13 nov 2016
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he supports a bill to bar the Muslim call to prayer via mosque loudspeakers.
Speaking ahead of a vote on the bill in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, the prime minister said that the blared prayer calls are a public nuisance that cuts across all religious denominations.
“The Muslims, the Jews, and the Christian are all suffering from this,” he claimed. “I can’t tell you how many times people have approached me, from all walks of Israeli society, who are crying out about the suffering that is caused by excessive noise reaching them from prayer house announcements.”
The prayer calls, traditionally announced through minarets five times, have been a frequent target of Israeli ire, with many claiming they are a loud nuisance that echoes in Jewish towns and neighborhoods.
The bill was penned by Jewish Home MK Moti Yogev. Supporters of the bill say freedom of religion should take a backseat to quality of life in this case.
Arab lawmakers attacked the proposal as a hate-fueled assault on Muslim freedom of religion.
Joint (Arab) List leader MK Aymen Odeh slammed the legislation, calling it “another bill, in a series of populist bills, whose objective is to create an atmosphere of hate and incitement against the Arab population.”
“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,” added Odeh.
His fellow party lawmaker Hanin Zoabi suggested that those who are bothered by the calls to prayer should find somewhere else to live.
“Those who suffer from the sounds of the muezzins are specifically those who chose to settle near the mosques, and… they are invited to leave if they are suffering so much,” she said.
“This isn’t Europe here. Anyone who feels like he is in Europe, and thinks this is Europe, should consider going there,” added Zoabi.
Likud MKs Miki Zohar and Nurit Koren, Jewish Home MKs Bezalel Smotrich and Shuli Muallem-Refaeli, and Kulanu MK Merav Ben-Ari have also endorsed the legislation.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens — in the Galilee, Negev, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and other places in central Israel — suffer regularly and daily from the noise caused by the call of the muezzin from mosques,” reads the proposed legislation.
Speaking with the PIC, Preacher of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Akrema Sabri, said the Israeli bid to ban the call to prayers is a proof that Israeli fanatics are manipulating the law to suppress Muslims’ religious freedom and step up aggressions.
He added that the call to prayers has occurred in Palestine for 15 centuries, urging the Islamic states to take up their responsibilities as regards such Israeli violations of Muslims’ religious freedom.
Speaking ahead of a vote on the bill in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, the prime minister said that the blared prayer calls are a public nuisance that cuts across all religious denominations.
“The Muslims, the Jews, and the Christian are all suffering from this,” he claimed. “I can’t tell you how many times people have approached me, from all walks of Israeli society, who are crying out about the suffering that is caused by excessive noise reaching them from prayer house announcements.”
The prayer calls, traditionally announced through minarets five times, have been a frequent target of Israeli ire, with many claiming they are a loud nuisance that echoes in Jewish towns and neighborhoods.
The bill was penned by Jewish Home MK Moti Yogev. Supporters of the bill say freedom of religion should take a backseat to quality of life in this case.
Arab lawmakers attacked the proposal as a hate-fueled assault on Muslim freedom of religion.
Joint (Arab) List leader MK Aymen Odeh slammed the legislation, calling it “another bill, in a series of populist bills, whose objective is to create an atmosphere of hate and incitement against the Arab population.”
“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,” added Odeh.
His fellow party lawmaker Hanin Zoabi suggested that those who are bothered by the calls to prayer should find somewhere else to live.
“Those who suffer from the sounds of the muezzins are specifically those who chose to settle near the mosques, and… they are invited to leave if they are suffering so much,” she said.
“This isn’t Europe here. Anyone who feels like he is in Europe, and thinks this is Europe, should consider going there,” added Zoabi.
Likud MKs Miki Zohar and Nurit Koren, Jewish Home MKs Bezalel Smotrich and Shuli Muallem-Refaeli, and Kulanu MK Merav Ben-Ari have also endorsed the legislation.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens — in the Galilee, Negev, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and other places in central Israel — suffer regularly and daily from the noise caused by the call of the muezzin from mosques,” reads the proposed legislation.
Speaking with the PIC, Preacher of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Akrema Sabri, said the Israeli bid to ban the call to prayers is a proof that Israeli fanatics are manipulating the law to suppress Muslims’ religious freedom and step up aggressions.
He added that the call to prayers has occurred in Palestine for 15 centuries, urging the Islamic states to take up their responsibilities as regards such Israeli violations of Muslims’ religious freedom.
The Knesset ministerial committee on legislation is due to discuss a bill calling for banning the use of loudspeakers to recite the daily mosque adhan (call to prayer) in Arab neighborhoods, where Jews also live.
Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Yogev and other right-wing lawmakers claim in their bill that the Adhan through loudspeakers produces noise pollution, disturbs Jewish citizens and affects the quality of life, which they said is more important than freedom of religion.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the Galilee, the Negev, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and other areas in the center of the country experience regular daily suffering from the noise resulting from the muezzin calls in the mosques,” their bill say.
"The bill presents a worldview by which freedom of religion should not constitute a factor damaging quality of life, and proposes prohibiting houses of prayer from using loudspeakers to call worshippers or to broadcast religious and nationalistic statements and sometimes incitement," Yogev wrote in the new bill, according to Haaretz newspaper.
The bill, which needs to be first approved by the ministerial committee before it is tabled for vote before the Knesset, would give the Israeli police the right to detain and interrogate Palestinian muezzins ( people who recite prayer calls), take legal measures against them and impose financial penalties on them.
This is not the first time such a proposal has been tabled. In late 2014, right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu MK Robert Ilatov proposed a similar ban, but it failed to win the support needed to pass various Knesset readings and be voted into law.
Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Yogev and other right-wing lawmakers claim in their bill that the Adhan through loudspeakers produces noise pollution, disturbs Jewish citizens and affects the quality of life, which they said is more important than freedom of religion.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the Galilee, the Negev, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and other areas in the center of the country experience regular daily suffering from the noise resulting from the muezzin calls in the mosques,” their bill say.
"The bill presents a worldview by which freedom of religion should not constitute a factor damaging quality of life, and proposes prohibiting houses of prayer from using loudspeakers to call worshippers or to broadcast religious and nationalistic statements and sometimes incitement," Yogev wrote in the new bill, according to Haaretz newspaper.
The bill, which needs to be first approved by the ministerial committee before it is tabled for vote before the Knesset, would give the Israeli police the right to detain and interrogate Palestinian muezzins ( people who recite prayer calls), take legal measures against them and impose financial penalties on them.
This is not the first time such a proposal has been tabled. In late 2014, right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu MK Robert Ilatov proposed a similar ban, but it failed to win the support needed to pass various Knesset readings and be voted into law.
9 nov 2016
A bill preventing supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement from entering Israel was authorized on Monday, for its first reading in the Israeli parliament, according to Israeli media.
Ma’an News Agency reports that, according to the Jerusalem Post, the interior committee of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) approved the bill, which was originally initiated by Knesset Member Yinon Magal, from the ultranationalist “Home Party”, paving the way for the bill to enter its first reading.
The bill would allow individuals supporting a boycott against Israel to be banned from entering the country.
The BDS movement was founded in July of 2005, by a swath of Palestinian civil society, as a peaceful movement to restore Palestinian rights in accordance with international law, through strategies of boycotting Israeli products and cultural institutions, divesting from companies complicit in violations against Palestinians, and implementing state sanctions against the Israeli government.
The move came after several months of Israeli efforts to crack down on the BDS movement. Israeli Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri, and Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan announced, in August, that they were forming a joint task force to “expel and ban the entry of BDS activists” into Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
“We must not allow BDS activists to enter the state of Israel. This is a necessary step, given the malicious intentions of these activists to delegitimize and spread lies and distortions about the reality in our region,” Erdan was quoted as saying in a statement released at the time, adding that the boycott movement against Israel “must have a price.”
“Fighting against Israeli boycotts starts by fighting those who undermine the state of Israel,” Deri also said, at the time.
“We have a responsibility to do everything possible to crush any boycott and to state clearly that we will not allow the State of Israel to be harmed. Forming the task force is an important step in that direction.”
Without citing any names, the statement estimated that “hundreds” of pro-Palestinian activists and dozens of organizations were currently in Israel “to gather information and use it to boycott Israel, and harm its citizens,” and that the task force would also try to prevent the entrance of activists in the future.
The statement also alleged that BDS activists traveled to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to “incite” Palestinians.
The announcement led to outcry from groups like the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which believed they were the targets of the newly-formed task force.
“Isolation of Palestinians by denying access and/or deporting human rights activists aims to make Palestinian communities already vulnerable and suffering from abuse…even more vulnerable,” ISM said in a statement in response to the plans of forming the task force.
“We condemn Israeli suppression of Palestinian nonviolent resistance. This recent attempt to further isolate Palestinians indicates the occupation authorities’ unwillingness to do the only thing that will actually bring an end to Israel’s isolation — to adhere to international law, end the occupation and grant Palestinians their rights.”
ISM argued that its foreign activists play a crucial role in trying to prevent Israeli army violence against Palestinians.
“As a civilian population living under military occupation Palestinians in the occupied territories are promised protection under International law,” the group said in its statement.
“(Foreign) civilians have been attempting to fill in the gap created by the failure of governments and official international bodies to provide protection and fulfill their obligations.
“We find that our presence sometimes results in reducing the level of lethal force used by the Israeli military against unarmed Palestinians.”
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel has gained momentum over the past year, with activists targeting companies that act in compliance with Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In late July, the Black Lives Matter movement — which denounces police violence against African-Americans in the United States — came out in support of BDS, stating that it was committed to “global struggle, solidarity, and support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement to fight for freedom, justice and equality for Palestinian people and to end international support of the occupation.”
The Israeli government, meanwhile, has grown increasingly concerned about the growth of the BDS movement, as the movement’s support base has expanded to include companies, universities and religious institutions around the world divesting from organizations complicit in Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights.
In January, the Israeli Knesset held a conference to discuss ways to combat BDS, and dedicated 100 million shekels ($26 million) of the government’s 2016 budget to the issue.
In May, Israel issued a travel ban on BDS cofounder Omar Barghouti, a permanent resident in Israel, as Mahmoud Nawajaa, the general coordinator of the Palestinian BDS National Committee, stated at the time that the decision reflected “the lengths [Israel] will go to in order to stop the spread of the non-violent BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.”
More recently, on July 12, the Knesset passed a controversial NGO “transparency bill” into law, compelling organizations to reveal their sources of funding if more than half came from public foreign entities — a law which human rights groups and opposition Knesset members condemned for seeking to “silence criticism” of Israel and delegitimize left-wing groups.
Opposition leader in the Knesset Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Camp party then slammed the law for “symbolizing the budding fascism that is rising and flourishing in Israeli society” and making a “mockery” of the “right to organize, which is a sacred founding principle of a democratic society.”
Ma’an News Agency reports that, according to the Jerusalem Post, the interior committee of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) approved the bill, which was originally initiated by Knesset Member Yinon Magal, from the ultranationalist “Home Party”, paving the way for the bill to enter its first reading.
The bill would allow individuals supporting a boycott against Israel to be banned from entering the country.
The BDS movement was founded in July of 2005, by a swath of Palestinian civil society, as a peaceful movement to restore Palestinian rights in accordance with international law, through strategies of boycotting Israeli products and cultural institutions, divesting from companies complicit in violations against Palestinians, and implementing state sanctions against the Israeli government.
The move came after several months of Israeli efforts to crack down on the BDS movement. Israeli Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri, and Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan announced, in August, that they were forming a joint task force to “expel and ban the entry of BDS activists” into Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
“We must not allow BDS activists to enter the state of Israel. This is a necessary step, given the malicious intentions of these activists to delegitimize and spread lies and distortions about the reality in our region,” Erdan was quoted as saying in a statement released at the time, adding that the boycott movement against Israel “must have a price.”
“Fighting against Israeli boycotts starts by fighting those who undermine the state of Israel,” Deri also said, at the time.
“We have a responsibility to do everything possible to crush any boycott and to state clearly that we will not allow the State of Israel to be harmed. Forming the task force is an important step in that direction.”
Without citing any names, the statement estimated that “hundreds” of pro-Palestinian activists and dozens of organizations were currently in Israel “to gather information and use it to boycott Israel, and harm its citizens,” and that the task force would also try to prevent the entrance of activists in the future.
The statement also alleged that BDS activists traveled to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to “incite” Palestinians.
The announcement led to outcry from groups like the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which believed they were the targets of the newly-formed task force.
“Isolation of Palestinians by denying access and/or deporting human rights activists aims to make Palestinian communities already vulnerable and suffering from abuse…even more vulnerable,” ISM said in a statement in response to the plans of forming the task force.
“We condemn Israeli suppression of Palestinian nonviolent resistance. This recent attempt to further isolate Palestinians indicates the occupation authorities’ unwillingness to do the only thing that will actually bring an end to Israel’s isolation — to adhere to international law, end the occupation and grant Palestinians their rights.”
ISM argued that its foreign activists play a crucial role in trying to prevent Israeli army violence against Palestinians.
“As a civilian population living under military occupation Palestinians in the occupied territories are promised protection under International law,” the group said in its statement.
“(Foreign) civilians have been attempting to fill in the gap created by the failure of governments and official international bodies to provide protection and fulfill their obligations.
“We find that our presence sometimes results in reducing the level of lethal force used by the Israeli military against unarmed Palestinians.”
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel has gained momentum over the past year, with activists targeting companies that act in compliance with Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In late July, the Black Lives Matter movement — which denounces police violence against African-Americans in the United States — came out in support of BDS, stating that it was committed to “global struggle, solidarity, and support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement to fight for freedom, justice and equality for Palestinian people and to end international support of the occupation.”
The Israeli government, meanwhile, has grown increasingly concerned about the growth of the BDS movement, as the movement’s support base has expanded to include companies, universities and religious institutions around the world divesting from organizations complicit in Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights.
In January, the Israeli Knesset held a conference to discuss ways to combat BDS, and dedicated 100 million shekels ($26 million) of the government’s 2016 budget to the issue.
In May, Israel issued a travel ban on BDS cofounder Omar Barghouti, a permanent resident in Israel, as Mahmoud Nawajaa, the general coordinator of the Palestinian BDS National Committee, stated at the time that the decision reflected “the lengths [Israel] will go to in order to stop the spread of the non-violent BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.”
More recently, on July 12, the Knesset passed a controversial NGO “transparency bill” into law, compelling organizations to reveal their sources of funding if more than half came from public foreign entities — a law which human rights groups and opposition Knesset members condemned for seeking to “silence criticism” of Israel and delegitimize left-wing groups.
Opposition leader in the Knesset Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Camp party then slammed the law for “symbolizing the budding fascism that is rising and flourishing in Israeli society” and making a “mockery” of the “right to organize, which is a sacred founding principle of a democratic society.”
7 nov 2016
Israeli Mayor of occupied Jerusalem Nir Barkat threatened Monday to demolish thousands of Jerusalemite homes in case any of the West Bank settlements was evacuated.
Barkat’s statements came after the Israeli High Court issued a decision to evacuate dozens of Israeli settlers living in Amona settlement illegally built on a Palestinian-private land in West Bank.
"Jerusalem faces a situation similar to that of Amona but with the roles of Arabs and Jews reversed. This is especially true in eastern Jerusalem where there are many areas of Jewish-owned land which are currently encroached on by Arab squatters," Israeli radio quoted Barkat as claiming.
“If Arabs living on Jewish-owned property were to be treated the same way the residents of Amona are being treated for living on property allegedly owned by Arabs, the city would be obligated to evict thousands of Arabs from their homes,” according to his statements.
The Israeli High Court had earlier ordered that the entire outpost of Amona be dismantled by Dec. 25 this year.
In this regard, Barkat contacted Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to ask him “to examine the consequences of the High Court decision to demolish the settlement of Amona on property in Jerusalem.”
The Israeli-controlled municipality in occupied Jerusalem had escalated since the beginning of 2016 its demolition policy against Palestinian properties under the pretext of being built without Israeli permit.
Barkat’s statements came after the Israeli High Court issued a decision to evacuate dozens of Israeli settlers living in Amona settlement illegally built on a Palestinian-private land in West Bank.
"Jerusalem faces a situation similar to that of Amona but with the roles of Arabs and Jews reversed. This is especially true in eastern Jerusalem where there are many areas of Jewish-owned land which are currently encroached on by Arab squatters," Israeli radio quoted Barkat as claiming.
“If Arabs living on Jewish-owned property were to be treated the same way the residents of Amona are being treated for living on property allegedly owned by Arabs, the city would be obligated to evict thousands of Arabs from their homes,” according to his statements.
The Israeli High Court had earlier ordered that the entire outpost of Amona be dismantled by Dec. 25 this year.
In this regard, Barkat contacted Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to ask him “to examine the consequences of the High Court decision to demolish the settlement of Amona on property in Jerusalem.”
The Israeli-controlled municipality in occupied Jerusalem had escalated since the beginning of 2016 its demolition policy against Palestinian properties under the pretext of being built without Israeli permit.
