The secret Jewish history of Layla Murad, Egyptian superstar
A new book highlights Murad’s conversion story — and the complex Arab culture that helped guide it
Egypt
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Yiddish World When did the redemption from Egypt really begin?
Just about 78 years ago, my grandmother, of blessed memory, was taken from her family’s Passover Seder by the Nazis. She lived in the Carpathian mountain region in what is today known as Western Ukraine. She certainly didn’t think of herself as a Ukrainian, but rather as a Jew. And yet, it is hard, as…
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Culture The big (un)stuck boat is a big Passover metaphor
Each year, at Seders around the world, kids perform skits of the Passover story, acting as Moses begging for freedom, or the Pharaoh stubbornly refusing to budge. This year, however, the whole world acted out the Passover story. The part of Pharaoh was magnificently played by Ever Given, an enormous cargo ship that blocked the…
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Fast Forward Scarlett Johansson criticized for being a Zionist after supporting jailed human rights workers in Egypt
(JTA) — Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson’s recent intervention on behalf of civil rights in Egypt is prompting a mixed response there, ranging from gratitude to anti-Semitism. Johansson, who is Jewish, was one of several celebrities to weigh in earlier this month against the arrest of four employees of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a…
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Fast Forward Egypt doubles down on ban of Jewish pilgrimages to grave of Baba Sali’s grandfather
The Egyptian government has confirmed a ban on Jewish pilgrimages to the grave of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, who is buried in Beheira Governorate, just east of Alexandria, according to the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram. Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira is the grandfather of Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, better known as the Baba Sali, who was a leader of the…
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Fast Forward CNN Photo Editor Resigns Over Anti-Semitic Tweets
(JTA) — A photo editor who began working at CNN in January resigned after some anti-Semitic tweets he made in 2011 were discovered. Mohammed Elshamy, a 25-year-old former photojournalist with the Anadolu news agency, quit Thursday night after an employee of Israel’s Government Press Office flagged on Twitter some of the anti-Semitic statement by Elshamy,…
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Fast Forward Only 5 Jews Are Left In Cairo Following The Death Of Jewish Matriarch
(JTA) — Marcelle Haroun, mother of the current president of Cairo’s Jewish community, has died at the age of 93. Her death, announced on Saturday, leaves five Jews known to be living in Cairo, Watani International reported. The five remaining are her daughter, Magda, and four granddaughters. The AFP news service reported in March 2017…
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Fast Forward Egyptian Actor Tweeted ‘Let’s Kill Some Jews.’ Twitter Kept It Up For 11 Hours.
Updated 4:55. p.m. An Egyptian actor with more than 800,000 followers on Twitter posted a message calling for violence against Jews on Monday, but the social media company kept it up for nearly 12 hours before suspending his account. Hesham Mansour tweeted “Now lets kill some jews” [sic] at 4:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and…
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