Ramadan dawn drummer threatened with arrest by Israeli soldiers 

A Palestinian whose job it is to wake Muslims up for the pre-dawn meal during the fasting month of Ramadan has been threatened with arrest by Israeli security forces, Wafa news agency has reported.

Areen Zaaneen from Wadi Al-Joz neighbourhood, which is close to Al-Aqsa Mosque, was forced to stop his work this morning when he was told that he would be arrested and fined if he is found walking the streets of Jerusalem so early in the morning.

Known as the Musharati in Arabic, Zaaneen’s job is to strike a drum to wake Muslims up before dawn so that they can prepare for the fasting day ahead. Witnesses said that he is being harassed for doing what they insist is part of Palestinian heritage.

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“These threats are an extension of the open war by [the Israeli] occupation on the holy city, its citizens and its cultural identity,” said the Palestinian Authority. “It is an attempt to end the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem while turning it into a Jewish Israeli city by changing its characteristics and pushing its [Palestinian] residents to leave.”

Israeli soldiers began arresting the Musharatis in 2018 after illegal Jewish settlers filed complaints about the noise.

“The recognition by US President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of the occupying power and the transfer of the US Embassy to the city is a green light for the occupation authorities to boost its [illegal] settlements and the Judaisation of occupied Jerusalem,” added the PA. “This includes ongoing provocative attacks against Islamic and Christian holy sites.”

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