ISRAEL: Funds from Chechnya are being used to build a large mosque to house thousands of Muslim worshippers in the ancient city of Abu Ghosh, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

Record ID: 397734

  • Title: ISRAEL: Funds from Chechnya are being used to build a large mosque to house thousands of Muslim worshippers in the ancient city of Abu Ghosh, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
  • Date: 7th April 2013
  • Summary: ABU GHOSH, ISRAEL (APRIL 2, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE VIEW OF ABU GHOSH CITY VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION OF MOSQUE TWO MINARETS UNDER CONSTRUCTION ENTRANCE TO MOSQUE VARIOUS OF MAN POINTING AT MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SALIM JABER, MAYOR OF ABU GHOSH, SAYING: "A lot of people are interested in this project, there are many women who want to pray but there is no space for women, a
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA3REE61AVM488DSOP0WXIFLEAQ
  • Story Text: Construction is underway for a new mosque in Abu Ghosh, an ancient Arab-Israeli village located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
    The building project is being funded by Russia's Chechnya which it claims will be the largest mosque in Israel after al-Aqsa.
    Located some 10 kilometres from Jerusalem, the village of Abu Gosh is home to some 7,000 Arab residents.
    Muslim residents of the village say they've been wanting to build a bigger mosque for years, as the village's only mosque isn't big enough to accommodate all the worshippers.
    Abu Ghosh mayor Selim Jaber said the council had previously tried to collect donations from local residents to fund the construction of a new mosque, but they failed to gather enough funding to finish the project.
    Jaber said the new mosque will be able to accommodate men and women.

    "A lot of people are interested in this project, there are many women who want to pray but there is no space for women, and also the mosque we have now is very small, approximately 200 metres, it's space is not big enough for holidays and Fridays. Many residents in Abu Ghosh pray outside the mosque, and many go to al-Aqsa or the nearby villages in order to pray," said Jaber.
    The mosque will also serve the local Chechen community, and Jaber explained the idea came about after Chechen officials visited the village.

    "Chechens visited us, they sent an envoy and asked us if we were ready to strengthen our relationship with Chechnya because, according to history, our roots are from Chechnya," he said.
    According to Jaber, the four-story mosque equipped with an elevator and classrooms for teaching the Koran, is expected to cost 3.5 million U.S dollars.
    The mosque, equipped to accommodate up to 2,000 people, will have four minarets, a golden dome and a mixture of "modern and traditional" elements.
    The mosque is being built on a street named after late Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in 2004.
    The name of the mosque hasn't been finalised, but it will most likely be named after Kadyrov, said Jaber.
    Residents of Abu Ghosh say they are pleased to hear about the mosque's renovation.

    "These days the most important thing is a mosque, and in Abu Ghosh there is only one," said Fakher Elayyan, a resident of the village.

    "This mosque used to be enough in the past. But today, the village has become bigger and people have gone back to religion," added another villager, Yusef Abu Ghosh.
    Construction work on the mosque is due to be be completed by August this year.
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