ABU DHABI // For 11 months a year, the only landmark at the Saudi Arabian border town of Ghweifat is a sign in an empty patch of sand that reads: "Relaxation for Gents Hajjis".
But for the other month, billowing government tents that can hold 400 people rise behind it.
There, travellers are provided with medical treatment, immigration help, food and drink before they leave the UAE on the final leg of their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The crooked board is a sign of the times for Ghweifat. With the advent of direct flights and luxury tours, the annual Haj traffic has slowed since 2009.
"This year there's no work for Haj," said Salah Salem, 38, a Yemeni waiter at The Star of Adhen Mandi Restaurant. "Ten years ago there were a lot, a lot of people. The markets were full. Everybody goes by plane now."
Mr Salem's business from Hajjis has dropped by two thirds.
Ghweifat, however, remains the gateway for pilgrims who seek an affordable alternative to Haj tours that can cost up to Dh25,000. Between October 10 and 21, a day before the tents closed for Eid, 16,259 people and 588 vehicles passed through. The tents will reopen on Sunday for the journey home.
Last year, 3.5 million passengers crossed the border, including 20,100 pilgrims.
Ghweifat is 350 kilometres east of Abu Dhabi and 1,250km west of Mecca. The town is a collection of mechanic shops, spotless restaurants without cutlery, and a mosque with intricate lattice work.
"Life in Ghweifat?" asked Dr Emad Hamdy, a government doctor who works at the Haj tents. "Most probably you will not find anyone who is living here."
Dr Hamdy's most difficult task is convincing pilgrims to acknowledge when their health is in danger. "People are very passionate to go to Haj, so even the people who are very sick, they are denying they are sick," he said.
Sometimes, he has the difficult job of turning back the elderly who are too ill to travel.
"It's the same as you're telling them they will die today," said Dr Hamdy. "You have a lot of people saving many years to go to Haj and they have only one gate to go, and you tell them they have to go back. It is not easy, really."
When the bus schedules coincide with prayer times, the mosque fills with hundreds of worshippers.
Umm Rashed, a teacher from Ajman, arrived with 12 family members in a convoy of four vehicles for asr prayer. "But when we go to pray, we are together," she said.
The trip to Mecca takes two days. The family saves time by performing two prayers at once.
"I don't sleep. My thoughts are in Mecca," said Aisha Hassani, Umm Rashed's aunt. "Every place brings us closer to Mecca."
Umm Rashed's family has come from across the UAE but many others at the border are Omani. Shops fear they will lose most of their Haj business when the motorway from Oman to Saudi Arabia opens.
On Google Maps, the Oman section of the road from the Saudi border to Ibri is shown as almost complete, but there is a large gap across the Empty Quarter before the next completed section connects to the Riyadh and Qatar motorways.
For this year, businesses in Ghweifat hope for financial redemption when the pilgrims begin their return on Tuesday.
And even when the motorway does open, the town's economic health does not solely depend on the annual pilgrimage.
"The borders are not only for Haj," said the Customs officer Khamis Mohammed, who has worked at the crossing for about 20 years. "Thousands of Saudi Arabian people come on weekends."
Mr Salem, the waiter, does not want to wait for business to decrease. He hopes to leave. For all his years here, he is in transit. "We don't know what will happen," he said. "But in five years maybe Yemen will be good and I can return."
azacharias@thenational.ae
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mobile phone packages comparison
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
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LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press
Specs
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Brief scores:
England: 290 & 346
Sri Lanka: 336 & 243
