Saudi columnist dumbfounded at a Jew visiting mosque in Medina

We reported last week about a Jewish Israeli blogger, known as Ben-Tzion, who visited Muslim holy sites in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere) without hiding his Jewish identity.

He insists that everyone he met treated him with respect.

The fallout continues in the Arab world, though, and this article in Qatar's Al Sharq is delightfully over the top:

Finally the Zionist dream of reaching Yathrib (Medina) has been achieved

I did not imagine that the day would come when I saw and heard that the people of the Arabian Peninsula, from the sea eastward to the sea in the west, would allow themselves to see a Jewish Israeli walking around freely in this part of the world. I did not imagine that a Jew would enter the sanctuary in Madinah "Yathrib" Since the era of prophecy. I did not imagine that the Saudi political leadership, as well as the senior religious scholars, would allow all their religious beliefs to allow any Jew to reach Medina. where lies Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, along with a number of his companions and wives. No Muslim who believes in God and his messengers has ever heard or heard of a Jew publicly entering  and wandering around the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah and next to his honorable residence.

 The truth is that I did not believe all that was published in the Arab and Israeli press about the entry of a Jew to the city taking pictures next to the tomb of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in the Prophet's Mosque, and I do not know whether he walked in Mecca which is forbidden to them by virtue of the Koran.

I saw a YouTube movie that included pictures of the Prophet's Mosque and the Jewish man in one of the rows among the worshipers. I saw his picture as he walked around the Prophet's Mosque. The Israeli Jew in this corner named Ben Tzion Chadnovsky admits that he is an Israeli Jew and that he entered the Prophet's Mosque with the knowledge of Saudi personalities and that they know his Jewish background and his Israeli nationality. "Our generation must build bridges between Jews and the Arab world once and for all. Saudi Arabia and Israel must stand side by side to achieve the goal of joint peace in the Greater Middle East region in a comprehensive manner," he said.

Of course, Qataris are especially sensitive to this: Saudi Arabia does not allow them to visit because of their perceived pro-Iran tilt. The idea that an Israeli Jew can visit a Muslim holy spot that a Qatari Muslim cannot is (understandably) outrageous to them.

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