The Israeli municipality in Lod city within the Green Line fined a Palestinian imam for using loudspeakers to broadcast the call to prayer (Adhan) Haaretz Hebrew newspaper reported Monday.
A penalty of USD 197 was imposed on the Imam Mahmoud al-Far for using loudspeakers to call out the Adhan during night time the newspaper said.
The Israeli municipal authorities in Lod have fined the imam for violating an existing Israeli “pollution and nuisance law” which restricts the volume at which mosques can use loudspeakers to call out the Adhan the newspaper reported.
The penalty came after the Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the draft legislation which calls for barring the use of loudspeakers during the Adhan moving it to the Knesset where it is expected to go through several readings before making it into law.
Howevder Israeli Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman appealed the bill effectively postponing Knesset consideration of the draft legislation until further notice.
Litzman argued that the current phrasing of the bill would not only affect the use of loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer but also the use of sirens on Friday evenings to announce the Jewish holy day of Shabbat.
