COGAT prepares for thousands of Palestinians on Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca
“To the pilgrims, and to the entire Muslim world, we wish a blessed Hajj," COGAT's head, Maj.-Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun, said.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF(Credit: COGAT)
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is completing preparations for the passage of thousands of Palestinian pilgrims from throughout the West Bank, the unit said in a press release.The pilgrims, Palestinian Muslims from the West Bank, will travel across the Allenby Bridge to Jordan in order to take part in the umrah, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.Maj.-Gen. Abu Rukun, who heads the COGAT unit, wished the Palestinian travelers well on their way. “A blessed Hajj to all the pilgrims and to all the Muslim world," he said.Airports Authority officials at the Allenby Bridge – in cooperation with the District Coordination and Liaison (DCL) center for Jericho, the Palestinian Land Crossings Authority, and the Jordanian side – arranged for 65 buses, which were filled last Saturday with 2,800 worshipers, plus approximately 40 more buses which set out on Sunday with 1,300 worshipers.Over the rest of the week, more pilgrims will join them. The dozens of buses bring the worshipers through the crossing into Jordan as part of a journey that lasts some 24 hours.“We are working constantly, and especially during the season of the Hajj, to promote and protect proper freedom of worship and freedom of religion for the Palestinian pilgrims who pass through the crossing," Rukun said.“COGAT is laboring around the clock, as it does every year, for the benefit of the Palestinian residents, and will continue to do so with improvements to the services provided at Allenby Bridge," he said. "To the pilgrims, and to the entire Muslim world, we wish a blessed Hajj."