Israeli wine festival to be held on former Islamic cemetery

The Israeli municipality of Jerusalem is organising a wine festival on the ruins of a Muslim cemetery, the Palestinian Information Centre reported.

Israeli and international music bands are expected to participate in the festival which will offer visitors 120 wines in the Art Garden in the Israel Museum which was built on over 200 dunums (0.2 square kilometres) of land of the Muslim cemetery which was confiscated by Israel.

Israel has made large-scale changes to the cemetery and transformed a part of it into a public park.

Israeli officials approved the construction of a massive complex to include 200 houses, shops and a 480 room hotel just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls on the Mamilla cemetery last year.