If you don’t believe that the Cairo-Jerusalem meltdown is fueled by Egyptian anti-Semitism, take note: BBC reporter Thomas Dinham describes How I was subject of anti-Semitic abuse in Cairo.
The reaction from his attacker is chilling:
While walking in the street someone pushed me from behind with such force that I nearly fell over.
Turning around, I found myself surrounded by five men, one of whom tried to punch me in the face. I stopped the attack by pointing out how shameful it was for a Muslim to assault a guest in his country, especially during Ramadan.
Relieved that a seemingly random assault was over, I was appalled by the apology offered by one of my assailants. “Sorry,” he said contritely, offering his hand, “we thought you were a Jew.”
Shaking his head in disbelief on hearing the news, an Egyptian friend sympathised: “That’s stupid, you are obviously not a Jew.”
The chilling implication I was left with was that, had I been Jewish, the assault would have apparently been justified.
This wasn’t Dinham’s only brush with anti-Semitism. Read the whole story.
Related reading: The Embassy Attack: A Damning Judgment on Egypt’s Revolution?
(Image courtesy Flickr/Hammoud)
