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After deals with UAE and Bahrain, there are signs Saudi Arabia is preparing its people to warm to Israel. When one of Saudi Arabia's leading Muslim leaders called this month for Muslims to avoid "passionate emotions and fiery enthusiasm" towards Jews, it was a marked change in tone for someone who has shed tears preaching about Palestine in the past. The sermon by Abdulrahman al-Sudais, imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, broadcast on Saudi state television on September 5, came three weeks after the United Arab Emirates agreed upon a historic deal to normalise relations with Israel and days...

Mecca's grand mosque in Saudi Arabia was hit with a plague of biblical proportions this week when a huge swarm of locusts descended upon the Islamic holy site. A number of videos were uploaded online showing locusts creeping around the Islamic pilgrimage hub, crawling their way across the stone slabs, providing a small snapshot of what Pharaoh saw during the Passover thousands of years ago.

On the anniversary of the horrific 9/11 terror attacks against the World Trade Center and other targets, some are calling a deadly accident at the Grand Mosque in Mecca nothing less than divine payback. A crane crashed into the building on Friday, leaving 65 dead and injuring another 154, according to initial estimates. The crane reportedly came down due to “strong winds” in the area. Heavy rains and even a lightning strike were also reported. The mosque was even more crowded than usual because of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca by millions of Muslims this time of year, known as...

At least 62 people were killed when a crane crashed in Mecca's Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority said on its Twitter account. It said nearly 30 people were injured as well. The Muslim annual Haj pilgrimage is due later this month. Al Jazeera's Hasan Patel, reporting from Mecca, said witnesses told him that a crane fell on the third floor of the Grand Mosque around 5.45pm.

At least 87 people have been killed after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca in Saudi Arabia, according to local authorities.

At least 65 people were killed and scores were wounded Friday when a crane collapsed in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia's civil defense authority said. The accident happened as pilgrims from around the world converged on the city, Islam's holiest site, for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which takes place this month. (snip) Another video, on a Twitter posting, captured the apparent moment of the crane's collapse during a heavy rainstorm, with a loud boom, screams and confusion.

It said nearly 30 people were injured as well. The Muslim annual Haj pilgrimage is due later this month.

Exclusive: Pamela Geller teaches reporters realities of effort to establish 'victory' facility “It’s all pray and no play,” said the New York Post on Sunday. “The Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero that opened with great fanfare a year ago is now an empty space with no community programs. And while the developers behind Park51 insisted for two years that the project was more than a mosque, it now appears to be just that. Dozens of worshipers gather at the site on Park Place Friday for prayer services – but that’s the only activity in the building.” The New York...

For centuries, an astronomy observatory in Greenwich, London -- the namesake of Greenwich Mean Time -- has been the reference point for lines of longitude, ships' navigation on the world's seas and the time zones used today. But Saudi Arabia wants to change that. It's building what it calls the largest clock in the world, atop the second-largest skyscraper in the world, in the Islamic holy city of Mecca -- in hopes of replacing GMT with "Mecca Time." The clock dwarfs London's Big Ben, with four huge faces each about 130 feet in diameter and inscribed with the Arabic words...

Are you in favour of the £100m mosque? http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18791-details/ques-18669-id/%C2%A3100m+mosque%3A+Vote+now/poll.do

Saudi Wealth Fuels Global Jihadism Posted Oct. 27, 2003 By Kenneth R. Timmerman Generations of Muslims in the Middle East have been raised on the anti-Western, anti-Semitic theologies of Ayatollah Khomeini and in the Saudi Wahhabi system of madrassas (religious schools). This foundation set the stage for the rise of Osama bin Laden. Doaa 'Amer is a professional TV anchor who hosts Muslim Woman Magazine on IQRAA TV, a satellite channel broadcasting throughout the Arab world. As she tells it, her job is to educate the next generation of children to be "true Muslims." Readers accustomed to hearing Islam described...

Florida's Jihad ConferenceBy Joe KaufmanFrontPageMagazine.com | December 17, 2003 During the holiday season this year, an Islam for Humanity conference will be held near Disney World on the campus of the Universal Heritage Foundation, a 31-acre Islamic propagation center located in Kissimmee, Florida. The three day conference will commence on December 19, 2003, which “coincidentally” marks the beginning of Hanukkah. The timing is not to be confused with the objective -- highlighting peace and brotherhood will not be the conference's priorities in marking the holiday season. Originally listed as “Specially Invited Guests” were ex-Presidential candidate and Green Party leader, Ralph Nader, and Shaikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, the chief...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Feb 7 (AFP) - The imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque, the holiest shrine in Islam, prayed for Muslims to be victorious against their foes, in a final Friday sermon before two million faithful take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage. "Strong belivers are not scared of death regardless of how loud the enemies beat the drums" of war, Sheikh Saud al-Shraim told the pilgrims as he prayed for God to help Muslims achieve victory. "Believers are aware that life has a limit and that the Almighty controls our destiny ... They should expect either victory or...