It is an Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Fitr means “to break” and therefore symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period and of all sinful habits. The detail of the significance of this holiday and its celebration I’ll simply leave to wikipedia to explain.
To the muslims, this could mean a very special day. To non-muslims like us, though, especially living in this Muslim country, it means a long weekend, a long holiday, a long rest…. ahhhhhh!
From October 20th to 28th, 2006, work day is only on the 26th. Regular office days resume on the 29th.
The quotation from this medieval text drew condemnation from a number of individual governmental representatives and various muslim religious leaders urging the Pope to retract his statement and issue an apology about it. Two cases of bomb attacks in churches in the West Bank in Germany were said to be linked to that statement.