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Mini-mosque to be built in Ben Gurion airport
A prayer room for Muslims will be built in Ben Gurion Airport, as part of a series of steps aimed at strengthening ties with the Arab community of Israel, The Israeli Airport Authority announced on Thursday. IAA CEO Gabi Ofir said the room will have the conditions necessary for keepers of the Muslim faith, such as purity of location, purity of the body and purity of clothes. The prayer room will be a square shaped space. In the entrance, a purification water trough will be set up, as well as a 35 cm. rest bench. The 20 square meter room will face southeast. The room will be carpeted and have a niche facing Mecca in one of its walls. It will also contain a library with Muslim prayer books. Apart from setting up the prayer room, the IAA has already begun several steps that will strengthen ties with the Arab community, the most prominent of which was starting the Unit for Relations with Minorities, a unit working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving assistance, guidance and help to Arabic speaking travelers in the airport's terminal. Recently, an Arabic language website of the IAA was unveiled, and also guide booklets and comprehensive Arabic language signs throughout the airport have been published. Ben Gurion Airport serves between 20,000 and 50,000 passengers daily. The ratio of Muslim passengers from within this estimate is unknown, but it is assumed that the prayer room will be sufficient Posted by: ryuge 2006-12-21 |
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