By Daoud Kuttab – The religious men and women patiently clutching their water jugs on July 10, waiting in line at the Israeli border crossing looked like the average Palestinian. They had been to Mecca for Umra, the lesser pilgrimage to the Muslim holy places.
What was different in this group of Palestinians was that they were holding Israeli passports. The individuals, mostly from the Naqab area, looked tired and exhausted. They had arrived the day before at about 9:00pm, but were denied entry by the Israelis.
The bridge, which is officially open till midnight on weekdays, usually accepts buses from the Jordanian side no later than 10:00pm. With the overcrowding because of the summer visitors, the Israelis refused entry to at least 100 Israeli citizens.
Israeli bridge officials confirm they denied entry to Israeli citizens, but put the blame on the Hajj and Umra Association for logistic details.
The group in question was supposed to arrive two days later but when the bridge officials were informed of their early arrival they could not accommodate them and suggested that they sleep in the Madinat Al Hajjaj (pilgrims’ city). This so-called pilgrims’ city is nothing more than a bus parking lot where buses sit for hours, and often nights, waiting for permission to enter.
King Hussein Bridge