Hamas leader:

Israel plays with fire with ban on Muslim calls to prayer

Rasa - The political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned the Israeli regime about the recent ban on the use of speakers for Muslim calls to prayer, stating that such legislation is tantamount to “playing with fire.”

News ID: 425186

Date: 20 November 2016 - 21:15

RNA - Speaking in an exclusive interview with Turkey’s official news agency, Anadolu, on Sunday, Khaled Meshaal said the controversial and so-called muezzin bill “has drawn a strong reaction from the Palestinian people and Muslims worldwide.”

Meshaal added that Israel has opted to reverse the proposed bill for the fear that it would serve as an excuse to stop Jewish rituals in the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds, stressing that the Palestinian nation’s outrage signaled that muffling Muslim calls to prayer is their red line.

The Hamas leader noted that there will be no stability in the Middle East region, unless Palestinian rights are recognized and Israel withdraws from Palestinian lands.

During a cabinet meeting last Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would support the bill, claiming that calls to prayer make excessive noise.

Palestinian leaders argue that the bill is not about noise, but is rather intended only to silence mosques.

“This bill is the ugly product of Islamophobia that has come to dominate Israel,” Thabet Abu Ras of the Abraham Fund commented.

Haneen Zoabi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), also said, “The issue is not about noise in their ears but about the noise in their minds. What disturbs them so much is the noise of the Palestinians' presence in their own homeland.”

Meshaal also called on US President-elect Donald Trump to change US foreign policy and strive to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“We realize that regional and international developments affect the Palestinian cause and all regional issues, but what makes history is the struggle of the peoples,” he said.

The Hamas leader further described an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and sacred sites as the key to regional stability.

On November 10, Meshaal urged Trump to withdraw the longstanding American support for Israel, stating that the Tel Aviv regime is a “burden” for Washington.

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