Syrians banned from their rite of Islamic passage: Saudi bars Shamis from Hajj

Syrian state media is reporting that Saudi Arabia will not allow Syrians to make the hajj this year, because the routine approval was not forthcoming:

The tensions over the conflict in Syria are presumably to blame, but the move is highly unusual.

“The Syrian government promised that everything would be O.K., that they will finish the ‘criminal gangs’ before the beginning of the educational year,” said a teacher at a school in a Damascus refugee camp, using a term the government uses to describe its opponents.

“What happened is the opposite,” she said. The fighting grew worse and rolled through the neighborhood and surrounding areas, sending more and more families to shelter in the schools.

‘For any offence against Islam,’ he said, ‘the Muslim has the right to defend himself against the one who says it, and shouting “our lives and our blood” displays his love of his religion.

‘It does not mean to kill an embassy employee, but if the filmmaker comes to Egypt, he will be torn limb from limb. This is permitted in Islam.’

How do we get back on track to building bridges? Can we? Everyone will have to dig down deep to recapture tolerance.

We can’t allow those without any common sense or those who want to be destructive take the rest of us down.