date:Jul 02, 2018
Every year, come rain or shine, Hajji Hassem would cram his car full of boxes of Iraqs finest dates and embark on a three-day drive to Makkah in Saudi Arabia. There, he gifted the fruits to other joyful pilgrims undertaking hajj.
His most vivid memories, dating back to the 1980s, elicit a smile as he recounts road-tripping the almost 2,000km to the holy city. It was a time when the journey was deemed safe and Iraqs world-renowned dates industry was thriving.
The Saudis always used to ask us t