Images posted by an Israeli man inside Medina Prophet's Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, has invited the anger of Arab people. The images were posted on Facebook by Ben Tzion, an Israeli citizen, during his trip to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan. The move of Ben Tzion has not gone well with Islamic believers in Arabian countries, and they lashed out against Tzion on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
In one of his Facebook post, Ben Tzion said that people in Saudi Arabia would stand with Israel side by side. In another post, Tzion lauded the love and affection of people in the middle east countries and added that they are the messengers of peace.
Tzion lauded the love and affection of middle-east people
According to Ben Tzion, he visited Islamic religious places as a part of his respect towards other faiths and beliefs. "No-one in the Arab world ever approached me with hostility. They tell me they love Israel and the Jewish people," Tzion told the Times of Israel.
On the other hand, Islamic believers in Arab countries claim that non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Mecca and other sacred parts of Medina. But Tzion denied these claims and made it clear that Medina is open to the public.
According to some extreme Islamic believers, Zionists are the real enemies of Islam, and it is practically impossible to accept a Jewish person entering the most sacred place in Islam. In the meantime, an Arabic hashtag which means 'A Zionist at the Prophet's mosque' has gone viral, and it has fetched more than 90,000 tweets within 24 hours.
Interestingly, Ben Tzion has also posted some images captured from the Iranian cities of Tehran and Qom. As Israel and Iran are arch rivals, citizens of the Jewish state are not allowed to visit Iran. It is still unclear how Tzion traveled to Iran with an Israeli passport.
Will Tzion's visit destabilize the relation between Saudi Arabia and Israel?
The new controversy has been triggered at a time when relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel are growing positively in the past couple of years due to their opposition towards Tehran's growing influence in the region.
Recently, a top Israeli army chief has said that the country is ready to share confidential military intelligence information with Saudi Arabia. We should wait and see to know whether Tzion's visit will create any negative impacts on the relationship between Saudi and Israel.
