News DeskĀ
Russian-born Jewish man Ben Tzion 31, sparked outrage on the Internet when his selfie in the sacred mosque of Masjid-e-Nabwi in Medina, Saudi Arabia went viral.
He posted a photo on his Facebook account that angered tons of Arab social media users. Russian born Ben Tzion has been posting photos of himself visiting Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon.
His Facebook post said people of Saudi Arabia would stand with the Jewish nation side by side. He said this in a Facebook post with a photo of him performing the Saudi sword dance in a traditional ankle-length garment known as a “thobe”.
“Peace in the Middle East with respect and love towards each other,” he said in another post.
In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, he said that it was his āhobby’ to visit Muslim countries. He further informed that he respects all the culture and traditions of all the countries he visits.
Read more:Ā āOrthodox Jewish menā removed from Easyjet flight after they refused sitting…
While non-Muslims are not allowed to enter the sacred mosques of Muslims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tzion stressed in his interview that he has traveled legally with all the required paper-work.
However, he did not disclose which passport he traveled with since he is a citizen of both Russia and Israel.
“No-one in the Arab world ever approached me with hostility,” he said. “They tell me they love Israel and the Jewish people.”
However, he received massive backlash on Twitter that prompted a hashtag āA Zionist in the Prophet’s Mosque’. This also led to his Instagram account being blocked.
Read more:Ā Balfour Declaration, Russian Revolution and the Arab Oil
Also, people from Qatar have expressed their agitation over how Muslims from Qatar are not allowed to enter the Holy Mosque, due to the strained political relations, but a non-Muslim from Israel is still allowed.Ā
Itās not about normalization of ties between Israel & Saudi, it is more about NOT allowing Muslim Qataris to enter Macca since #Qatarblockade , while Israelis can!!?
Qataris and others are tweeting angrily about an Israeli blogger who posted pictures from Medina, saying it’s proof of normalisation between Israel and Saudi. They’re using hashtag #ŲµŁŁŁŁŁ_ŲØŲ§ŁŲŲ±Ł _Ų§ŁŁŲØŁŁ – “Zionist in the Prophet’s Mosque” pic.twitter.com/THpgJztHse
ā Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 20, 2017
Itās not about normalization of ties between Israel & Saudi, it is more about NOT allowing Muslim Qataris to enter Macca since #Qatarblockade , while Israelis can!!?
Unacceptable control of rekeigous Madina & Macca#ŲµŁŁŁŁŁ_ŲØŲ§ŁŲŲ±Ł _Ų§ŁŁŲØŁŁ https://t.co/UljR0mlXTiā ŲÆ. ŁŁŲÆ Ų§ŁŁ ŁŲŖŲ§Ų #ŲŖŁ ŁŁ (@halmuftah) November 21, 2017