Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement.

  •  
  •  
  •  
  • About
    • About Gisha
    • Board
    • Gisha Staff
    • FAQs
    • Vacancies
    • Institutional Donors
  • Topics
    • Control over Gaza
    • Economy and Development
    • Access to Education
    • Family Unity
    • Residency Rights
    • Other
  • Legal Activity
    • Legal Advocacy
    • Procedures and Protocols
  • Media
    • Gisha in the media
    • News Releases
    • Media Inquiries
  • Reports & Data
    • Publications
    • Graphs
    • Gaza up close
  • Gallery
    • Image Gallery
    • Video Gallery
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Get information
    • UNDO the closure
    • Campaigns
  • Updates
    • Updates
    • Gisha in Action
  • Contact Us
Legal Activity » Legal Advocacy » Gisha asks military to make arrangements to allow Muslim residents of the Gaza Strip to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage

Gisha asks military to make arrangements to allow Muslim residents of the Gaza Strip to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage

August 10, 2015

Eid al-Adha will take place this year between September 23-26, 2015. Before and during the holiday, millions of Muslims from all over the world gather in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.

In order to make it possible for Muslim residents of Gaza to participate in the pilgrimage, and in view of the fact that the Rafah border crossing has been completely closed for a lengthy period of time and there is no expectation it will be reopened in the foreseeable future, Gisha wrote to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, on August 10, 2015, asking him to make arrangements so that Muslim residents of the Gaza Strip may go to Saudi Arabia via Israel and the Allenby Bridge (Hebrew).

The letter states that arrangements for the departure of Gaza Strip residents via the Erez border crossing into Israel and from there to the Allenby Bridge border crossing and Jordan can be similar to those allowing Muslim worshippers from the Gaza Strip to enter Israel to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque on Fridays – that is, organized shuttle buses which would travel from the Erez border crossing directly to Allenby, at prearranged, scheduled times. Because the Hajj begins two weeks before Eid al-Adha and continues throughout the holiday, and given the large number of worshippers who will arrive to Saudi Arabia from all parts of the world, Gisha asked COGAT to approve and coordinate the departure of Gaza residents from the beginning of September.

Allowing Muslim residents of the Gaza Strip to travel to Saudi Arabia via Israel to perform the Hajj pilgrimage will enable them to realize their right to freedom of movement and freedom of religion and will conform with Israel’s obligations under international and Israeli law.

     

More in Legal Advocacy

  • Following petition, Israel allows a Palestinian woman to move back to the West Bank with her young children
  • Following petition, Israel allows a 75-year-old widow to return home to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip
  • Following petition, Israel allows a mother and her four children to return home to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip
  • Court ordered deletion of petition filed on behalf of a cancer patient wishing to return to her home in Gaza from Jordan, after her condition deteriorates
  • Israel denies two sisters’ participation in mourning rituals for their father in the West Bank

Gisha's Blog

Recent posts:
Naming the reality‬
12.01.2021
Same storm, different boats‬
23.12.2020
“Holidays are sad days”‬
16.12.2020
Donate
Get information
1.4 Million Did you know that seventy percent of the population in Gaza, 1.4 million people, are under 30 years old?
Watch the video
Gallery
Distant | Relatives
facebook icon   Gisha on Facebook
twitter icon   Gisha on Twitter
  • Homepage
  • About
  • About Gisha
  • Board
  • Gisha Staff
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Vacancies
  • Legal Activity
  • Legal Advocacy
  • Procedures and Protocols
  • Media
  • Gisha in the media
  • News Releases
  • Reports & Data
  • Publications
  • Graphs
  • Gaza Up Close
  • Gallery
  • Image Gallery
  • Video Gallery
  • Updates
  • Updates
  • Gisha in Action
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • Get information
  • Contact Us
 TechnoCraft |  בניית אתרים | סטודיו ג2 | Copyright © 2021 Gisha.org