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Israel moves forward with banning calls to prayer

A proposed Israeli law would ban the use of loudspeakers to amplify calls to prayer in mosques in Jerusalem and within the Green Line.
The dome and minarets of a new mosque are seen in the Israeli-Arab village of Abu Ghosh, near Jerusalem November 22, 2013. In a Holy Land rich with religious sites, the new Abu Ghosh mosque is rare - as is the hilly village from which it rises. Bankrolled largely by Chechnya and named after its former leader Akhmad Kadyrov, who was slain by Islamist militants in 2004, the glimmering shrine tells of this small Israeli Arab community's historical ties to the restive Russian province. Picture taken November 22
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation has approved a draft law to ban the use of speakers for calls to prayer in mosques in Jerusalem and Arab towns within the Green Line. Kol Israel in Arabic reported that the committee will present the law to the Knesset following hours of deliberation. The committee's statement attached to the decree cited as reasoning that the call to prayer is a form of noise pollution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his support for the decree at the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting Nov. 13, before the ministerial committee approved it. He said he will back the law once it reaches the Knesset, and he would urge all his ministers to do the same, according to Haaretz.

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