More Israeli desecration of historical Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem

Israel is continuing to desecrate the Ma’man Allah Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, with a new wave of construction on the historic site. Details were revealed by Al-Aqsa Foundation for Religious Endowment and Heritage on Monday.

The foundation reported that Israeli bulldozers are digging to a depth of 15 metres at the cemetery to build what they call a “Museum of Tolerance”. The project covers around 6 acres of the site and is being sponsored by the US based Simon Wiesenthal Centre. Other parts of the cemetery have been destroyed to build a coffee shop and storage rooms for the construction workers. Many headstones have been destroyed, some dating back almost 1,400 years.

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The head of Al-Aqsa Foundation, Zaki Ighbariyeh, and his team were shocked when they saw this “new wave of destruction”. He called for the Islamic, Arabic and Palestinian people to move urgently to save the “prominent” Islamic site where a number of Prophet Muhammad’s noble companions and prominent Muslim scholars were laid to rest.

According to the foundation, Israeli desecration of the cemetery started in 1948. “Many tombs were destroyed and a large area of land was levelled by the initial Israeli occupation,” said Ighbariyeh. “They built a massive park where people drink alcohol and indulge in other immoral deeds.” He pointed out that despite this being against international law and it being continuous for more than 60 years, “no one cares about it”.