Israel prevents call for prayer at Ibrahimi Mosque

By IINA,

Ramallah : Israeli occupation authorities prevented the Adhan (calling for prayers) in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron under the pretext that it disturbs Jewish settlers and make too much noise.

Tayseer Abu Snaineh, the director of the director of the Wakf (endowment) Department in Hebron, said that the Israeli authorities prevented the mosque from sounding the call to prayer in favor of Jewish settlers who visit the Old City of Hebron. Abu Snaineh said that Israeli soldiers at the entrance of the mosque “oblige the Palestinian worshipers to undergo strict security check before entering the mosque for prayers.” He added that the “Israeli soldiers allow the Jewish settlers to enter the mosque freely under lame excuses.” The official said that the “settlers desecrate this holy mosque and often embarrass and ridicule Muslims while praying.”

Abu Snaineh described the Israeli measures as “a major threat to religious activity and an attempt to prevent freedom of religion which is prescribed also in Israel’s Basic Laws.” Al-Ibrahimi Mosque is the second holiest Islamic site in Palestinian territories after Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This 1,000-year old mosque enshrines the tombs of Prophet Ibrahim, his sons and their wives. The mosque was divided into Muslim and Jewish sections by an Israeli government special committee called “Shamgar committee” after the 1994 massacre that took place in the mosque when a Jewish occupier opened fire on Muslim worshippers killing and injuring 26 at Fajr (dawn) prayer.

Hebron was divided to two areas according to Wye River agreement, signed by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 1998. H1 area, under complete Palestinian control, and H2, which is under Israeli security control. The number of Palestinian living in the two areas is around 150,000. The total number of Jewish occupiers living in H2 is about 400 permanent residents.

The old town, the commercial center and the vegetable and meat wholesale markets were all located in H2. It also included several Jewish enclaves. Israeli government policy in H2 has forced thousands of Palestinian residents to abandon more than 1,000 homes and at least 1,829 businesses and turned the area into a ghost town, Israeli human rights organizations B’Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said recently. The issue of the muezzin call to prayer has become a hot topic in Israeli politics in recent years. On December 2011, Israeli Knesset Member Anastasia Michaeli of rightist Yisrael Beiteinu party proposed a bill to ban muezzins inside Israel from using loudspeakers to call to prayers.

Michaeli said at the time that the call for prayer deprives Israelis from sleeping since it “broadcasted very loudly with the help of speakers and amplifiers.” She added that she received complaints from Israelis living in mixed Arab-Jewish cities. Islamic Movement activists have protested against attempts to limit the noise from mosques. The head of the Islamic Movement in Tayybeh suggested, “If they cannot stand to hear the voice of the muezzin, they can get out of here.”