The General Authority for Supreme Islamic Authority in Jerusalem complained about the proposed law to ban loudspeaker-fueled calls to prayer, saying that if anyone doesn’t like the ear-splitting pre-dawn noise, “they should go home.”
In a press release, the Islamic Authority claimed that the innovation of using huge loudspeakers instead of the traditional role of the muezzin to call for prayer from a minaret is part of Islamic law and an “act of worship, ” and no one can interfere with it because that would violate freedom of worship.
The statement went on to say that “the great Islamic religion does not interfere with worship and ritual of other heavenly religions (Judaism and Christianity,) but it preserves and respects them, quoting the Quran, “There is no compulsion in religion.”
This last part is particularly ironic since Muslim leaders are livid at the thought of Jews worshipping on the Temple Mount. The Muslim media complains every time Jews visit the Tomb of Joseph to pray there. Jews who visit the Cave of the Patriarchs are regularly denounced and have been shot at, as have Jews who visit Rachel’s Tomb for prayer and to recite Psalms. The ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives is under constant attack from Arab vandals. 50 synagogues in Jerusalem were methodically destroyed in 1948, and Jews were disallowed from visiting the Western Wall and every other holy site while it was under Jordanian rule.
But besides that and many other examples of Muslim intolerance of Jewish prayer and rituals within the borders of what they call “historic Palestine,” yeah, sure they are really tolerant.
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| Gaza synagogue after it was destroyed in an act of religious tolerance |
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