Muslims at Hajj Blame Arab Disunity for Jerusalem Embassy Move

Muslims at the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia criticised what they described as discordant Arab leaders for failing to block US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem after he recognised the city as Israel’s capital. It was a reversal of decades of American policy and the embassy opened in May at a high-profile ceremony attended by Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka and his sonin-law Jared Kushner, the US envoy to the Middle East. The status of Jerusalem - home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions - is one of the biggest obstacles to any peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

The United Nations says the status of the ancient city whose eastern sector was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war - can only be resolved by negotiations. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem for the capital of an independent state they seek. Israel says Jerusalem is its eternal and indivisible capital.

“This happened with the complicity of the Arab leaders,” 53-year-old Saad Awad from Sudan said on Monday as he walked east of Mecca with more than 2 million fellow Muslims from around the world.

“If the Arab leaders were united and adhering to the Koran and the Sunna (Islamic practice based on words and deeds of the Prophet), it would be impossible for the Americans or anyone else to do something like this.”

Saudi Arabia, which stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites - Mecca and Medina and organising the hajj, has urged pilgrims to put aside political concerns and focus on spirituality.

Pilgrims hold umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun after throwing pebbles at pillars during the Jamarat ritual, the stoning of Satan, in Mina near the holy city of Mecca.