Hamas’ Siege on Muslim Pilgrimage
Monday, December 8th, 2008
This December in Gaza, Hamas blocked Muslims from participating in the hajj, a pilgrimage Muslims are obligated to fulfill atleast once over the span of a lifetime. Pilgrims forge their journey to Mecca by the hundreds of thousands performing rituals to show their submission to Allah and partake in Muslim solidarity. For the first time in 35 years, Hamas, the Iranian funded and trained terrorist organization denied thousands of Muslims their sacred right to pilgrimage.
On the West Bank and beyond, outcries of despair were alive as Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas declared to reporters, “Unfortunately, this is the first time in the history of the Palestinian people that pilgrims were prevented. Israel never once prevented pilgrims.” Iran backed Hamas inflicted terror on Muslims trying to cross into Egypt for the Hajj by beating them back with sticks. Gaza tourism company owners were arrested when they tried to acquire permits to travel from West Bank based companies, some of them decrying against the siege, declaring “Even the Israelis never dared prevent the pilgrimage this way.”
It seems Hamas’ siege on Israeli cities with Qassam rockets and mortar shells, nearly 3,000 in 2008 alone, killing four people and wounding more than 270, is not reserved for the Jews as the Muslims who voted the terrorist group into office are painfully learning. Should we be surprised when Hamas struck a power plant that provides electricity to Gaza then asked Israel to provide more fuel shipments topping it off by pointing the finger at the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory that was an act of self defense with national security at stake–proving the PR hit job to kill the Jewish State is in full effect.
And what about the more than 200 tunnels Hamas smuggles weapons, rockets, and cigarettes through on the eight-mile (13 km) Egypt-Gaza border? Did the Iran backed Hamas ever bother to smuggle food for their starving people? The answer is a resounding No because they prefer to give the dying Palestinians of Gaza bombs to fuel suicide plots. Yes, they’ve learned well from the Arab nations who have done nothing to educate and build up a Palestinian state–just give them weapons, rockets and lots of guns to destroy Israel, and of course propagate the PR hit job against the Jews.
Sources:
(1) “Iran-backed Terrrorists Continue to Shoot Rockets at Israeli Civilians,” www.theisraelproject.org, Dec. 8, 2008
(2) “Palestinian leader Abbas attacks Hamas over haj,” Reuters Africa, Dec. 6, 2008, http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL6333177.html
(3) El-Khodary, Taghreed and Bronner, Ethan, “Palestinians’ rift prevents Gazans from traveling to Mecca,” The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/world/middleeast/04mideast.html?em