Occupying Regime Bans Islamic Call to Prayer, Draws Condemnation

Date: 02 December 2024 - 23:12

News ID: ۱۳۴۲۴۷

WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime’s far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has directed police to ban mosques from playing the adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, claiming it “disturbs” Jewish residents.
He has instructed authorities to confiscate loudspeakers and fine mosques for playing the call, which lasts about two minutes.
Ben-Gvir defended the move as necessary to combat “unreasonable noise” and lawlessness.
“In our debates, it arose that most western countries, and even some Arab countries, limit the noise and have many laws on the matter. It’s only neglected in Israel,” Ben Gvir’s office said in a statement.
Palestinians, however, view the ban as a provocative attack on their community and religious rights.
Ahmad Tibi, an MP and leader of the Taal party, condemned the decision.
“Ben Gvir wants to set the area on fire on religious grounds,” he told parliament. “In the past, there were attempts to pass a law against calls to prayer in mixed cities. Our position on this issue, in the Arab sector, is to oppose police entry. The adhan will continue because Islam will continue.”
Tibi then accused Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being behind Ben Gvir’s actions, saying: “He is the head, and he is responsible for this thing and the difficult consequences that could occur if this thing comes true”.
Human rights advocates and Palestinian mayors have denounced the ban as another discriminatory move by the Zionist regime.
Khaled Zabarqa, a human rights lawyer and activist, told Middle East Eye that Ben Gvir’s move goes beyond mere provocation.
“Describing it as an act of provocation diminishes the gravity of the issue,” he said. “It makes it seem like the issue is only about Ben Gvir, as if removing Ben Gvir would resolve the entire problem.”
To Zabarqa, this related to the occupying regime’s “concept of the Jewishness of the regime” and its implications.
“One of these implications is control over public space,” he said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also condemned the regime’s ban on the Islamic call to prayer, describing it as its latest act of war against Islam.
“Attacks on mosques, churches, cultural sites, and religious texts are all part of the decades-long Israeli campaign to erase Palestinian culture,” said Nihad Awad, the national executive director of CAIR.
He added that waging war on Islam and Christianity has always been a major component of Israel’s genocide targeting the Palestinian people.
Awad emphasized that U.S. President Joe Biden’s support for the Zionist regime is the reason behind the suppression of religious liberties.
He called on Muslim-majority nations to take concrete actions to end the Israeli regime’s genocide.