Will the Knesset silence call to prayer?
Israeli legislators are advancing a bill to ban calls to prayer at mosques via loudspeakers.
On Nov. 13, the Knesset's Ministerial Committee on Legislation will debate a proposed bill banning muezzins from using public address (PA) systems, that is, loudspeakers, to call the faithful to prayers. The legislation was proposed by Knesset member Moti Yogev of HaBayit HaYehudi and co-sponsored by Merav Ben-Ari of Kulanu and Miki Zohar and Nurit Koren, both from Likud.
Anastassia Michaeli of Yisrael Beitenu had proposed a similar bill five years ago. At the time, she claimed that the law was not directed at Muslims, but was simply intended to preserve the quality of life of Jews living near mosques and therefore disturbed by muezzins’ early morning calls to prayer.
“We’re talking about a ‘green’ law, not a black one. … This is an environmental issue of the first order,” she said. When it transpired that her proposal would not muster a majority, she withdrew it, but her party did not give up. Another Yisrael Beitenu lawmaker, Robert Ilatov, tried to revive it in 2014, but he, too, failed to push it through.
In November 2015, Yogev and other lawmakers tabled a new version of the proposed bill. Yogev argued that the bill was designed to prevent daily noise pollution, but he also raised another issue. He claimed, “Freedom of religion should not be harmful to quality of life nor used to convey religious or nationalist messages, and sometimes even words of incitement.” To Arab Knesset members, however, the proposal has clear nationalist overtones and is designed to target Muslims.
