Saudi Arabia is expecting more than two million visitors this month for the annual Hajj, a momentous event in the Muslim calendar. As in previous years, there will be pilgrims from a most unlikely destination: some 4,500 Muslims have departed for Mecca from their homes in Israel, a Jewish country with no diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.
The spiritual weight of the Hajj is enough to overcome the political complications involved in a delegation of Israelis traveling to enemy soil. The process is done through the mediation of Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, and with the knowledge of the Israeli and Saudi authorities.
Israeli Muslims wishing to embark on the journey usually contact one of several associations dealing with pilgrims. Non-Muslims cannot take part in the event. The pilgrims register their details and submit passport photos, which are then sent to the Jordanian Ministry of Islamic Trust (Waqf). Once they cross the border from Israel into Jordan, a local official collects their Israeli passports and they are issued temporary Jordanian passports. The documents are valid for a month or two months, depending on the season. |