Arts & Culture

Egypt Upholds Court Order to Ban Jewish Festival of 19th Century Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira

Egypt Upholds Court Order to Ban Jewish Festival of 19th Century Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira

Young Jewish women undertake a bat mitzvah ceremony in Egypt’s Alexandria. Date unknown. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court upheld earlier today a controversial ruling issued by the Alexandria Administrative Court in 2014, which banned the annual celebrations of a Jewish festival marking the birth of 19th century Moroccan rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, BBC reports.

The Supreme Administrative Court’s decision came after considering, and ultimately rejecting, an appeal by the Egyptian government challenging the 2014 Alexandria Administrative Court ruling.

The Abuhatzeira festival has drawn hundreds of Jewish pilgrims from across the Middle East, namely Israel and Morocco, to the Nile Delta city of Damanhour, where the rabbi’s shrine has been.

In addition to banning the festival, citing “moral offenses”—following reports and complaints of alcohol consumption and gender intermingling by residents, the 2014 ruling delisted the shrine from Egypt’s Coptic and Islamic heritage sites.

The Alexandria Administrative Court also rejected in 2014 a request to transfer Abuhatzeira’s remains to Israel, explaining that Islam is a tolerant religion that affords all followers of Abrahamic faiths in Egypt dignity and equal rights, which would be undermined by exhuming the rabbi’s remains.

The Alexandrian court further explained the rationale behind the ruling citing international law, saying that transferring the Jewish scholar’s remains to Israel would constitute an acknowledgment and recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over occupied Palestinian lands, according to Al Ahram.

In Photos: Egyptian Phone Photographer Captures Downtown Cairo at Sunrise
Public Prosecution Orders 3 Alleged Fairmont Rapists Detained Pending Investigation

Subscribe to our newsletter


Arts & Culture

More in Arts & Culture

Behind the Success: Decoding Mobinil’s Community-Focused Marketing

Farah Aly23 September 2023

Sunken Sanctuary of Aphrodite and Temple of Amun Discovered in Egypt

Shereif Barakat20 September 2023

Egypt’s Historic Suleiman Pasha Mosque Reopens After Five-Year Restoration

Muhammed Kotb20 September 2023

El Gouna Film Festival 2023: Shining Light on Sudanese Cinema

Farah Rafik20 September 2023

Grand Egyptian Museum is to Host the Premiere of “Tutankhamun — The Immersive Exhibition” in November

Farah Rafik18 September 2023

The Lighthouse Cards: The Egyptian Card Game Sparking Soulful Connections

Farah Rafik18 September 2023

Heliopolis Synagogue Holds Cairo’s First Jewish New Year Celebration in 70 Years

Farah Rafik16 September 2023

Rivo’s Lyricism: Five Passages from the Popular Series that Speak Volumes in Simplicity

Farah Aly14 September 2023