The National Museum of Bosnia has defended the decision to donate funds from the exhibition of a beautiful Jewish manuscript to the people of Gaza.
He said that ticket sales to see Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the most precious religious manuscripts of the Middle Ages, would be donated to “support the people of Palestine who suffers systematic, calculated and cold blood terror, directly by the state of Israel.”
The measure caused intense criticism at the beginning of this month of Jewish organizations, and some abroad accused the anti -Semitism Museum.
But the director of the museum, Melsad Sijaric, 55, stood up for the decision and said he had received numerous messages of support from Jewish people around the world.
“Do we choose one of the sides? Yes, we choose one of the sides,” Siajaric told AFP.
'Politicization'
The donation of the museum will also include sales of a book about Hagadah.
Sijaric insisted that the measure was “absolutely not” directed against the Jewish people, but was a message of opposition to what was happening in Gaza.
“Fear neutrality was put on the side of evil. In my opinion, this is pure evil, and one must oppose it.”
Several Jewish organizations criticized the announcement of the museum, including the Anti-Defamation League based in New York, which described it as a “politicization” of a “symbol of heritage, survival and coexistence.”
Sitting in a glass cabinet in a room specially designed in the museum, Hipadah has long been an treated symbol of the diversity of Sarajevo.
The majority-musulum city also houses just under a thousand Jewish people.
Symbol of 'Shared Life'
The illuminated and well -preserved parchments pages of Hagadah narrate the creation of the world and the exodus of the Hebrews of Egypt.
Drawed from 1350, it is believed that the intricately enlightened manuscript was written near Barcelona, and took Sarajevo by Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492.
He survived the Nazi occupation and remained safe during intensive bombing in the Bosnian war of the 1990s.
Jakob Finci, president of the Bosnian Jewish community, described the movement as “strange” and “a little offensive.”
“Fogs Sarajevo's reputation and the hagaje -haggadah de Sarajevo, the book that for many years has testified to the multiethnic character of Sarajevo and our shared life,” said Finci.
“I have heard many criticisms [of the move]… I have not seen any praise. “
Maintaining for a long time in a safe and rarely exhibited, the book has been more accessible since the Special Chamber opened in 2018 after a renewal paid by France.
Its rich history and rarity continue to attract visitors and academics to the museum.
“I think it is a way to support the situation of the Palestinians in Gaza,” said Italian Egyptologist Silvia Einaudi after seeing the manuscript.
“Gaza, why not?” French visitor Paul Hellec said. “It is a difficult issue at this time. But there are also many other places where people are suffering.”
The War in Gaza was caused by the October 2023 attack against Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP account based on official figures.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Hamas, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli army, says they are dead.
The retaliation offensive of Israel has killed at least 62,819 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, directed by Hamas, which the United Nations considers reliable.
The restrictions of the media in Gaza and the difficulties in accessing many areas mean that AFP cannot independently verify the tolls and details provided by the Civil Defense Agency or the Israeli army.
