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Turkish pilgrims to Jerusalem face backlash

Turkey’s Department of Religious Affairs elicited protests from an unexpected quarter when it added Jerusalem to its Umrah pilgrimage.
The Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque are seen in background as an Israeli flag flutters from atop a home of Jewish settlers in Silwan, a mostly Palestinian district abutting the Old City, November 3, 2014. For months, the streets of mainly Arab East Jerusalem, in the shadow of the Old City but where tourists seldom venture, have been ablaze, with daily clashes between armed Israeli police and Palestinians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.The roots of the unrest are many: from the killing in July of a

Director of the Department of Religious Affairs (DRA) Mehmet Gormez delighted Turkey’s Muslims when Jerusalem was added to the itinerary of Umrah tours (the noncompulsory pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina). Gormez first announced Jerusalem’s inclusion on the tour the last week of December 2014, saying that an agreement was reached with Israel. Interestingly, negative reactions came from a small group of Palestinians.

The DRA added Jerusalem to the tour in response to heavy demand, and the first group of 149 pilgrims and five officials left Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport for Tel Aviv on April 15. Palestinian activists, charging that inclusion of Jerusalem on the Umrah tour means legitimizing Israel’s occupation, launched a campaign against the DRA decision.

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