(14 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mina, Saudi Arabia - 14 June 2024
1. Pilgrims arriving at Mina
2. Pilgrims holding umbrellas
3. Pilgrims' camp
4. Various of pilgrims walking on foot while holding umbrellas
5. Pilgrim pushing woman's wheelchair
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammad Bilal, Algerian pilgrim:
"I hope God will heal the pain of the people of Palestine.”
7. Pilgrims arriving
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nader Ahmed, Indian pilgrim:
"Thank God, (it) is good, very good. And we are very happy to attend this Hajj."
9. Pilgrims holding umbrellas
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Moheiri Abdulkader, Algerian pilgrim:
"For sure Gaza is in our hearts, in our eyes, on our shoulders and on our heads. Whatever we say about Gaza is not enough. We should be united under the flag of: 'There is no God but Allah and (Prophet) Mohammad is God’s messenger.' Victory and immortality for Gaza."
11. Pilgrims
12. SOUNDBITE (English/Arabic) Mohammed Rafeeq, Indian pilgrim:
"God willing, we are praying this to be an accepted and blessed Hajj, and (pray) for our country and for our people, for all the Muslims of the world and for the Palestinians, especially for the Palestinian people."
13. People arriving and holding up umbrellas as they walk
STORYLINE:
Muslim pilgrims performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year say they are thinking of the Palestinians as the raging war in the Gaza Strip continues.
In sweltering temperatures, the pilgrims in Mecca converged on a vast tent camp in the desert on Friday, officially opening the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
This year’s Hajj is taking place against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the coastal enclave.
Palestinians in Gaza were not able to travel to Mecca for Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May when Israel extended its ground offensive to the strip’s southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
Mohammad Bilal, an Algerian pilgrim, said he hopes "God will heal the pain" of the Palestinians.
More than 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world have already amassed in and around Mecca for the Hajj, and the number was still growing as more pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia joined.
Saudi authorities expected the number to exceed 2 million this year.
Palestinian authorities said 4,200 pilgrims from the occupied West Bank arrived in Mecca for Hajj.
Saudi authorities said 1,000 more from the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the war in Gaza also arrived to perform Hajj at the invitation of King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The 1,000 invitees were already outside Gaza - mostly in Egypt - before the closure of the Rafah crossing.
"Gaza is in our hearts, in our eyes, on our shoulders and on our heads. Whatever we say about Gaza is not enough," said Moheiri Abdulkader, an Algerian pilgrim.
The pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are required to make the five-day Hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.
It is a moving spiritual experience for pilgrims who believe it absolves sins and brings them closer to God, while uniting the world’s more than 2 billion Muslims.
It’s also a chance to pray for peace in many conflict-stricken Arab and Muslim countries.
Indian pilgrim Mohammed Rafeeq said he prays "for all the Muslims of the world and for the Palestinians, especially for the Palestinian people."
AP video by Bassam Hatoum and Baraa Anwar
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...