13 - 19 September 2001
Issue No.551
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 13 - 19 September 2001 Issue No.551 |
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Culture back in court
The Culture Ministry is appealing a court decision to remove from Egypt's list of protected monuments the tomb of a man revered by Jews as holy. Nevine El-Aref reports
Jewish pilgrims will no longer be able to perform the annual rituals celebrating the birthday of Abu Hassira, a Moroccan Jew venerated by co- religionists as a holy man, at the village of Demitioh in the Nile Delta province of Beheira. However, they will continue to have access to his tomb.
On 5 September, an Administrative Court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria prohibited the annual Jewish festival held at the shrine, which is situated atop a 10-metre hill and adjacent to a Byzantine necropolis. The ruling was the result of legal action taken by a lawyer against the Culture Ministry, the governmental body responsible for the shrine, and an indication of how politics and religion have become so intertwined in the Middle East.
The judge explained that the principle rationale behind his decision is that the rituals practiced by Jewish pilgrims at the site were not in keeping with public morals. The mulid (birthday), celebrated in either December or January each year, had drawn thousands of Israelis and other Jews each year from around the world. According to the court's report, celebrants drink alcohol, commit sinful acts and behave in a way that contravenes Islamic traditions and public morals.
Obviously contributing to the ruling was the fact of Egyptian anti-Israeli sentiments running high in reaction to Israeli brutality against the Palestinians.
According to the court report, the celebrations are particularly provoking to Egyptian Muslims and Christians because of the Israeli army's violations of their holy sites in Jerusalem.
But since Egypt respects monotheistic religions, the court rejected the demand that Abu Hassira's remains be removed from the tomb and sent to Israel.
"The removal of Abu Hassira's remains was not my main goal, but rather stopping these annual festivities which shattered the tranquillity of life in Demitioh. What I achieved is really a success," said Damanhour lawyer Mustafa Raslan who, in collaboration with colleague Ahmed Atteya, initiated the lawsuit.
In a telephone interview, Raslan told Al-Ahram Weekly that this ruling should have been issued a long time ago. He also expressed fears that political considerations may eventually prevail and the ruling will be overturned.
The court report said the ministerial decree registering the tomb as a monument contravened Egyptian law and constituted a misrepresentation of the country's history.
Although the ruling was applauded by Demitioh inhabitants, antiquities officials were displeased and said the ruling was a violation of the antiquities law.
"Protecting an ancient Jewish tomb in the Nile Delta is a matter of history and not religion or politics," Gaballa Ali Gaballa, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), told the Weekly. He said the council would appeal the ruling with the Supreme Administrative Court within the 60-day-period during which such petitions may be submitted.
Gaballa explained that it is up to the council to determine which monuments should be registered and that there was no reason to disqualify Abu Hassira's tomb. "It is a 120-year-old shrine that must be registered as a monument. When we register a monument we look at it as a site on Egyptian soil; we do not look at its religious affiliation," Gaballa asserted.
He pointed out that the Abu Hassira shrine is not the only Jewish site registered as a monument --15 others are on the Egyptian antiquities list.
According to legend, Abu Hassira was a cobbler born in Morocco in 1807. While crossing the Mediterranean sailing on a hassira (mat) to visit the holy land, he settled in Demitioh village near Damanhour, some 150 kilometres north of Cairo. Abu Hassira is said to have been a miracle-worker.
The celebration of Abu Hassira's mulid was made possible after Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. However, the inhabitants of Demitioh have resented the festivities. People complained about the rituals as well as the stringent security measures that accompanied them.
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