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Last update - 22:59 02/12/2008
Egypt's Grand Sheik: I shook Peres' hand because I had no idea who he was
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Peres, Israel news, Egypt 

Egypt's Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, considered the most senior institutional religious authority in Egypt, announced Tuesday that he had shaken the hand of Israel's President, Shimon Peres, at a conference several weeks ago, because he did not recognize him and did not know who he was.

The handshake, which took place at a United Nations-hosted interfaith meeting in New York last month, sparked harsh criticism among the Egyptian opposition, who went as far as to demand Tantawi's resignation.

The two men met at a small dinner for world leaders, attended by the Saudi king, the emir of Kuwait and other Arab leaders. It was the first time that Israeli and Saudi leaders were present at the same public event.
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At the conference, Tantawi was the first leader to approach Peres and engage in conversation with him. The two men spoke for several minutes without releasing their handshake for the duration of the conversation.

Peres' office declined to comment on the incident.

Tantawi told the independent Egyptian paper Al Masri al Youm that "I shook the hand of anyone who held out his hand. Among those was Shimon Peres, whom I did not recognize, so I shook his hand like I did the others, at random without even knowing him... And if I had known who it was, would the handshake amount to heresy?"

Tantawi condemned anyone who publicized the picture of him shaking hands with Peres, saying it had been a "group of lunatics."

Those who criticized Tantawi were affiliated with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups who oppose maintaining relations with Israel as well as normalization with Israel.

Egyptian Parliament member Moustafa Bakri asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday to dismiss Tantawi, saying that his meeting with Peres was "an affront to all Muslims everywhere."

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      1.   Peres & Tantawi - the blind leading the blind! 20:48  |  common sense 02/12/08
      2.   "Peace" with an Arab country 20:51  |  Ofer 02/12/08
      3.   Does he know who himself is? 21:12  |  Israeli cititzen 02/12/08
      4.   Mustafa Bakri`s comments 21:34  |  ernie 02/12/08
      5.   I had dinner with WHO? 21:37  |  PL 02/12/08
      6.   Shocking ignorance 21:46  |  Lars Cromander 02/12/08
      7.   Let`s contrast this with the commentary of MK Lieberman 22:06  |  Jacob Blues 02/12/08
      8.   Good thing nobody recognized Tantawi 22:29  |  Paul 02/12/08
      9.   Catching? 22:34  |  utagawa 02/12/08
      10.   Maybe he did know who Peres was 22:39  |  Leonard Levy 02/12/08
      11.   Symptomatic of why there is no peace 22:50  |  utagawa 02/12/08
      12.   What is wrong with Muslim leaders? 22:56  |  The Equalizer 02/12/08
      13.   The Problem is That the Arabs Do Not Know Israel Either 23:07  |  Baruch Gold 02/12/08
      14.   Shame on the sheik 23:15  |  CM 02/12/08
      15.   The problem is... 23:37  |  Esther 02/12/08
      16.   Not really Len Levy, Tantawari has a history of this sort of 23:45  |  Jacob Blues 02/12/08
      17.   Handshakes give the shakes & jitters 2 some 00:01  |  The Teacher/Instruct 03/12/08
      18.   Peace 00:10  |  AD 03/12/08
      19.   Shaking hands with an Israeli 00:20  |  Nezam el Jenini 03/12/08
      20.   A COLD PEACE? His fingers must have frozen off! 00:27  |  Tom Lobo Meyer 03/12/08
      21.   at next inter-faith meeting don`t forget to let dignitaries wash 00:33  |  ivo 03/12/08
      22.   Sheik`s hand shake 00:34  |  KT 03/12/08
      23.   Is he wearing a Santa Hat? 00:35  |  American Patriot 03/12/08
      24.   understandable 00:52  |  American Attorney 03/12/08
      25.   ROFL! 01:18  |  Magnus K. 03/12/08
      26.   No peace anywhere in the muslim world 01:44  |  real vision 03/12/08
      27.   The Sheikh never had any clue. 01:45  |  ManintheMiddle 03/12/08
      28.   #12. Who says he`s a leader? 01:51  |  ManintheMiddle 03/12/08
      29.   ROFL! 02:05  |  Magnus K. 03/12/08
      30.   Our Enemies Are Idiots 02:40  |  UsedToPostHere 03/12/08
      31.   Sheik`s naivete or sad state of affairs 02:47  |  allang 03/12/08
      32.   to offer if Israel stop killing palestinian then it will be ok 03:23  |  gus 03/12/08
      33.   EVEN THOUGH I AM A MUSLIM 03:27  |  indrajaya 03/12/08
      34.   It is the result of peace treaty on piece of paper. 04:03  |  e.m.Jordan is Palest 03/12/08
      35.   To Indrajaya (#33) 05:48  |  Morris Valentine 03/12/08
      36.   #19 Nezam el Jenini 05:57  |  Eli 03/12/08
      37.   The Sheik gets no respect from Indrajaya 06:16  |  utagawa 03/12/08
      38.   # 33, MORRIS VALENTINE 07:09  |  indrajaya 03/12/08
      39.   Egyptian Fanatics 07:26  |  EgyptJewRefugee 03/12/08
      40.   # 35, MORRIS VALENTINE 08:50  |  indrajaya 03/12/08
      41.   The dog ate his homework too 09:05  |  Peter Williams 03/12/08
      42.   In Annapolis the Pals refused to enter through the same door 09:23  |  Alicia 03/12/08
      43.   Little Hope 10:30  |  Leon 03/12/08
      44.   GUS Why can`t Arabs break the habit of killing Israelis? 10:38  |  PETER SM 03/12/08
      45.   The hatred from Egypt generated by the handshake.What peace? 10:41  |  PETER SM 03/12/08
      46.   My personal regrets 18:23  |  VIP 03/12/08
      47.   The handshake 19:22  |  Jasper 03/12/08
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