Israeli Lawmakers Advance Bill to Curb Loudspeakers in Muslim Call to Prayer
Posted on March 11th, 2017

By

A bill that would regulate the traditional use of loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer passed its first legislative hurdle in Israel’s Parliament on Wednesday, provoking frustration and anger among some Arab lawmakers.

One version of the bill would prohibit places of worship from using loudspeakers between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., while another would ban any broadcast over such speakers regardless of the time of day if it is deemed unreasonably loud,” the BBC reported. The first daily prayer is traditionally performed before sunrise.

Both versions passed with slim majorities, but a final draft requires further approval from Parliament before becoming law.

Opponents describe the legislation as an attack on religious freedom that targets the five daily calls to prayer. Supporters describe it as something closer to a noise ordinance.

Israel is committed to freedom for all religions, but is also responsible for protecting citizens from noise,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in November, when his ministers approved an earlier version of the proposal and sent it to the Parliament.

Zouheir Bahloul, a member of Parliament belonging to the center-left Zionist Union, disagreed, calling the bill dangerous” in a translated interview with i24, an Israeli television station.

We’re talking about small politicians who are trying to persecute the Arab minority in the country,” he said. It’s a stain on the forehead of Israeli society and the state of Israel. In the book of laws, this law is the blackest.”

Some Arab lawmakers ripped up copies of the legislation during a debate. One, Ayman Odeh, the leader of an alliance of Arab parties known as the Joint List, was thrown out of the chamber after doing so, according to the BBC.

When the ban was proposed in November, it was denounced by Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.

The call to prayer is a symbol of Islam,” Adel Elfar, the imam of a mosque in Lod, a city of Arabs and Jews in Israel, said at the time. This is something that’s existed for 1,426 years.”

6 Responses to “Israeli Lawmakers Advance Bill to Curb Loudspeakers in Muslim Call to Prayer”

  1. Lorenzo Says:

    SL must copy this.

    SL has a lot to learn from ISRAEL. One is HOW TO TAME ISLAMANIACS. Israel with EXTREMIST NEIGHBORS has successfully tamed all of them and resident Muslims (about 25% of Israel’s population!).

    Israel helped SL win the war.

  2. Ananda-USA Says:

    Great idea! Sri Lanka must do this also!

  3. ranjit Says:

    Fantastic. We too must follow Israel and do the same. Canada and England refused Muslims demand to stop serving pork in schools. We should take lessons from them and stop giving everything they ask. Don’t be greedy for their votes and do silly things to please those Ungreatful creatures.

  4. ranjit Says:

    Fantastic. We too must follow Israel and do the same. Canada and England refused Muslims demand to stop serving pork in schools. We should take lessons from them and stop giving everything they ask. Don’t be greedy for their votes and do silly things to please those Ungrereatful creatures.

  5. samurai Says:

    In the time of Prophet Mohammed there were no loudspeakers to disturb non – Muslim residents when the call for Azan was made.

    The use of microphones is NOT an integral part of Azan.

    It came about only 30 years ago and has become a public nuisance.

    It is NOT rooted in Islamic religious practice from the time of its inception.

    The Mosque and loudspeakers have now become symbols of power which Muslims have begun to abuse in almost every part of the world leading to conflict between Muslims and Non – Muslims.

    The right to use a loudspeaker is NOT a fundamental right in itself, Kerala HC in India has held. Sound pollution is an accepted danger, and indiscriminate use of loud speakers cannot be permitted. Every freedom has its frontiers. It is liable to be clipped, on grounds of public order, morality and decency. Disaffection, sedition, riots, etc. will be valid grounds for restraint. There is no fundamental right to use loudspeakers.

    Under Art.21 of the Indian Constitution, the citizens have a right to a decent environment, right to silence and they have a right to live peacefully, right to sleep at night and to have a right to leisure which are all necessary ingredients of the right to life guaranteed under Art. 21 of the Constitution. Principle of judicial activisms confers power upon the court to be active and not remain inactive for the purpose of protecting rights, duties and obligations of the people. The above observation was made by the full bench of the Calcutta High Court.

    Further the unrestricted use of loudspeakers in the call to prayer from Mosques makes Captive listeners of people of other religious faiths and violates the fundamental rights of the general public, such as the right to silence and the right to quiet enjoyment of property.

    See the decision of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka restricting noise pollution emanating from places of worship.
    Israeli Lawmakers should read this Judgment of Sarath Silva, former CJ, delivered in November 2007. http://www.island.lk/2007/11/1 0/news9.html

  6. Ancient Sinhalaya Says:

    This call to prayer is another cunning ploy of mussies. Be annoyance to non believers and they will leave the area.
    It is like putting up eye sore mosques in every corner saying they have to pray five times a day. Putting the bum
    up five times and disturb the airwaves? When they preach to kill non-believers, when they believe lying to non
    believers isn’t a sin etc. It is a religion of convenience of course. Anything not advantageous to you not good for them. Religion of violence came long after Buddhism. Indian traders used to go to middle east and was a big trading partner. Then two new religions born. That’s how you find a lot things in Buddhism in the two religions. Buddhism is the only religion which tallies with science.

    Take Darwin’s theory for an example. Humans evolved from very very primitive life forms. That’s what Buddhism
    says. After life has been proven and most people accept it now. Which other religion can explain these things? A lot of people don’t accept/appreciate Buddhism since it doesn’t use aggressive methods to promote/propagate. Some people think it isn’t glamourous enough. While people are advancing in science, they start to realise Lord Buddha saw these things nearly 3,000 years ago. That’s the reason more and more prominent people in western societies starts to appreciate Buddhism. That’s a religion preaches non-violence. Not a religion of violence. Not the fastest breeding religion. A solution to modern day problems. A way out!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

 

 


Copyright © 2024 LankaWeb.com. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Wordpress