Yasser Arafat's widow, Suha, joined more than 2 million Muslims who performed the pilgrimage (haj) to Mecca this year. She was easy to spot. She was the only one being driven around The Rock in a limo.
It was the first time that Suha, a Christian who converted to Islam to marry the late Palestinian leader, had made the journey to Mecca. She was accompanied by her daughter, Zahwa.
It was her first public appearance since she attended her husband's funeral in Cairo. Suha enraged many Palestinians when, last November, she accused top Palestinian Authority officials of seeking to replace her husband and bury him while he was still alive in a military hospital near Paris.
Ah, but that's all water under the bridge now that she got her money. Unfortunately for her, soon she'll probably be face down in the water under the bridge now that she got her money.
Suha, who is living in Tunisia, was invited to perform the haj by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and his wife, al-Johara Ibrahim.
In an interview with the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Suha said she felt the need to travel to Mecca this year in honor of her husband's memory. She noted that Arafat had performed the haj several times in his lifetime and said she also wanted to educate her daughter about Islam.
...and maybe hit the king up for a couple of mill or some of the secret accounts she missed.
"After performing all the rituals of the haj, I feel closer to God," Suha explained. "I also feel internal peace."
...and I'm very rich. How are things in Ramallah, by the way? Wave to the peasants, Zawha.
Her daughter, who was also interviewed by the paper, said she enjoyed the experience. "I didn't feel tired at all and I prayed for the soul of my father," she said. "I want to return to this holy site every year."
Can I have some money please?
In a related development, relatives of Arafat in the Gaza Strip are demanding that Suha and her daughter move back to the Palestinian areas.
You got a better chance of Yasshole waking up and moving back from Hell.
Jarir al-Kidwa, one of Arafat's prominent cousins in Gaza City, said the family wants the two to return home because "life in Paris contravenes with Islamic morals and traditions."
Yeah, it's too...what's the word... civilized?
Suha and Zahwa, who turns 10 next July, had been living in Paris before they moved to Tunis a year ago. The two were invited by the wife of the Tunisian president to stay in the country, where Zahwa attends a private school. "We don't want Zahwa to live in Paris and be affected by the climate there," Kidwa added, claiming that Arafat's daughter was a descendant of one of the nephews of the Prophet Mohammed.
Suuuuuuuure she was. But the desciples will eat it up, right?
Kidwa, 80, said the family set up a 10-member committee to seek custody over Arafat's daughter so that she could be raised in an Islamic and Arabic environment. He said the team had contacted a number of lawyers in France to file a lawsuit against Suha, asking that she hand her daughter over to them.
Suha would never go for that. Unless, of course, the price was right...