By: maannews.net
Source: http://www.maannews.net/
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli municipal authorities in Jerusalem are planning to require mosques to lower the volume of the Muslim call to prayer, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem said in a statement Sunday.
“Mosques in Palestine in general and in Jerusalem in particular have been targets of a vicious campaign by the occupation authorities,” Muhammad Hussein said in the statement.
The mufti condemned the plans, saying that Muslim authorities were the only ones who had the right to intervene in mosque affairs.
“The occupation authorities make light of all heavenly laws and international law as they follow a systematic plan designed to efface all Arab and Palestinian landmarks in Palestine and replace them with Jewish landmarks.”
Palestinian officials frequently condemn what they refer to as the “Judaization of Jerusalem” on the part of Israeli authorities, who they say engage in discriminatory policies that discriminate against Palestinian residents and seek to encourage their departure from the city. East Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
Israeli authorities sometimes limit the Muslim call the prayer in other parts of the Palestinian territories, particularly in Hebron where Jewish settlers have taken over properties in the city center.
Israeli forces forbade the Islamic call for prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron 49 times in the month of January because it “annoyed” Jewish settlers, according to an official from the Palestinian Authority ministry of endowments.