Jews of Egyptian descent petition Sisi to digitize identity records

Samar Samir (TCP) : The Collective of National Associations of Egyptian Jews have launched an online campaign petitioning President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to digitize archives of  identity records of Egyptian Jews in order to be accessible to them and their children.

Library of Jewish Heritage in Egypt at Shaar Hashamayim synagogue– photo taken on May 15, 2014- YOUM7 Sami Wahib

“We, Jews from Egypt, are spread across the world and we number with our descendants an estimated quarter of a million individuals. We were part of a Jewish presence in Egypt that goes back over millennia,” the petition says, adding “Our objective is strictly focused on the preservation of and accessibility to our remaining communal assets in Egypt, and preparing for the future.”

The petition, which signed by more than 1,100 supporters until now on On Change organization for online petitions, called on the Egyptian government to scan the Jewish identity records, to donate to Jews across the world some of the 150 Torah scrolls that are not subject to Egyptian antiquities rule, and restore Egyptian synagogues and cemeteries.

In an interview with The Cairo Post published Wednesday, the head of Egyptian Jewish community Magda Haroun expressed her concerns about Jewish heritage being neglected in Egypt, calling on President Sisi to restore and digitize it.

“I’m not immortal and I need an eye on it…it is a fortune and a resource for tourism revenues,” she said, adding that there have been offers from outside Jewish organizations to buy or assist in the restoration of the texts, but she says she is not interested.

“I will not allow a pin of Jewish heritage go outside Egypt,” Haroun continued, adding that “there are people keeping their eyes on the Scrolls of Torah and death and marriage records of the Jews of Egypt, which means they are trying to erase Egyptian history.”

Samar Samir, The Cairo Post

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/02/21/jews-of-egyptian-descent-petition-sisi-to-digitize-identity-records/

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