(Wall Street Journal/Weekly Standard) Jonathan V. Last - The Mecca Hilton, a five-star hotel, "is exclusively sited within the Holy City which, by Saudi national and religious law, is only accessible to visitors of the Muslim Religion." This law is something of a singularity among major religions, because it isn't merely the Grand Mosque that is off-limits to nonbelievers, the way, for instance, a Mormon Temple is. It's a city - a major city with hotels, supermarkets, schools, and a population of 1.2 million people. (The city of Medina, population 700,000, also forbids non-Muslims.)
2003-09-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive