Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir utilized on Monday the sanctions he imposes on Palestinian mosques to serve his election propaganda, boasting about fining a mosque in the village of Tel es-Sabaq in southern Israel. This comes amid competition among Israeli parties ahead of the elections scheduled for October 27, with Arab parties accusing Ben Gvir of exploiting his measures against Palestinians for election propaganda and intimidating Arab voters.
Fining Tel es-Sabaq Mosque
On Sunday, Israeli police, which falls under Ben Gvir's responsibility, raided the Al-Rahma Mosque in the Abu Anza neighborhood in Tel es-Sabaq and issued a violation citing "high volume of its loudspeakers." Ben Gvir posted a picture of the mosque on the "Telegram" platform on Monday, saying: "This mosque in Tel es-Sabaq reached noise levels last night that exceeded the legally permitted limit, and police officers arrived at the site and assessed the sound level, then issued a violation for causing unacceptable noise."
He added in propagandistic words: "This is not limited to Tel es-Sabaq only; as part of the policy I lead, the Israeli police are applying regulations regarding noise violations issued by mosques throughout the country." He continued: "This phenomenon had been neglected for decades, but I have changed the policy since I took office, and although the situation is not yet ideal and there is still room for improvement, we are undoubtedly moving in the right direction."
Joint Arab List Accusations
Over the past weeks, Ben Gvir has exploited his policies of demolishing Palestinian homes in Israel within his election propaganda. Today, the Joint Arab List - an alliance comprising three parties - stated that it submitted an "urgent petition to the President of the Central Elections Commission against the convicted racist Ben Gvir and his party, the Jewish Power, the police, and the land enforcement authority and the Israel Land Authority."
It clarified in a statement that it requested in the petition "to prevent the exploitation of demolition and eviction operations with purely political motives in the Arab community for election propaganda purposes." The petition stated that Ben Gvir published a video clip from a demolition site of a residential building in the Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem, where he appeared next to bulldozers and police elements, boasting that government bulldozers do not rest for a moment.
Fears of Voter Intimidation
The petition also points to the activation of eviction files that have not been implemented for more than twenty years, within timeframes starting exactly on election day. The Joint List called for issuing orders preventing Ben Gvir and his party from "exploiting demolition and eviction operations for propaganda purposes," and preventing the police and enforcement authorities from "placing their teams and equipment at the service of this propaganda or scheduling demolition and eviction dates to serve it."
The Joint List said: "Ben Gvir must be prevented from turning the demolition of Arab families' homes into election material." It accused Ben Gvir and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to carry out demolition and eviction operations on the eve of the elections and on the day they are held, with the aim of "spreading fear and despair and suppressing voting in the Arab community." The Joint List called on Palestinians inside Israel to participate in voting on October 27 to overthrow "Ben Gvir and the government of demolition and destruction beyond return."
Palestinians make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, which exceeds 10 million, and they complain of discriminatory policies against them, especially under the current Netanyahu government.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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