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Posted by on Aug 18, 2014 in Articles | 0 comments

A Controversial Wedding

This is an excerpt from an article in The Times of Israel, from 8/18/14 http://bit.ly/1rjlngb.

After a controversial wedding between a Muslim man and a Jewish convert to Islam, the furor over the wedding drew attention from top public figures.

President Reuven Rivlin expressed his support for the couple, blessing them with happiness and health. “This couple decided to get married and to exercise their freedoms in a democratic state, and the incitement against them is outrageous and worrying,” he said in a statement. “Not everyone has to rejoice about their happy occasion, but everyone must respect it.”

The president added that “incitement” against the wedding was like “rodents gnawing under the shared democratic and Jewish foundation of Israel.”

Bride Morel Malka, 23, and Mahmoud Mansour, 26, of Jaffa, were wed while outside the hall two demonstrations took place: one by several hundred Lehava protesters against their union, and the other by a group of dozens who turned up to show their support for the couple.

Four anti-assimilation protesters were arrested after they tried to approach the hall in violation of a court order, which stated that they could not come within 200 meters of the celebrations.

The counter-protesters brought balloons and flowers to add to the merriment.

Morel Malka (photo credit: screen capture Channel 2)

Hundreds of police were deployed to separate between the rival demonstrations, and security guards carefully checked the more than 600 guests’ credentials and invitations before letting them in.

The wedding celebrations began in the afternoon, when Malka went to Mansour’s home to meet her groom, as is the Arab custom. Hundreds of friends and local residents turned up to take part in the event.

“I am happy and moved,” Malka said to reporters.

The groom’s mother wished the young couple well and told the media that, along with their happiness, she wants many grandchildren.

Since the story broke last week, Mansour and his family have received threats from activists as well as messages of support.

 

 

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