This article originally appeared in the National Post. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Mohammed Rizwan, June 16, 2025
Walking down a beautiful corniche walkway along Mediterranean in Jaffa district not far from downtown Tel Aviv, criss-crossing my way amidst evening joggers and jovial teenagers, I suddenly froze, as I heard sound of Azan — an Islamic call to prayer — blaring from a nearby mosque. None from my group of visiting Canadian journalists took much notice, as few of them have already been to Israel, but for me, it was a shocker. I live in Canada, where religious freedoms are guaranteed and enshrined, but I never heard Azan blaring from loudspeakers here, or in Europe or the United States, even though there are mosques, churches, synagogues, temples that remain busy throughout the year there.
It heard it in Israel. A supposedly Muslim-enemy state, a Jewish national home, an “apartheid” state that has been at war with its Muslim Arab neighbours for the last 75 years.
So, which Israel is real? The one that allows Azan to play from loudspeakers for its two-million Muslim population, the one that employs a Muslim IDF soldier, who I met at the Lebanese border, or one that houses a large and affluent Muslim population in Haifa.
OR
The Israel that bombs women and children in Gaza and is hell-bent on wiping out the entire Muslim population from the planet?
The problem lies in perception and perspective, I would say.
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