MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian Muslims start the Eid celebrations with Prayer and visits

Record ID: 862727

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian Muslims start the Eid celebrations with Prayer and visits
  • Date: 28th November 2009
  • Summary: WOMAN AND CHILDREN SITTING BESIDE GRAVE CHILDREN WALKING IN BETWEEN GRAVES
  • Embargoed: 13th December 2009 12:00
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  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAASDSIVK92UERTLYZ58IYZ3NLQ
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  • Story Text: Palestinian Muslims in Gaza, the West Bank city of Hebron and Jerusalem marked the beginning of the four-day Muslim feast of the Eid Al Adha holiday on Friday (November 27).
    Prayers In the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which remains under an Israeli blockade, were attended by the Islamist-group's leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
    After the morning prayer, some Gaza City residents proceeded to cemeteries to visit their loved one's graves, an Eid al-Adha tradition.
    In the West Bank city of Hebron, where tensions are high a day after a Palestinian man reportedly stabbed and injured two Jewish settlers, Muslim worshipers made their way to Eid prayer at the Ibraheemi Mosque, sacred both to Muslims and Jews.
    Hebron has been a flashpoint of violent confrontations between the city's Palestinian residents and its few dozen ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers.
    In Jerusalem's Old City, thousands of Muslim worshipers flocked to Al-Aqsa mosque to attend the early morning prayer and then to visit graves of their relatives.
    Eid Al Adha -- the feast of sacrifice -- is one of the most important holidays in the Muslim Calendar. It includes the pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca, known as "Haj", which is one of the five pillars of Islam and supposed to be undertaken by every Muslim who can afford to do so.
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