For faith or money: Why Gazans are eager to perform umrah
Many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip leave the coastal enclave on a pilgrimage trip to Saudi Arabia and never come back.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —Three months ago, some 20 young Gazan men went on the umrah pilgrimage (the non-mandatory, lesser pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia and never returned to the Gaza Strip.
Saudi authorities grant Gazan pilgrims a one-month visa to Saudi Arabia for hajj and umrah through travel agencies in Gaza. Pilgrims ought to leave Saudi territories upon completing their pilgrimage. Their passports remain in the travel agencies' possession and are given back to them upon their return to Gaza.
