Story of Maccabi Cairo, the Egyptian Jewish basketball dream team.
The club was founded by Maurice Harari in 1936. With only Jewish team members, the Maccabi Cairo soon became one of the best team in the country winning several time the country’s championship.
#EgyptianJews
The club was founded by Maurice Harari in 1936. With only Jewish team members, the Maccabi Cairo soon became one of the best team in the country winning several time the country’s championship.
#EgyptianJews
Many Jewish players from the club actually made it to the National team such as Maurice Calife in 1946, Guido Asher in 1947 and the famous Zaki (aka “Zuzi”) Harari in the 1950s.
Zuzi was a talented playmaker, he competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics where Egypt ranked 9th.
Zuzi was a talented playmaker, he competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics where Egypt ranked 9th.
In 1945, the Maccabi Cairo defeated the Maccabi Tel Aviv in front of many supporters. The stars of the team were the Harari brothers: Zuzi, who was team captain, David, Leon, and Emil.
Here they are after their victory, Zuzi is the one crouching and holding the ball.
Here they are after their victory, Zuzi is the one crouching and holding the ball.
In 1953, the Maccabi won the Egyptian Championship after a great victory (44-40) over the Egyptian Army team.
After the Sinai War, the situation immensely worsened for Egyptian Jews and consequently many of the team members were forced to leave the country and fled to Israel.
After the Sinai War, the situation immensely worsened for Egyptian Jews and consequently many of the team members were forced to leave the country and fled to Israel.
But they never abandoned their passion for basketball ! Many of them contributed to the development of Israeli basketball. Among them, Albert Abraham Hemmo took over the head coach position of the Israeli national team in 1973 and imposed a more defensive style to his players.
📷: Mrs Levana Zamir and Mr Elie Patan for the Historical Society of the Jews from Egypt.
hsje.org
hsje.org
