Westerners praise KSA’s efforts to serve pilgrims

Pilgrims from Europe and Russia expressed their admiration for the services provided by the Saudi government during this Haj season.

The pilgrims said that a public relations campaign needs to be carried out to project Islam’s real image and counter the claims by some Western media organizations, which focus only on the actions of militias and militant groups that have no connection with Islam.
French journalist Laila Akomla said that what she has seen during the pilgrimage season, from the moment she arrived at the airport, shows Saudi Arabia as a welcoming, greatly experienced country that receives all nationalities from around the world.
“If Muslims and non-Muslims in France were to witness Haj in action, they will experience the great feeling that I am experiencing here in Makkah,” said Akomla.
Hassan Shibley, director of the Florida chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR), said what drew his attention at Arafat was the motto chosen for this year’s pilgrimage by Makkah governor.
“The motto was ‘Haj is a message of peace’ and it truly is,” he said. “We are working on informing people about Haj and its virtues through US media and also through social media.”
He stressed that Islam is in dire need of a public relations campaign that explains the reality of Islam.
“We are surprised by the fact that Iran and some militias are working against Haj. We strongly support the Saudi government, which seeks to unite Muslims,” he said.
He added that pilgrimage should not be used by some to peddle their political ideology and that the Kingdom has achieved dramatic and distinctive results and has worked to better the Muslim world.
“We see the Kingdom as the heart of the Islamic world, and we are surprised by the attitude of some countries that have certain agendas against the pilgrimage,” he said. “The strangest thing was Iran’s decision to deprive Iranian Muslims of Haj.”
A Russian pilgrim, Abdullah, also praised the great services provided to pilgrims and assured that all he had learned about true and moderate Islam was in practice in Saudi Arabia. “What is written in newspapers and reported through untrue propaganda cannot be believed,” he added.

Source: Arab News