Jordan Condemns Israel for Cutting Call to Prayer at Al-Aqsa

Jordan condemned Israel for silencing the Muslim call to prayer from the minarets at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem on the first day of Ramadan.

Israel Police officers cut the locks on and broke into the minarets and cut the power supply to the loudspeakers to prevent their noise from disrupting the Tuesday evening ceremony for Israel’s Remembrance Day taking place on the Western Wall Plaza below, Jordanian officials said. Employees of the Jordan-run Jerusalem waqf and Al-Aqsa affairs department were harassed during the invasion, Arab News reported.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry called the incident a provocation against Muslims around the world and a violation of international law and the status quo. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the incident “a racist hate crime,” according to a spokesman.