Jewish Women Converting to Islam – Egyptian Actor Discovers His Mother is Jewish

It's not every day that an Egyptian Jew comes into the spotlight to openly discuss their Jewish heritage. However, this happened recently when Egyptian actor Karim Kassem shared his story on a television program.
Karim Kassem (30) is a popular actor in Egypt, with approximately a quarter million followers on Facebook. Kassem was recently interviewed on an Egyptian TV show where he talked about his family. Among other things, he shared that he discovered his Jewish heritage almost by accident. He came home from school one day, upset by the actions attributed to Jews in Palestine, especially at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. His sister's response stunned him: "Karim, my dear," she said, "your mother is Jewish too"…
Karim Kassem's mother, Magda Haroun, serves as the head of the Jewish community in Egypt. Unfortunately, she is known for her strong hostility towards Israel. Kassem shared that from a young age, his mother taught him to read the Quran. Discovering her Jewish background was quite a surprise, and at first, he was even ashamed of his origins. But later on, he explained that realizing his mixed heritage helped him understand that Egypt is not composed solely of Muslims, and it assisted him in appreciating that which is different.
Not only does Kassem's mother oppose Israel: his grandfather, Shehata Haroun, once harshly criticized then-President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, for signing a peace treaty with Israel. Haroun was a prominent opponent of Zionism. Kassem recounts that his grandfather was a patriot loyal to his country – Egypt. He argued that there should be a separation between the Jewish religion and the actions carried out in Israel by Israelis.
In the past, before the establishment of the state of Israel, Egypt had a large Jewish community. Today, however, Egyptian Jews number only a few dozen, residing mainly in Cairo and Alexandria.

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