As most readers of this blog know, the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is engaged in a major construction project to build a "Museum of Tolerance" in the heart of (West) Jerusalem.  The fact that the site chosen for the project is home to an historic Muslim cemetery has not deterred these champions of tolerance and coexistence.  They have held firm in the face of outrage from Muslims (local and international). They have not wavered in their conviction that they are absolutely, completely, utterly in the right, even in the face of opposition from Israelis (from across the political spectrum) and Jews around the world.  Indeed, it seems that the folks at the SWC, secure in their moral authority, have not entertained a moment of self-doubt over this indefensible project.  To every criticism and objection, the SWC has offered a range of unconvincing answers - to which we responded last year in our comprehensive brief: "Setting the Record Straight Regarding the Museum of Tolerance."

Further evidence of the SWC's desperate need for a reality check?  An email sent this week by the SWC's PR person.  It was sent (it seems) to people who had previously written to the SWC opposing the project (we know this because APN launched a campaign in 2008 urging people to write to do just this.  A number of the people who responded to our campaign received this latest email).  The email reads:

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Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:18:48 -0700
From: Avra Shapiro <avra@wiesenthal.com>
Reply-To: Avra Shapiro <avra@wiesenthal.com>
Subject: Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem
To: avra@wiesenthal.com

"For those who questioned what Jews would do with building where there were ancient bones such as the 300-400 year old bones found under what has been Jerusalem's municipal parking lot for 50 years with regard to the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, I attach an article from today's New York Times that I thought you would find of interest."

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As someone who strongly opposes the MOT project, I join Avra in urging people: read this important NYT article.

Read about the anguish of the Jewish community in Spain and the shared anguish and outrage of the international Jewish community over a construction in Toledo that uncovered 13th century Jewish graves ("The exhumation drew international condemnation from Jewish representatives and became an important battleground in the quest to preserve Jewish cemeteries all around Spain").

Read about how Jews everywhere were appalled by the project and did everything possible to stop it ("international protests spread to New York, Israel and Canada. Rabbi David Niederman, president of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, visited Spain to protest the exhumation, which he said was tantamount to a second expulsion. Thousands of black-clad Orthodox Jews gathered in a Brooklyn hotel in May to mourn the desecration."

Read about how the failure to stop the project is a cause of tremendous suffering for Jews in Spain and Jews everywhere ("This issue has international repercussions...It's not just affecting the Jewish community in Spain but the sensibility of an entire people").

Read about the lesson that Spain's Jewish leaders has drawn from this terrible experience:  "'This is not an example we want to repeat,' said Rabbi Moshe Bendahan, Spain's chief rabbi, who helped to broker the agreement [that ultimately resulted in the graves being moved]. 'The model would be to not excavate the remains in the first place.'"

Do the folks at the SWC really think that this article helps make the case that it is acceptable to dig up a cemetery - in Jerusalem or anywhere - for a project unless there truly is no alternative site AND the project is so critical that the benefits of the project clearly outweigh the harm (neither of which is true in the case of the MOT project)?  Apparently so.  Which only reinforces the impression that the good folks at the SWC have lost all sense of perspective and objectivity when it comes to the MOT and the issues at stake.

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Second, there was an article in the Israeli press this week about a new development in the battle against the MOT in Jerusalem -- an article that the SWC's PR people probably won't be highlighting.  The article, in the 7/1 edition of Haaretz, is entitled "Jews and Muslims Unite Against Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance."

The article recounts how Jews and Muslims are working together "to get the site [of the MOT] declared ritually impure under Jewish law, due to the fact that the construction has involved unearthing the remains of hundreds of Muslims. Such a declaration would keep religious Jews from visiting the museum."  The article notes that "The proposal has already received the blessing of Rabbi David Schmidl, head of the ultra-Orthodox Atra Kadisha organization, which fights against the desecration of Jewish graves. Its Jewish sponsors - who include two left-wing activists plus one activist from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party - are also seeking support from Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar..."

So maybe there is at least one positive unintended consequence of the MOT debacle: it has brought Jews (from across Israel's political and religious spectrum) and Muslims together to try to stop a project that is an affront to the sensibilities of both communities.  Perhaps this is the kind of opposition the SWC won't be able to brush off so easily.