Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca’s Great Mosque.
After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.
“The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims,” Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. “The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals,” he said. [Note: if you are a non-Muslim entering Mecca you’re a criminal…]
Similar restrictions apply to the Saudi city of Medina. In a section entitled, “Traveler’s Information,” the Web site of the Saudi Embassy in Washington states that, “Mecca and Medina hold special religious significance and only persons of the Islamic faith are allowed entry.”
Highway signs at the entrance to Mecca also direct non-Muslims away from the city’s environs.
Saudis arrest Christian for entering Mecca | Jerusalem Post. h/t El Rejunte.il.
Hmm, yes, I know of those signs. There are several Spanish in Saudi Arabia writing blogs. They are very informative about a country that releases so little information. For example, Destructor, from The fucking croqueta -croqueta is a very well-known meal in Spain, although I do not know how to translate it; if someone knows he/she can leave it in comments– has a post about this sign:
A very clear image… So, he says:
Do you imagine this in Europe? We would have to bear thousands of absurd complainings from the friends of the Muslim Humanity. I support the idea of beginning a platform not to let Muslims enter in Saint Places like Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Liébana, Valladolid, etc.
I would only announce it, saying that this is a reciprocity matter.
Crispal, from In Partibus Infidelium, writes about Saudi Arabian violations of Human Rights:
A detailed report by the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) on the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia has cited violations of the rights of women, prisoners and workers as well as injustice in law courts, discrimination against non-Saudis and forced confessions from those detained by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The report also noted that domestic violence had reached an alarming level.
The 67-page report by the nongovernment body was released two days ago and is the first to be published by a human rights body in Saudi Arabia. It is the result of extensive studies carried out in the Kingdom since the NSHR’s establishment on March 9, 2004.
According to the organization, over the past three years, it has received over 8,570 complaints from citizens and residents.
An NSHR spokesperson said that its report was based on findings related to complaints it had received, reports in the media and reports submitted by foreign human rights organizations. The violations listed in the report were against both local and international treaties which the Kingdom has signed.
Go on reading. It’s ahem, a shame.
And lastly, but not least -there are others, that I would link other day– there is Stuck in Riyahd. He posts about how Spanish -whatever some Catalanists say 
– soccer team Barça is very famous over there. They have posters of it, but with the crucifix conveniently removed, as Equisese says “for preventing the loyals to Islam from being contaminated”:
croquette
Great post. Can you imagine if Muslims were arrested entering a church? The media would have had a field day!!!
Thanks, Klovs
. I thought “croquette was French.
Serendip: Thanks.
I can imagine. 17 homosexuals detained for been in a party. Here the Church is considered as homophobe because it’s opposed to the marriage of homosexuals.
Just the same with this….
Question: could I enter, without official invitation and clearance, into the White House or the Knesset?
We have to admit that ANY country has the right to set
its’ rules and foreigners have the obligation to comply
with.
It is not the same to visit the White House -the residence of the US President- or the Knesset -the IsraelI parliament, whose consideration are only and strictly made on security matters.
But you cannot close an entire city on a religious basis and then protest if in Europe, on security or cultural basis, women are not allowed to wear veil. You have to be coherent.
lastly, you cannot consider that someone just because of being of other religion -if you are a Muslim you can enter, therefore is a religious discrimination- is a criminal. Just wonder what would happen if in Europe you wouldn’t be allowed on religious basis to do something viewed as normal -such as working for the State or entering the Army-.
“We have to admit that ANY country has the right to set
its’ rules and foreigners have the obligation to comply
with.”
Why do not you tell that to Islamist thugs in Europe? Wanting ever to have priviledges -obliging public swimming-pools to have special hours for Muslim women not to be seen by men, special finance products, killing animals in barbaric and forbidden way to the rest, etc- and wanting the rest of us to comply with their culture.
[...] happens as in Saudi Arabia a Christian is arrested because of being a Christian and entering Mecca and the latter has road signs to direct non-Muslims to other places. And while Muslims are [...]
Just finished a good book on Saudi by an American Paramedic who worked for King Abdullah. It is called “Paramedic to the Prince” It has alot of inside information on Saudi Arabia. I enjoyed it very much. A really good read. If you live in Saudi or are going there, this book is a must read.