Monster Mash: Palestinians protest Museum of Tolerance; Smithsonian's snow trouble; Polaroids headed for auction

-- Angered: A group of Palestinians have lodged a protest with the United Nations to prevent the construction of a Museum of Tolerance on the site of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. (The Guardian)

-- Caving in: A warehouse containing stored artifacts for the Smithsonian collapsed in Maryland as a result of the region's second blizzard this year. (NBC Washington)

-- For sale: Polaroid will sell a portion of its photography collection -- including images created by Andy Warhol and Chuck Close -- at an auction in June. (Bloomberg)

-- Rumor mill: Is trouble afoot for Cirque du Soleil's production of "Banana Shpeel" in New York? (New York Post)

-- Weighing options: The Fresno Art Museum and Fresno State are exploring the prospect of shifting the museum collection and its operations to the university. (Fresno Bee)

-- Cultural diplomacy: Artists in India and Pakistan create a program called Quest for Peace, which will bring the two nations together through music, literature and other cultural interactions. (NPR)

-- Major gift: Dallas Opera receives a $10-million challenge grant from an anonymous donor. (Dallas Morning News)

-- Celebration: A new public dance piece will commemorate same-sex unions in San Francisco. (San Francisco Chronicle)

-- No show: Lindsay Lohan won't be attending the Vienna Opera Ball after all. (E! Online)

-- And in the L.A. Times: The Century Plaza hotel has been spared the wrecking ball thanks to a deal between preservationists and the owner; MOCA announces more than 50 acquisitions in 2009.

-- David Ng

Photo: The cordoned-off construction site of a downtown Jerusalem museum dedicated to tolerance and coexistence. Credit: Dan Balilty / Associated Press

Comments

[Robert]

International law declares that it is illegal to desecrate holy sites of any religion. Israel claims to follow international law, and then they decide to build a museum on top of an ancient Islamic cemetery.

This is so provocative, and clearly more proof Israel has no interest in peace.

But then Israel's huge range of law violations should already be proof of that - annexations of Golan and E. Jerusalem, building Israeli settlements on occupied lands, internal systems of law-based discrimination against non-Jews, not respecting the Palestinian right-of-return, collective punishment, massive violation of human rights such as the wall which they build through Palestinian communities instead of on the border, and on and on...

This is a criminal state - this is proof of it. We need to treat it as a criminal if we ever expect to have real peace. Israeli policies are motivating hatred and rage across the world toward the West and toward Jews which has led to an increase in world-wide anti-Semitism and international terrorism.

These clearly are crimes - it has never been in our best interest to support criminals.