Paul KeenanMuslims mayor declares backing for public holiday
The newly elected Muslim mayor of the city of Nazareth in Israel has stated his wish to see the entire city mark the Feast of the Annuncia-tion.
Speaking during a meeting attended by political and religious leaders to mark the occasion of his election, Mayor Ali Salam said the adoption of the feast day in Lebanon should be mirrored by Nazareth, a site significant both to biblical and koranic traditions.
“Since the Koran speaks a lot of the Virgin Mary and as this feast has become a national holiday in Lebanon” he said, “why not declare it as a holiday for the city of Nazareth, where the event of the Annunciation happened?”
The mayor’s statement received rapturous applause from the assembly, which included Catholic Bishop Giacinto Boulos Marcuzzo, Patri-archal Vicar for Israel.