Israel: Proposal to quiet call to prayer draws Muslims' ire

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The bill, which received initial support from a committee of Israeli ministers this week, proposes to limit the volume of public address systems of all houses of prayer in Israel.

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Bismarck Tribune
By Daniel Estrin (AP) | November 16, 2016

JERUSALEM — A proposal to make mosques reduce the loudspeaker volume of their call to prayer has sparked an uproar among Israel's Muslims, underscoring their fraught relationship with the country's Jewish majority.

Supporters of the bill, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have painted it as a matter of quality of life. But it has deepened a sense among the Arab minority that it is being increasingly marginalized by his hard-line government.

"The call to prayer came before the racists. The call to prayer will remain after the racists," said Ayman Odeh, head of a joint list of Arab parties in parliament.

The bill, which received initial support from a committee of Israeli ministers this week, proposes to limit the volume of public address systems of all houses of prayer in Israel.

But the bill's sponsor, a lawmaker from a nationalist Jewish religious party, made clear the target is mosque loudspeakers, and it has been dubbed the "muezzin bill," referring to the man who delivers the call to prayer.
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Loud calls to prayer are ubiquitous across the Middle East.

Pakistan bans its Ahmadiyya community, who are reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics, from broadcasting the call to prayer. It also prevents religious leaders from blaring their sermons, fearing incitement.

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