestern gate of the Haram al-Sharif complex, has already sparked harsh reactions from the international community, with Muslims seeing it as an attempt to change the Arab and Islamic identity of the holy city. During a state visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in February 2007, Erdoğan voiced Turkey's reservations with regard to the Israeli project to replace the ramp altogether and build an "ultra-modern glass-roofed tube" passage to the Mughrabi Gate. The two leaders agreed that a Turkish technical mission should visit the site and prepare a report as to whether the work is a threat to the existence or identity of the religious monuments at the site.

A Turkish technical mission visited Jerusalem in March to inspect the archeological work being carried out by the Israeli authorities at the Mughrabi ramp. The mission, in a report presented to Erdoğan, criticized the excavations and called on Israel to consult with Palestinian and international authorities on a final plan. The report was also sent to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), UNESCO, the United Nations, the European Union Council, EU member states and relevant international archeological organizations.

The Israeli Supreme Court's decision last week triggered mass demonstrations both in Jerusalem and Jordan, with demonstrators shouting slogans that the Prophet Muhammad's companions were also buried in the area. "People important to us will die a second time," was one of the slogans used.

Zahi Nujidat, a spokesman for the Israeli Islamic movement, described the ruling as "clear religious and ethnic oppression," while the mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, called the court ruling a "serious decision" which "harms the Muslim holy sites." The court, in its ruling, said that the cemetery dated back 300 to 400 years but fell into disuse after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. It 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 the construction of the museum.

The Antiquities Authority has stated that it is impractical to halt construction every time graves are found because it happens very often, while the Wiesenthal Center has argued that the museum was conceived to promote coexistence in a city that is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians and is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as a capital.

Gül to visit Israel, Palestine in January

President Abdullah Gül will pay successive official visits to Israel and Palestine in early 2009, when he will hold talks with both Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.

Israel will be Gül's first stop during the Jan. 6-8 visit. In addition to Peres, Gül is expected to meet with outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who will remain in office until snap parliamentary elections called for early February, and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, Anatolia reported. While in Israel, Gül will inaugurate the Turkish Cultural Center in Yaffo, Tel Aviv, and visit the al-Aqsa Mosque before heading to Ramallah to meet with Abbas at the Mukata presidential compound.

Todays Zaman