CAIRO, Dec 9 (IPS) - Jews from around the world come annually to Egypt to celebrate the birth anniversary of Abu Hassira, a 19th century holy man buried in the Nile Delta. But many local people oppose the celebrations, and this year particularly because of Israel's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.

"The people of Demito, and Egyptians in general, adamantly reject this festival," Moustafa Raslan, a lawyer who has campaigned since 1995 to ban the event, told IPS. "Why should Egypt host Israeli Jews while Israel starves Gaza and murders Palestinians on a regular basis?"

Abu Hassira, a Moroccan Jew who was believed to work miracles, came to Egypt in the 19th century. He settled in the Nile Delta village Demito in the modern province of Beheira, roughly 150 km north of Cairo. He died there in 1880.

Ever since the signing of the Egypt-Israel Camp David Peace Agreement in 1979, religious Jews have converged on Demito every year in rising numbers on the birth anniversary. Running from late December into the first week of January, the festival draws Jewish visitors from around the world, including the U.S., Morocco and -- more contentiously -- Israel.

"In the early 1980s, only a couple of dozen Jewish pilgrims would come to the tomb of Abu Hassira, but they soon began coming in the hundreds," Mohie Durbuk, a lawyer from the nearby city Demenhour told IPS. "In recent years, the number has reached about 4,000."

Durbuk said visitors have included major rabbinic figures and high-level Israeli government officials.

The festival has usually met with a cold reception from both Demito residents and the wider public, who -- like much of the Arab world -- continue to be outraged by Israel's harsh treatment of Palestinian people.

Local residents also resent the draconian security measures that accompany the event, which they say cause considerable inconvenience.

"From one week before the festival until its conclusion, the authorities vastly step up the security presence in and around the village," said Durbuk. "A strict curfew is enforced throughout Demito from 6pm until 6am, during which time local people aren't allowed to leave their homes."

Critics also point out that the size of the compound housing Abu Hassira's tomb has been significantly -- if gradually -- enlarged over the last three decades.

"Originally, the mausoleum compound only occupied some 350 square metres," said Durbuk. "But in the last 30 years, it's been slowly enlarged, and now sits on more than 8,000 square metres of government land. Egyptians are barred from approaching the site all year round."

Durbuk said Jewish visitors have made several offers to purchase land adjacent to the tomb. "They tried to buy land from local families, in some cases offering more than 100 times the going rate," said Durbuk. "But all these offers were turned down."

Abdelhalim Kandil, political analyst and editor-in-chief of opposition weekly Sout Al-Umma, says the security measures that accompany the festival "turn the area around the tomb into something approaching an Israeli settlement."

In early November, the opposition Nasserist Party launched a nationwide campaign to ban the festival under the slogan 'They will not trespass on my country'. "In solidarity with the people of Demito, Egypt's political opposition totally rejects the notion of hosting Israelis, given the ongoing atrocities being committed in Palestine," Kandil told IPS.

In 2001, Demito residents, with Raslan's help, won a lawsuit at the Alexandria Administrative Court effectively banning the event. The court ruled that the rituals at the site contravene Islamic traditions.

The government filed an appeal against the verdict, which is pending. In the meantime, the court order proscribing the event was never carried out.

"It would appear that obedience to Israel is more important than a mere court order," says Kandil. "This can also be seen in the government's insistence on selling natural gas to Israel -- at reduced prices -- despite an administrative court ruling in November halting all gas exports to Israel."

Last month, the state press reported that Egypt had "refused" an Israeli request to hold the festival this year. The Nov. 6 edition of the official Egyptian Gazette quoted Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit telling parliament that his ministry was "committed to fulfilling the 2001 court ruling banning the celebration."

But on Nov. 17, independent daily Al-Dustour quoted official security sources as saying that "robust security procedures are under way in Demito in advance of the annual Abu Hassira festival." (END/2008)

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