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Jews to be Sued for Historical Plundering?
CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian lawyer said Wednesday he was planning to sue the worldâs Jews for "plundering" gold during the Exodus from Pharaonic Egypt thousands of years ago, based on information in the Bible. "Lets give the PA and The International Nabil Hilmi, dean of the law faculty at Egyptâs al-Zaqaziq University, said the legal basis for the case was under study by a group of lawyers in Egypt and Europe. You-Rope. Of course. "This is serious, and should not be misread as being political against any race. We are just investigating if a debt is owed," Hilmi told Reuters in a telephone interview. Then his lips fell off The relevant passage from the Bible, Exodus 12 verses 35 to 36 reads: "The Israelites had done as Moses told them; they had asked the Egyptians for jewelry of silver and gold, and for clothing. ... And so they plundered the Egyptians." This translation is in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Wait a minute; isnât it a crime to treat the Bible as fact down there? Some Jewish commentators say that while the Biblical passage may be fact, the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians and therefore had a right to claim compensation for wages. Sauce for the goose⊠"Hilmiâs assertion that the Hebrew Bible is fact has given Israel and Jews the world over a reason to rejoice. He has opened the door for all Jews to sue Egypt for over 400 years of slavery," writer Beth Goodman told Reuters. If he wins Tareq Zaghoul, a lawyer at the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights in Cairo, said it would be difficult to prove historical fact in the passage that would stand up in court. Hilmiâs more likely to get stoned to death "This needs historical documents and evidence to back it up. It is rather far-fetched," he said. "But the idea has merit" Hilmi said Egyptian and European historical and religious experts were trying to establish if the biblical passage could be taken as fact, and hence form the basis for a lawsuit. U bet the EUnuchs jumped at the chance. He said the argument that Jews could sue Egypt for enslaving them was also being studied by experts. "Can they or canât they?" Hilmi gave no details of which court he planned to file the case in or whether he thought such a case would be exempt from the sort of statute of limitations that in many countries rules out legal cases after a certain period of time. The statute of limitations. He also declined to put a value on the goods "plundered." If Hilmi wins, the result will be an uncloseable Pandoraâs Box Posted by: Katz 2003-09-11 |
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