Despite Middle East war, foreign pilgrims flock to Mecca for hajj
Over 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from outside the kingdom for the upcoming hajj, according to a Saudi official, exceeding the number of international visitors last year despite the war in the Middle East.
The conflict triggered by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February saw Tehran order waves of strikes on targets in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, prompting widespread air traffic disruptions and causing travel costs to surge.
Major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations.
Despite the complications, pilgrims have continued to flock to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year’s hajj.
“The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday.
These figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the hajj on Monday.
Last year, the total number of pilgrims at the hajj reached 1,673,320, including 1,506,576 from outside Saudi Arabia.
The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
What stands out is “The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The fact that “The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday really puts things into perspective.
On one hand major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations. But at the same time despite the complications, pilgrims have continued to flock to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year’s hajj.
If major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Basically despite the complications, pilgrims have continued to flock to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year’s hajj. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Despite the war in the Middle East, foreign pilgrims have flocked to Mecca to participate in this year’s hajj. Meanwhile major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations.
On one hand despite the war in the Middle East, foreign pilgrims have flocked to Mecca to participate in this year’s hajj. But at the same time major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations.
Still waiting to hear what Hajj Passport actually plans to do about it.
Think about it: “The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday. That speaks volumes.
The bigger issue here is these figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the hajj on Monday. That changes the calculation.
The fact that these figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the hajj on Monday really puts things into perspective.
Considering “The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Passport Forces, told a press conference late Friday, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
Basically major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations. Meanwhile despite the complications, pilgrims have continued to flock to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year’s hajj.
Considering these figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the hajj on Monday, it raises some real questions about what happens next.