Ultra-Orthodox, Jewish Home Face Off Over Muezzin Bill

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Member of Knesset Moti Yogev (Jewish Home)

Ultra-Orthodox, Jewish Home Face Off Over Muezzin Bill

Written by Ilana Messika/TPS on November 16, 2016

Author of the Muezzin Bill, Jewish Home MK Moti Yogev, denounced on Wednesday Health Minister Yaakov Litzman’s objection to the bill, saying Litzman’s interpretation of the proposal and its consequences were deeply misguided.

Litzman, supported by Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galilee Aryeh Deri, said the call to reduce noise levels from muezzin calls to prayer could lead to similar calls vis-a-vis the siren announcing the Jewish Sabbath on Friday afternoon. The Orthodox parties argued that such the bill, as currently formulated, “may harm the status quo.”

“This [appeal] is extremely surprising,” Yogev claimed in an interview with “Kol Rama” radio. “The proposed bill does not refer to muezzin calls during Muslims holidays or to the alarms prior to Sabbath once a week, but rather only to sleeping hours, as called for under the laws of injury prevention and noise regulations,” Yogev stated.

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The bill, which proposes to ban loudspeakers for early-morning calls to prayer, was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Monday but has met with severe criticism from both Arab MKs, Palestinians, and human rights organizations.

Litzman’s appeal prevents the bill from being presented to the Knesset plenum for a preliminatry reading and sends it back to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation for further review.

“Our intention is not to infringe upon the freedom of any religion. The topic of the proposal is stolen sleep hours, still debated upon, unable cannot be restored. This is an important principle in both Judaism and Islam,” Yogev stated.

“Ministers Litzman and Deri are responsible for stealing sleeping hours from hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Jews,”he claimed.

Yogev also said that Muslim-majority countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran have limited decibel levels, or cancelling the use of loudspeakers completely and chanting the call to prayer from inside the mosques, without the use of electric amplification.

The petitioners also argued, in corroboration with human rights organizations, that the bill was redundant and already incorporation within the noise regulations law.

“They cannot hide behind existing legislation to argue this,” claimed Yogev. “The current law about noise is applicable but has never been extended in relations to religious calls […] I will do my best to convince Minister Litzman and Minister Deri that there is no potential harm to religious practices  in order to put the bill back on track,” he concluded.

Right-wing activist and Member of the Jerusalem City Council Aryeh King similarly responded to Litzman’s objections.

“[The law only addresses noise during] sleeping hours, as stipulated within the noise regulation law. Litzman’s fears are misplaced due to the fact that the Sabbath siren calls do not occur within those hours,” he argued.

King also said Litzman’s objection stems from a real respect of the Sabbath, whereas Deri’s originates from the political pressure of the Shas party irrespective of real concern for proper Jewish worship.

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