The last burials in Mamilla were probably in the 1930s.
At a news conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Palestinian campaigners, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, a nonprofit organization in New York, presented their arguments for preserving the burial site, known as the Mamilla Cemetery, or in Arabic, Ma 'man Allah
Akirov, 69, already owns two of the best hotels in Jerusalem, the David Citadel and the Mamilla, which opened in 2009 and is part of a sprawling $400 million residential and commercial complex designed by the architect Moshe Safdie.
The contours of the Mamilla cemetery are part of the dispute.
The feud is part of a much longer, centuries-old contest for control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land as well as part of an increasingly heated dispute over a small area in West Jerusalem known as the Mamilla or Ma 'man Allahcemetery.
Responding to the latest protests, Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement: "The Museum of Tolerance project is not being built on the Mamilla Cemetery.
Islamic groups and individual Palestinians complained that the site, in west Jerusalem, was the ancient cemetery of Ma'man Allah, also known as Mamilla, which housed thousands of graves dating back hundreds of years and where even today there are still many gravestones and tombs.
The Muslim cemetery in Mamilla, West Jerusalem, is suffering a similar fate in one section, where hundreds of skeletons are being unearthed and boxed, to make way for the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's euphemistically-named "Museum of Tolerance".
Mamilla Hotel, a new luxury property set to open this month, is no exception to the law.
The hotel also has plenty of gathering spots, including an espresso bar in the lobby, a winery offering an extensive list of Israeli kosher wines, and the Mamilla Rooftop, an outdoor brasserie serving Italian-style fare and offering views of the Old City, including the Tower of David and Jaffa Gate.
