The bill—approved in a first reading and known as the “Muezzin Law”—violates religious freedom and aims to erase Arab and Islamic identity in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to a statement issued by the OIC from its headquarters in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

  If enacted, the legislation would prohibit or restrict the call to prayer for the faithful five times a day, starting with the first call at *Fajr* (dawn in Arabic).

  Furthermore, it is “a flagrant violation of religious freedom and observance, as well as the religious rights guaranteed by international law.”

  The statement adds that the bill is “null and void, racist and discriminatory in nature, [and] a direct attack on the sanctity of Muslim religious rites and Islamic holy sites.”

  Israel’s population is barely nine million people; during the persecution by Nazi-fascism, groups of Jews found shelter in various Arab countries—including Syria, Lebanon, and North African nations like Egypt—where some remain as citizens with full rights.

  During Holy Week this year, which began in March, occupation authorities banned Christian pilgrimages to the faith’s holy sites, specifically visits to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. jdt/ft/msl