Al-Aqsa preacher warns against Israeli bill to legalize banning Muslim call to prayer

The preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem warned Monday of the dangers of an Israeli bill that would legalize banning the Muslim call to prayer.

"The issue of the call to prayer has been raised again after repeated failed attempts to ban it or reduce its volume," Sheikh Ekrima Sabri said in a statement.

He said the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in the Israeli Knesset recently submitted a bill aimed at restricting the Muslim call to prayer in East Jerusalem and in Arab towns inside Israel.

On Sunday, the committee approved a bill concerning the call to prayer submitted by the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The bill stipulates that no sound system may be installed or operated in any mosque without a permit and that permits would be granted based on the intensity of the "noise" and the mosque's proximity to residential areas.

Under the proposal, a police officer would be authorized to demand the immediate cessation of the call to prayer in the event of a violation. Continued violations could result in the confiscation of loudspeakers and the imposition of fines, according to a statement issued by the party.

The bill still requires approval by the Knesset at a date yet to be determined.

"The current attempt to ban the Muslim call to prayer has taken a dangerous turn by legalizing the banning of the call to prayer through issuing a law to prohibit it," Sabri warned.

"The occupying power has no right to alter the existing status quo of the occupied territory," he said. "They have no right to enact laws that contradict the laws that were in effect in the country before its occupation."

The preacher stressed that the Israeli authorities "have no right to consider the call to prayer as a disturbance or noise."

"The disturbance and noise come from the war machines of the aggressors," he said.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, in line with international resolutions that do not recognize Israel's occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.