SAUDI ARABIA: Recently released Palestinian prisoners attend Haj pilgrimage

Record ID: 188850

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Recently released Palestinian prisoners attend Haj pilgrimage
  • Date: 9th November 2011
  • Summary: MINA, SAUDI ARABIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2011) (REUTERS) RELEASED PALESTINIAN PRISONER MAHMOUD TALAB IDRIS SPEAKING TO REPORTERS. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RELEASED PALESTINIAN PRISONER MAHMOUD TALAB IDRIS SAYING "It is a very nice feeling because I had not seen my wife and children until we just met at Mount Arafat nearly two weeks after my release from prison. They (wife and son) also came to the pilgrimage with the help of the King of Saudi Arabia and so we met here, thank God." MAHMOUD TALIB IDRIS AND HIS WIFE SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AT CAMP IN MINA SON OF TALIB IDRIS AT CAMP FOR RELEASED PALESTINIAN PRISONERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RELEASED PALESTINIAN PRISONER NASSR Al NAMLA, SAYING "We are still in a dream and we do not understand -- we can not grasp if it's a reality or a dream. It's just beyond our imagination -- just beyond our imagination. To go from prison to Gaza and from prison cells to Mecca, Saudi Arabia -- this is something no mind could fathom. I am one of those people who can not adapt myself to this. I have moments where I sit with myself and cry wondering if this is real or a dream?" RELEASED PRISONERS SPEAKING TO REPORTERS PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AT THEIR CAMP IN MINA
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA4A5ALLJGLR0IPHWDG3QY9YMRI
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners recently released in a prisoner swap with Israel have taken part in the annual Haj pilgrimage.
    The former prisoners said Saudi Arabia had offered to fly them in for the pilgrimage in Mecca.
    477 Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails on October 18, the first of 1027 who will be freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
    Mahmoud Talab Idris said he had spent 13 years in prison, and that the pilgrimage had helped him reunite with his family.
    "It is a very nice feeling because I had not seen my wife and children until we just met at Mount Arafat nearly two weeks after my release from prison. They (wife and son) also came to the pilgrimage with the help of the King of Saudi Arabia and so we met here, thank God," he said.
    Nassr al Namla, originally from the Gaza Strip, said he found it hard to believe he was really free after 21 years in jail.
    "We are still in a dream and we do not understand -- we can not grasp if it's a reality or a dream. It's just beyond our imagination -- just beyond our imagination. To go from prison to Gaza and from prison cells to Mecca, Saudi Arabia -- this is something no mind could fathom. I am one of those people who can not adapt myself to this. I have moments where I sit with myself and cry wondering if this is real or a dream?" He said.
    Around 2.5 million to 3 million pilgrims are believed to be in Mecca to perform haj, a duty that all able-bodied Muslims must undertake at least once in their lifetime.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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