Palestinians defy ‘racist’ Israeli bill by building tallest minaret
Residents of a Palestinian town raise money to extend height of a mosque minaret for all Israelis to see
In an act of defiance, the Arba’een mosque in the town of Eisawiya, just on the outside of Occupied East Jerusalem has constructed the highest minaret in Palestine.
The minaret is a whopping 74 metres high and it cost $330,000 (Dh1.2 million) to build.
Originally, the minaret was commissioned to be 50 metres tall, but after the Israeli Knesset began discussions on restricting the call to prayer in late 2016, the town’s residents raised money to extend the height of the tower.
“We wanted the minaret to be visible to the surrounding Israeli colonies and the military camp,” project manager Omar Attiyiah told Gulf News.
Extension of the state-ofthe-art minaret began last November. It is equipped with a $40,000 sound system and decorative lights.
Palestinian Christian engineers helped set up the sound system, which Attiyah called “a symbol of Muslim-Christian brotherhood”.
Vow to defy bill
The call to prayer can now be heard just one kilometre from Al Haram Al Sharif, the third holiest site in Islam.
Palestinians describe the Knesset bill to restrict call of prayer as ‘racist’ and say it is part of a systematic Israeli campaign to erase Palestinian and Muslim identity.
The “muezzin bill” received preliminary approval in the Knesset on March 8 but it needs to pass two more hearings to become law. Palestinians living in the 1948 areas say they will install speakers on their rooftops to transmit the Fajr call to prayer in defiance to the bill.
Israeli former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the true purpose of the law was to destroy ties between Jews and Palestinians.
“The muezzin bill is not meant to prevent noise, but rather to spread hatred,” she said, adding that the legislation was a “stain and grave attack on Israel’s social fabric.”
According to the Israeli Bureau of Statistics, more than 1.4 million Palestinians live in the 1948 areas, comprising 20 per cent of the Israeli population of 8 million.
Palestinian citizens of Israel are the indigenous people of Palestine who were expelled or forced to flee by invading Jewish militias in 1948.
After almost two decades of living under military rule, they were given Israeli citizenship, but continue to face what they say is systematic discrimination as a minority.
Mohammed Najib is a journalist based in Ramallah