Tambourine in hand, a Christian wakes up Acre's Muslims for Ramadan

Yahoo – AFP, Majeda El-Batsh,  June 21, 2016

Michel Ayoub (L), an Arab-Israeli Christian, carries out the role of a 'Musaharati',
the traditional figure who awakens Muslims for the 'Suhur', their pre-dawn meal
during the sacred fasting month of Ramadan (AFP Photo/Ahmad Gharabli)

Acre (Israel) (AFP) - Michel Ayoub's holy racket begins each day at 2:00 am, when he steps into the cobbled streets of Acre's old city with tambourine in hand, awakening Muslims for Ramadan.

His role as the city's "mesaharati" is a traditional one during the sacred fasting month, but Ayoub is by no means a traditional holder of the position: He is Christian.

The 39-year-old Arab Israeli sees no contradiction in that, and neither do the Muslim residents of this ancient city in northwestern Israel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

"We are the same family," says Ayoub, who wears traditional Levantine dress as he meanders the alleyways, a keffiyeh draped over his shoulders, baggy sirwal pants held around his waist with an embroidered belt, a black-and-white turban tied around his head.

"There is only one God and there is no difference between Christians and Muslims."

His voice rings out as he chants, piercing the silence of the empty streets decorated with traditional colourful lamps for Ramadan.

Local Muslims gather for 'Suhur', their pre-dawn traditional meal during the sacred

 fasting month of Ramadan, in the northern Israeli port city of Acre (AFP 

Photo/Ahmad Gharabli)

"You, sleeping ones, there is one eternal God," he chants.

Houses begin to light up one by one. Some stick their heads out of their windows to greet him and tell him they have heard the call, awakening them for the "suhur," the traditional Ramadan pre-dawn meal.

During the holy month, which began on June 5, Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sundown, making the suhur an important meal before the long day ahead.

'We would be lost'

Acre's population of more than 50,000 includes Jews, Muslims, Christians and Baha'is.

It has been continuously inhabited since the Phoenician period, which began around 1500 BC.

It was the main port of the medieval Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and a major Ottoman walled city.

Napoleon tried to conquer the heavily fortified town in 1799 but was repelled by the Ottomans and a small British Royal Navy force.

People play a folk game called Al-siniya (tray) during the Muslim fasting month 

of Ramadan in Kirkuk in Iraq, June 7, 2016. Reuters/Ako Rasheed

The walled old city, complete with a well-preserved citadel, mosques and baths, is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

Today it is part of Israel, which captured it in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war surrounding the state's creation.

About 28 percent of its population are Arab Israelis, who are Palestinians and their descendants who remained after the 1948 creation of Israel.

Most of the city's Arabs are Muslims, but a minority, like Ayoub, are Christians.

The mesaharati tradition had disappeared from Acre until Ayoub, who usually works in construction, revived it 13 years ago. He says it was his way to preserve his grandfather's heritage.

He says his grandfather, a fervent Catholic, listened to readings of the Quran every Friday during the main weekly Muslim prayers.

Partly for that reason, Ayoub says he grew up with the idea of coexistence, respect and knowledge of other religions.

By carrying on the mesaharati tradition, he says he was "only doing my duty by helping our Muslim brothers who endure hunger and thirst" during the fasting month.

Sabra Aker, 19, says she "grew up with Michel Ayoub's wake-up calls during Ramadan."

A woman packs vermicelli, a specialty eaten during the Muslim fasting month 

of Ramadan, at a factory in Kolkata, India, June 8, 2016. Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri

"If he didn't come one day, we would be lost," she says through the window of her home.

Safia Sawaid, 36, exits her home to ask if she can take a photo with Ayoub and her children.

"It's great to see someone so attached to our culture and our traditions," she says. "I hope that he will continue every year."

Ayoub may even be grooming a successor to ensure the tradition does not end with him.

Ahmed al-Rihawi, 12, accompanies him on his nighttime mission, wearing sirwal pants, a black vest and a turban.

"He is a promising mesaharati," Ayoub says. "He is very talented."

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."