Arab lawmaker delivers Azan in Israeli parliament to protest against controversial bill

Ahmad Tibi protests against Israeli PM's decision to back bill to limit Azan

KNESSET: An Arab-Muslim lawmaker raised ‘Azan’ in the Israeli parliament on Monday to protest against a controversial bill limiting the volume of calls to prayer from mosques.

Ahmad Tibi, member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament), raised the Azan during his speech and said the proposed bill calling to limit Azan demonstrated the Israeli government’s ‘Islamophobia’. Another Israeli-Arab politician, Taleb Abu Arar, also joined Tibi in the call to prayer.

The move came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he backed a bill limiting the volume of calls to prayer from mosques.



"This law reflects the fascism that grows inside the Israeli community," Tibi told Anadolu Agency in exclusive statements. Tibi invited Palestinians and those in East Jerusalem to raise their voices and to show disapproval against the bill. "Palestinians and Muslims around the world must work to thwart the Israeli decision to limit the call to prayer," he said.



The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Saturday approved the anti-Azan bill before it goes to the Knesset, where in order for it to become law it must be accepted in three rounds of voting.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned the Israeli bill will have disastrous results in the region. "The Israeli actions are completely unacceptable," he said. "The Palestinian leadership will go to the UN Security Council and to all international institutions to stop the escalating Israeli measures," he said.



Israeli media reported that the bill would stop the use of public address systems for calls to prayer. While the draft bill applies to all houses of worship, it is seen as specifically targeting mosques.

East Jerusalem is also mainly Palestinian and traditional calls to prayer by muezzins through PA systems can be heard in the city.

The Israel Democracy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, has spoken out against the proposal.



On Sunday, one of the watchdog’s officials accused Israel’s right-wing politicians of dangerously using the issue to gain political points under the guise of improving quality of life.

Nasreen Hadad Haj-Yahya wrote in Israeli newspaper Maariv that “the real aim” of the bill “is not to prevent noise, but rather to create noise that will hurt all of society and the efforts to establish a sane reality between Jews and Arabs”.

Netanyahu heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history.

This article originally appeared on Daily Sabah.