State: Hospitals to allot space for Muslim prayer rooms
In response to petition claiming government hospitals discriminate against Arabs who are forced to pray outside, State tells High Court hospitals will be instructed to build prayer facilities for all religions
The six largest medical centers in Israel will be instructed to allot space for Muslim prayer rooms, the State told the High Court of Justice on Wednesday.
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In response to a petition claiming Muslims who wish to pray in Israeli hospitals are discriminated against, the State told the court that the Health Ministry will soon instruct the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva and the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba to build prayer facilities for Muslims within a year and a half.
The petition was filed by Salim Nasser, who said he felt "humiliated and discriminated against" while visiting Sourasky because he was forced to pray outside in the absence of a prayer room designated for Muslim worshipers.
In its announcement, the State said Muslim prayer rooms already exist at the Rambam and Soroka hospitals, adding that "even before the petition was filed,
the Health Ministry examined the issue and as early as 2011 decided that prayer facilities for all religions should be built in all government hospitals."
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