A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, July 10, 2014

A Glimmer of Good News: Cairo Synagogue Hosts Ramadan Iftar

So much is depressing right now, here's something that isn't: Cairo's last synagogue has hosted  a Ramadan Iftar meal sponsored by the Egyptian Alliance for Minorities. This photo alone speaks volumes:
Gestures will not end war and intolerance, but they do show hope. It takes a long time for water to erode a Grand Canyon, but here is a promising drop.

Video below: among the speakers are Magda Haroun, head of Cairo's tiny Jewish community, a member of the Amazigh Movement in Egypt, and an Azhari sheikh from a group called Azharis for a Civil Society.  (The English report quotes Haroun as saying "We are all Egyptians," which she does, but note that in her Arabic clip she also mentions Shi‘ites and Baha'is along with other minorities.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Palestine, fathers of the murdered Israelis went to pay condolences to the father of the murdered Palestinian.

That perhaps is a more poignant glimmer of good news.

Michael Collins Dunn said...

True enough. But that was widely reported by the media.