The Israeli government has put forward a bill that would forbid mosque muezzins from announcing prayer times via loudspeakers in Israel.
"Israel is committed to protect anyone who suffers from the excessively loud calls," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to Times of Israel.
"That is the custom in many European cities. That is the custom also in various places in the Muslim world, where they limited the volume of the calls out of consideration for the general public."
The Palestinian Authority has turned to the UN Security Council to help stop the bill from moving forward.
The legislation has so far been approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and will now go to the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – for a preliminary reading. It would then move to the parliament's committees to continue the legislative process.
Although the volume limitation would technically apply to all religions, the main impact would be felt by mosques, which turn to loudspeakers to make their calls to prayer five times per day.
Arab members of the Knesset have slammed the bill, calling it another in a series that endeavor to "create an atmosphere of hate and incitement against the Arab population."
“There are noise laws and regulations that also apply to mosques, so it’s clear that the sole purpose of the bill is to mark the mosques as a problem source. It is a clear attack on Muslim freedom of religion and the continuation of a wave of persecution that the prime minister is leading," Aymen Odeh, the leader of the Knesset's Joint (Arab) List said.
“Those who suffer from the sounds of the muezzins are specifically those who chose to settle near the the mosques, and… they are invited to leave if they are suffering so much,” fellow lawmaker Hanin Zoabi said. “This isn’t Europe here. Anyone who feels like he is in Europe, and thinks this is Europe, should consider going there.”
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority said the legislation will "drag the area to disaster." Palestinian Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs Youssef Ideiss echoed these sentiments saying such a bill could bring on a religious war over freedom of worship.
"[The legislation] will not change the religious reality, rather only make the Muslims more committed to their holy places," Ideiss said, according to Ynetnews.
This is not the first time that the Israeli government has suggested legislation to quiet calls to prayer. In the past, such initiatives have failed to garner enough popular support to move forward. It remains unclear if this far-right backed bill will gain more traction than previous attempts.
