NAZARETH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Israeli authorities have recently escalated restrictions on Islamic religious practices in 1948 occupied Palestine, imposing hundreds of fines on mosque muezzins under the guise of environmental and noise control laws, a move Palestinians denounce as a direct assault on freedom of worship and Islamic identity.
Palestinian lawyer Khaled Zabarqa revealed that mosque imams in the city of Lod alone received more than 150 financial fines issued by the Israeli ministry of environmental protection for using loudspeakers to call to prayer.
Zabarqa stressed that each muezzin faces notices or fines that burden them and directly violate religious freedom.
He expressed his belief that such actions extend far beyond routine administrative measures, reflecting a deliberate policy by the ministry of environmental protection, in coordination with local municipalities and Israeli police, to curtail the Arab and Islamic presence and silence the call to prayer.
