Egypt’s Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Jewish Pilgrimage to Moroccan Rabbi’s Tomb

Before ruling, the Court examined and rejected an appeal by the Egyptian government challenging this 2014 decision to ban the Jewish festival of the Moroccan rabbi. At the time, the decision had sparked heated controversy. Since the Abuhatzeira festival attracts hundreds of Jewish pilgrims from across the Middle East, Israel and Morocco each year. They gather at the tomb of Abou hassira in the city of Damanhur in the Nile Delta, where the rabbi was buried in 1879.

In addition to banning the festival, the Alexandria Administrative Court had ordered the removal of the sanctuary from the list of Coptic and Islamic heritage sites in Egypt. The decision was made following reports and complaints about the consumption of alcohol and other alcoholic beverages by the residents.

Also in 2014, the Alexandria Administrative Court had rejected a request to transfer Abuhatzeira’s remains to Israel on the grounds that Islam is a tolerant religion that gives all followers of the Abrahamic religions in Egypt dignity and equal rights. Another explanation: from an international law perspective, the transfer of the Jewish scholar’s remains to Israel would constitute a recognition and acknowledgment of Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories.