URGE WIESENTHAL CENTER NOT TO BUILD ON MUSLIM CEMETERY

URGE WIESENTHAL CENTER NOT TO BUILD ON MUSLIM CEMETERY
(FROM CAIR ACTION ALERT- Please copy and email out to all your lists, contacts and spread this like your riding the Santa Ana Winds)


(LOS ANGELES, CA, 11/20/2008) - The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) is urging Americans of all faiths to contact the Simon Wiesenthal Center and urge its officials to re-locate the 'Museum of Tolerance' it plans to
build on the Ma'manullah (Mamilla) Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.

According to historians, the planned museum site was once the largest Muslim cemetery in Palestine. Companions of Islam's Prophet Muhammad and Islamic jurists and scholars are said to be buried there.

Photo of Ma'manullah (Mamilla) cemetery from Palestineremembered.com


On Wednesday, Nov. 19, Muslim and Jewish leaders sent a letter to the Wiesenthal Center stating:

"Building a "Museum of Tolerance" atop the cemetery, unlike the admirable goal of furthering tolerance and understanding, will only add to the existing pain and suffering of Palestinians and Israelis, irreversibly damage relations between Muslims and Jews worldwide and sow new feelings of animosity and division for generations to come..."

The letter was signed by CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs (Progressive Faith Foundation), Sydney Levy (Jewish Voice for Peace), and Rabbi Haim Beliak (Jews on First).

SEE: Full Text of Letter

Please see a fact sheet and additional resources on this issue after the following section.


ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL)

1) Contact Rabbi Marvin Hier at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Please ask your family and friends to do the same.

Simon Wiesenthal Center
1399 South Roxbury Drive
Los Angeles, California 90035
Phone: 310-553-9036
800-900-9036 (toll-free from within the U.S.)
Fax: 310-553-4521
E-mail: avra@wiesenthal.com (Avra Shapiro,
Director of Public Relations); information@wiesenthal.net. Please copy CAIR-LA office at info@losangeles.cair.com.

Talking Points:

* In the spirit of cooperation and respect for all people and faiths, I urge you to halt the construction of the museum on top of the Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.

* Relocating the museum site will help avoid fanning the flames of intolerance in that region.

* Building on a Muslim cemetery will adversely affect peacemaking efforts in the Middle East and harm Muslim-Jewish relations around the world.

2) Sign this online petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/23494.html

3) Visit "Help the Peace Makers" Website and send a fax to Wiesenthal Center's members of the board of trustees:
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1285/t/3697/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=73

4) Rabbis, Imams, and Pastors are encouraged to discuss, in their sermons/khutbahs, the damaging effects of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's plans to build the museum atop the Muslim cemetery and pray for peace and justice in Jerusalem and around the world.


FACT SHEET & ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

1. Fact Sheet on the Controversy Around the Building of the 'Museum of Tolerance'
http://tinyurl.com/5qzohh

2. Resources on the Wiesenthal Center Construction Plan
http://tinyurl.com/5d9583