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Israeli authorities ban Muslim call for dawn prayer from 3 mosques in
Jerusalem town
Nov. 4, 2016 6:38 P.M. (Updated: Nov. 5, 2016 5:52 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=773839
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities reportedly banned the Muslim call
to dawn prayer from being projected over loudspeakers in three different
mosques in the Jerusalem district town of Abu Dis on Friday, according to
local sources.
Lawyer Bassam Bahr, head of a local committee in Abu Dis, told Ma’an that
Israeli forces raided the town just before the dawn prayer on Friday.
According to Bahr, Israeli forces raided the al-Rahman, al-Taybeh and
al-Jamia mosques in the town, and informed the ‘muezzins’, the men
responsible for the call to prayer — also known as the adhan, which is
broadcast five times a day from mosques — that the call for dawn prayer
through the loudspeakers was banned.
Bahr added that the forces did not provide any reason for the ban, and also
prevented locals living in the eastern part of the town from reaching the
Salah al-Din mosque for dawn prayers.
Bahr condemned the “unjustified ban,” saying that “Israel attacks
Palestinians in all aspects of their lives,” in the form of limiting free
movement through the use of checkpoints, and through the disruption of daily
life in the form of nightly detention raids.
The events in Abu Dis came a day after a number of Israeli settlers from
illegal settlement of Pisgat Zeev protested in front of the house of Israeli
Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barakat over the ‘noise pollution’ caused by the
Muslim call to prayer.
A spokesperson for the Jerusalem municipality told Ma’an that Barkat, “in
collaboration with the Jerusalem District police chief and local Muslim
leadership, has developed a plan to protect the religious freedom of Muslim
muezzin to announce the call to prayer, while ensuring reasonable quiet in
Jerusalem’s residential areas.”
The spokesperson went on to add that the municipality guidelines would
include “increased instructions for muezzin operators regarding technical
guidelines for optimal playback and sound amplification, increased mapping
of city mosques, and continuous dialogue with local Muslim leadership.”
….