Egypt's encroaching Islamofascists bar Jewish visits to burial site of rabbi
In another example of how the "peace treaty" between Israel and Egypt is going down the drain, Egypt has cancelled pilgrimage to the site of Rabbi Abuhatzeira:
Egypt has canceled the annual pilgrimage from Israel to the tomb of the Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira in the Nile Delta because of the country's current instability, the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported on its website Wednesday.The article also mentions this isn't the first time they've done this; there were a few other times when pilgrimage wasn't allowed and hate slurs were left near the site. But now, given just how much chaos they're falling into, it could be the last time for many years before it's safe to visit the Abuhatzeira site again. Commentary says that:
According to the report, local authorities in the governorate where the shrine is located advised the military authorities to cancel the pilgrimage, scheduled for later this week to mark the anniversary of his the rabbi's death (yahrzeit).
In other words, they announced that pandering to anti-Israel sentiment is higher priority than reviving Egypt’s battered tourism industry, its second-largest revenue source after expatriate remittances: Not only are they forgoing the revenues this particular trip would bring (550 Israelis went last year, and more would likely have joined had Cairo not capped the delegation’s size), but they are even willing to endanger future revenues from other sources by using an excuse certain to deter other tourists: that Egypt’s “political and security situation” makes it impossible to guarantee the pilgrims’ safety.And their religiously fueled hostility to Israel is only suicide for their economy.
Technically, this decision was made by the transitional military government. But the Muslim Brotherhood, winner of the recent elections, is the one that led the drive to cancel the pilgrimage, terming it “unacceptable legally and politically.” The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party reportedly organized a human chain to stop the “Zionists” from reaching the grave of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira in Damanhur; it also issued open threats against the pilgrims: Brotherhood official Gamal Heshmat declared the pilgrimage would be a “suicide mission” for the Israelis.
Labels: anti-semitism, Egypt, islam, Israel
