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Egypt indefinitely cancels Abu Hasira Jewish Festival
A synagogue that was the target of an attack is seen in Cairo February 21, 2010. REUTERS/Tarek Mostafa
CAIRO, Dec 29 (Aswat Masriya) – An administrative court cancelled on Monday the annual Abu Hasira Jewish Festival indefinitely and ordered the ministry of antiquities to take the Abu Hasira shrine off the list of Islamic and Coptic monuments.
The weeklong festival was held annually in the governorate of Beheira, attracting thousands of Jews from Morocco, France and Israel. It usually took place in December or January.
The administrative court in Alexandria said the festival “violates the public order and morals and contradicts the dignity and purity of religious rituals.”
Residents near the shrine usually complained of maximised security measures adopted ahead of the festival. They also condemned the practices of travelers celebrating the birth of the Jewish rabbi Abu Hasira.
The court said in its ruling that the shrine “includes a grave historical error which affects … Egyptians’ heritage.”
An official at the ministry of antiquities, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Aswat Masriya that the court ruling has not yet been referred to the ministry. He added that the ministry will challenge the ruling if it contradicts the law for the protection of monuments.
The process of adding or removing a historical monument off the list of Egyptian monuments is governed by Law 117/1983, the official said.
“The only body authorised to remove a monument off the list is the ministry of antiquities’ permanent technical committee,” the official said.
The court ordered the concerned minister to notify the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to take the Abu Hasira shrine off its list of monuments, citing Egypt’s sovereignty over the shrine.
The court also turned down a request to transfer the shrine to Israel as it would necessitate “digging up a grave”, a practice rejected in the Islamic religion.
The Israeli embassy in Cairo could not be reached for comment.
After Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords in 1978, Jews were allowed to organise official trips to Egypt to celebrate the Abu Hasira festival, which honours the birth of a Jewish rabbi of Moroccan descent in the 19th century.
Egypt’s ministry of culture and antiquities issued in 2001 a decision listing the Abu Hasira shrine and the Jewish cemetery surrounding it as Islamic and Coptic monuments.
