The people of Beheira governorate expressed their satisfaction after Beheira Governor Mohamed Sharawi confirmed that this year's celebrations for Abu Hazirah birthday [mausoleum of a Jewish rabbi said to have come to and died in Egypt] had been cancelled. The city of Damanhour had witnessed dozens of demonstrations and conferences in protest at the Jews' visits to Abu Hazirah birthday. They had called on the government to comply with the provisions of the judiciary and cancel the birthday. In addition, "You will never pass over my land" movement had been established by a coalition of national forces in Beheira to have the birthday cancelled. The recent days, especially after the Israeli aggression on Gaza, have witnessed an intensified activity against Jews' visits, so much so that some of these Jews were threatened to be killed if they visited Damanhour. It seems the recent events have forced the government to listen to the voice of reason and canceled this year's visits, Beheira governor said. The coordinator of "You will never pass over my land" movement, Gamal Munib, thanked the executive authorities for this bold initiative and for meeting people's demands. He called for complying with the judicial rulings and canceling these celebrations forever. If the Jews return to Damanhour once again to celebrate Abu Hazirah birthday in the coming years, the opposition will be fiercer, he added.
For his part, the coordinator of Kefaya [Enough] movement in Beheira Adel al-Attar called for canceling these celebrations and visits both this year and in the coming ones, stressing that people would use all possible means to prevent any Jew from visiting the alleged Abu Hazirah. The regime should respect the people's will and the provisions of the Egyptian judiciary, so Abu Hazirah birthday should be cancelled for ever and not this year alone in reaction to what is going on in Gaza, he went on to say.
Muslim Brotherhood (MB) member Mohamed Gamal Heshmat said: "We appreciate the government's decision to call off the visits this year. We demand that the provisions of the judiciary be always respected, so such visits should be banned forever." "We would look at the government's decision to cancel this year's visits as a sign of respect for the Egyptian judiciary and not as a reaction to popular protests and pressures" former MP Heshmat said. The judiciary and the people had their final say in this regard and called for canceling the alleged Abu Hazirah birthday, prominent lawyer Mustafa Raslan said. Although the government can ban judicial decisions by force, it should respect the popular unanimous refusal of such visits, especially in light of the massacres currently going on in Gaza. The Jews invented the story of Abu Hazirah as a pretext to make their celebrations in Damanhour, he added.
