Prayer, henna, charity: Eid festivities mark final Hajj rites

Here's a round-up of Al Jazeera's Middle East coverage this week.

29 June 2023 This Week in the Middle East ­ This week, thousands of people across the Middle East celebrated Eid as the Hajj pilgrimage soon comes to a close. There is mounting concern about Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians. And Tunisia's economic and political crises are only getting worse. Here's the Middle East this week:   Eid during a record-breaking Hajj? Freshly pressed clothes in all styles and hues, the careful precision of women painting henna designs on hands, streets teeming with people distributing meat and those receiving it, the aroma of specialty foods being prepared, and rows of the faithful bowing in congregational prayer. These were some universal sights as Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha. But each country has its own traditions, and in the Middle East they range from trademark sweets prepared from Yemen to Syria, to clothes worn, such as jalabia in Bahrain, to thobes and turbans in Libya. And here's how you can impress everyone by saying the Eid greeting in multiple languages.   Watch: Inflation dampens Eid al-Adha celebrations for Gaza residents   Yet in regions besieged by war, like Sudan, Eid was unlike any other. The fighting has raged for more than 70 days, while people reported violations of the 24-hour Eid ceasefire that many said was meaningless. The peacetime mood typical of Eid was instead replaced by sadness from people having lost family members or being displaced due to the conflict.   Watch: Sudanese pilgrims pray for peace back home Eid celebrations came on the heels of the final rites of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage. This year's event is being touted as record breaking, and is expected to surpass 2.5 million attendees, according to a Saudi official. So far, more than 1.8 million pilgrims from all over the world have gathered in and around Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with hajj returning to its maximum capacity for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.   Watch: Man walks from Pakistan to Mecca to perform Hajj 'Arm us or protect us' against Israeli settler violence "Either arm us or protect us," an elderly man told Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh in the village of Turmus Aya in the occupied West Bank hours after hundreds of Israeli settlers carried out an attack there last week. Settler attacks against Palestinians in their villages have been of growing concern to various actors, not least of all the Palestinians themselves, who are calling on the Palestinian Authority to protect them.    UN: Settler attacks & expansion plans spark criticism Israeli and Palestinian officials met this week to discuss the violence, amid expressions of concern by the United States and calls by the United Nations Security Council to deescalate tensions. And in a rare acknowledgement, Israeli security chiefs deemed the string of settler attacks as "nationalist terrorism", while promising to step up countermeasures. That upset certain members of Israel's far-right cabinet, who called the countermeasures "collective punishment" against Jewish settlers.   Tunisia's stagnation, a revolution 'incomplete' In Tunisia and across much of North Africa, entire populations remain under the thumb of giant bureaucracies that were bequeathed by their former colonial rulers. The cost of this bureaucracy risks pushing the country towards bankruptcy. Watch: Thousands protest against President Kais Saied in Tunisia Its crippling economy isn't helped by its leader's continued crackdown against the opposition. President Kais Saied was elected on the hope of many that he would speak for the desperately unemployed. But his authoritarian shift since 2021 has experts agreeing people experienced an "incomplete revolution", despite staging the first protest of what would become the Arab Spring. Just this week, Tunisia's public prosecutor appealed a judge's decision to release Chaima Issa, a well-known opponent of Saied.    Watch: What's behind the EU's financial aid offer to Tunisia? The crackdown is why families of jailed Tunisian opposition politicians are dismissing an aid package offered to Tunis by the European Union, saying it will only prop up his regime.   A little something different, people being amazing While the planet burns, countries in the global south like Morocco are stepping up. The North African nation is leading a solar revolution that could serve not just the region's energy needs but also that of Europe's at a time when Russia's war in Ukraine has disrupted oil and gas supplies.   And while Hajj may be a religious experience, it's also a site of impressive public health measures, according to Abdirahman Mahamud, a Director of the World Health Organization's Alert and Response Coordination Department. Briefly  Anger as violent crime soars in Israel's Palestinian communities. Stuck in limbo: Despair and frustration at the Sudan-Egypt border. Qatar emir talks to Putin after Wagner mutiny in Russia. At least nine killed in Russian air strikes in Syria's Idlib. Egypt and India bolster ties as Modi makes first trip to Cairo.   Quote of the Week  "Your country is writing history, open the whitest of pages and write to Sudan. A nation like no other, it holds different people, it has goodness and good men, with chivalry and dignity. If you ask about their pain and healing their wounds in peace and dignity, this is the answer. It is Sudan we love and always will." | Maad Shaykhun, reciting his poem about the frustration and despair of fleeing Sudan due to the conflict. ­ Follow Al Jazeera English on: ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ This email was sent to sami.bouguila.sami@blogger.com You've received it because you've subscribed to our newsletter. | View in browser | Contact Us | Unsubscribe © 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network Al Jazeera English, PO Box 23127 Doha - Qatar