The archaeological establishment in the United States and the United Kingdom have lionized Zahi Hawass because of his highly publicised efforts to repatriate Egyptian artifacts from abroad. They seem to be enamored of his confrontational style and his bigger than life personality.
One hopes they are less enamored of his latest anti-Semitic outburst in banning Jews from praying at a newly restored synagogue. For more, see Dorothy King's blog at http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2010/03/anti-semitism-and-madness-in-egypt.html
Source material can be found here http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3862449,00.html and here http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136755
For Hawass' own blog on the restoration of the Synagogue of Moses Ben Maimon, see http://www.drhawass.com/blog/press-release-synagogue-moses-ben-maimon
I'd be surprised if anyone in the archaological establishment criticises Hawass for this decision, but we'll see.
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