"With pilgrims in the millions, Mecca upgrades and expands" by Sarah el Deeb, Associated Press / November 21, 2010
MECCA, Saudi Arabia — A dozen glittering skyscrapers tower over Islam’s holiest shrine, the Kaaba, boasting hotel rooms with 24-hour butler service and luxury marble bathrooms. Below, throngs of Muslims perform the annual hajj pilgrimage, many of them impoverished, sleeping in the streets.
Saudi authorities have transformed the look of Mecca, Islam’s most sacred city, and are planning even more dramatic change in years to come. But much of the change has catered to high-end pilgrims, and critics say what is supposed to be an austere spiritual ritual bringing Muslims closer to God has turned into a luxury expedition for some.
I notice money i$ at the bottom of mo$t things.
Samir Barqah, a guide who runs tours of the historic city in Mecca, says luxury towers are turning Mecca into Manhattan: “Mecca is now becoming a layer of glass and cement sheets.’’
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Management of the hajj is a major way for Saudi Arabia’s ruling family to exhibit the Islamic credentials central to its legitimacy.
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Related:
"New train line to ease Muslims’ holy journey" by Associated Press / November 15, 2010
The four-day Islamic pilgrimage draws around 2.5 million worshipers each year, and the large numbers present authorities with a challenge in preventing stampedes at holy sites, fires in pilgrim encampments, and the spread of disease.
Yeah, all those messy Muslims in one place.
The $2 billion train was constructed by a Chinese company.
Not an AmeriKan company?
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Actually, I would rather not rely on a Zionist prism of a paper to tell me about the hajj -- especially since this was all they told me.
