Cairo - Egypt cancelled the formal opening Sunday of a renovated 19th-century synagogue in Cairo to protest what antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said were "provocative" Jewish and Israeli action.
Hawass and Culture Minister Faruq Hosni were due to attend the event, a week after 150 people, including rabbis and the US and Israeli ambassadors, attended the rededication of the Maimonides synagogue.
Hawass, citing press reports, said in a statement that the cancellation comes after "provocative" acts during the March 7 ceremony in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarters by the Jewish community.
He referred to "dancing and drinking alcohol in the synagogue, as reported by several newspapers" and said these acts "were seen to provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims in Egypt and across the world."
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The decision was also taken at "a time when Muslim holy sites in occupied Palestine face assaults from Israeli occupation forces and settlers," Hawass said.
He was referring to clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and plans to include two contested West Bank holy shrines on a list of Israeli heritage sites. Hawass said this was also a "provocation."
The synagogue of Maimonides, known in Egypt by its Arabic name of Musa bin Maymun, is named after the 12th century Jewish scholar, philosopher and physician.
Egypt began restoration of its Jewish sites several years ago.
Egypt restored diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1979, but many in the predominantly Muslim country remain opposed to better cultural ties with the Jewish state.
Egypt's Jewish population, which numbered in the tens of thousands and enjoyed complete religious freedom, began a mass exodus after Egypt and several other Arab countries fought a war in 1948 with the new state of Israel. Only a few dozen Jews still remain in Egypt. - AFP
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