For Palestinians, Hajj a Matter of Politics

The Hajj is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. For Muslims, the journey to Mecca is the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that every fit and financially able believer must perform at least once in his or her lifetime. In 2008, the holy pilgrimage takes place from December 6-10.

As the Hajj draws to a close today, many observers are relieved that the season has been remarkably uneventful. Over the past decades, the pilgrimage has often been marred by crowd stampedes, and in recent years has been seen as a prime target for terrorist attacks. This season some 2 million Muslims made the journey to the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Each year, record numbers embark on this spectacular pilgrimage, as Muslims come from across the globe to perform a series of religious rituals. Saudi authorities, who have become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to control massive crowds, give a quota to each foreign government that must then select which pilgrims are able to travel to Mecca. For most countries, the process is fairly simple. For Palestinians, however, the ability to participate in the Hajj is wrapped up in a political standoff.

The ongoing power struggle between the left-leaning Fatah Party (which controls the West Bank) and the more hard-line Hamas (which controls the Gaza Strip) has all but paralyzed the Palestinian Authority (PA). This year, the Saudi government only granted visas to pilgrims from the West Bank, a move that underscored the current political tensions. Officials in Riyadh claimed that Palestinians needed to apply for pilgrimage visas through the PA, which is controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction. Still, some 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza had applied and received visas.

In response, Hamas leaders said they would prevent anyone from leaving Gaza to embark on the pilgrimage unless Saudi Arabia offered additional visas. According to news outlets, Hamas set up police checkpoints near the Rafah border crossing into Egypt and turned away prospective travellers and journalists. In conflicting statements, officials at the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza blamed the Egyptians for keeping the border closed.

Hamas has controlled the Palestinian enclave ever since it managed to repel forces loyal to Fatah in 2007. Moreover, the party enjoys considerable political support among Palestinians (Hamas surprisingly won a January 2006 election). Indeed, for many Western officials, the vote was an example of the vexing democratic trends in the Middle East. Still, Hamas is viewed with skepticism by regional leaders. Conservative Arab regimes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia look unfavorably on Hamas' violent rejection of the PA, no doubt concerned about their own political stability.

In the immediate aftermath of the Gaza takeover, certain security analysts were concerned that an independent, militant enclave could rekindle the nearby Muslim Brotherhood and establish a stronger anti-Israel coalition with Egypt. For a host of reasons, this seems not to have happened. Egypt rather enjoys its on-again-off-again status as leader of the Arab World, and seems unlikely to challenge Israel (and the redoubtable list of allies) directly.

The real problem with Hamas is that it effectively prevents any lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli officials have no reason to negotiate with the PA, as long as it remains divided. More fundamentally, Hamas' long term strategy (open hostilites with Israel) are incongruent with any lasting agreement. In addition, the physical dislocation of the West Bank and Gaza serves only to exacerbate the strains that prevent any reconciliation.

Western governments have chosen to isolate Gaza, establishing an informal embargo that reinforces the depraved conditions in which many Palestinians live. It's hard to imagine how such a policy decreases the likelihood of terrorism or creates momentum for peace. Given America's strategic failings in the region, the US is no longer "the indispensable nation" when it comes to Middle East diplomacy. Any future negotiations will hopefully include the Saudis, who are proving helpful both in Lebanon and Afghanistan.

The recent events in Gaza are certainly disheartening. In times when divisions within the Islamic world are quite stark, the Hajj represents a brief moment of solidarity. In this part of the world, however, the frustrating bind between religion and politics is all too common.