It was an unusual sight Oct. 9 at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest place. A group of tourists from Bahrain, wearing long robes and keffiyehs, stood alongside Jewish worshippers, and some even prayed to Allah themselves. One of the tourists pulled out an Islamic prayer rug, spread it out on the ground and knelt for the traditional prayer.
The worshippers, including several social media influencers, were part of one of the first groups of tourists to come to Israel. Fatima al-Harabi entered the women’s section at the Western Wall and inserted a note in between the ancient stones, as is customary. In an interview with a reporter from the public broadcasting corporation Kan she said that the site has great spiritual power and that in her note she asked for peace to arrive soon.
