Adalah Petitions Supreme Court to Allow Muslims to Pray in the Big Mosque in Beer el Sebe
On 26 August 2002, Adalah filed a petition to the Supreme Court in its own name and on behalf of the Association for Support and Defense of Bedouin Rights in Israel, the Islamic Committee in the Naqab, and 23 Arab citizens of Israel living in Beer el Sebe (Beer Sheva) and surrounding towns and villages requesting that Muslims be permitted to pray in the "Big Mosque" in Beer el Sebe. The Big Mosque is the only mosque in Beer el Sebe. Submitted by Adalah Staff Attorney Morad el-Sana, the petition named four respondents: the Municipality of Beer el Sebe; the Development Authority (Israel Lands Administration); the Minister of Religious Affairs, Mr. Asher Ohana; and the Minister of Science, Culture and Sport, Matan Vilnai.
The mosque was built in 1906 and was used by Muslim residents of the city and Bedouin tribes living in surrounding villages until 1948. From 1948-1953, the mosque was used as a court and prison, and later, from 1953-1991, was used as the Naqab Museum. In 1991, the building was closed and the exhibits contained within were removed. Since 1991, the mosque has stood empty and neglected. Despite their repeated requests for permission to pray there, Muslim residents of Beer el Sebe and the surrounding villages have been prevented from using the mosque.
In the 1970s, the former Minister of Religious Affairs, Y. Rafael, asked the Municipality to evacuate the mosque in order to renovate the building for public use. However, the Municipality refused to the request and gave various reasons to prevent the reopening of the mosque. In 1988, in response a letter from one of the petitioners, the Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Dr. Nisim Dana, wrote that if the number of Muslims in the community increased, he would help them to reopen the mosque. Although there are now over 2,000 Muslims in Beer el Sebe, nothing has been done by Ministry to reopen the mosque.
The petitioners argued that "free access to the mosque and the ability of Arab Muslims of the city to pray in the mosque is protected by freedom of religion … and converting the mosque into a museum arbitrarily was unreasonable." The petitioners also argued that "preventing Muslims from praying in the mosque is contrary to the practice of other mixed [Arab-Jewish] towns and cities like Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa, Lod, Ramle, etc., is unconstitutional and denies them the right to practice their religion."
Adalah added that "closing the mosque and converting it into a museum was a serious violation of the Muslim residents' right to freedom of religion and dignity. The denial of the right to practice religion in the only mosque in Beer el Sebe is an indignity and a grave humiliation."
