TEL AVIV – Jewish worshipers at one of Ben Gurion Airport’s synagogues were shocked to discover a group of Turkish Muslims on the floor using Jewish prayer shawls as prayer rugs.
According to Israeli news site NRG, a man had asked for directions to the synagogue. After a few minutes, the man returned and asked if he had been directed to a synagogue or a mosque.
“I was shocked and went back there with them and I found a group of Arabs praying in the place, using tallitot (the Hebrew word for prayer shawls) as prayer rugs,” the man said.
A video of the Turkish tourists praying has been making the rounds on Facebook.
However, the man added that as soon as the Muslims realized they were not in a mosque and that the shawls were of religious importance to Judaism, “they immediately apologized, folded the shawls and explained that they’d just looked for a place to pray.”
The airport said it was investigating the incident. According to the report, a source from the airports authority said that “although the stomach churns, it was an innocent mistake.”
Meanwhile, another video of a Muslim woman in full Islamic garb praying in a Sukkah somewhere near the Dead Sea is also being shared on Facebook.
Jews sit in the booth-like Sukkah during the seven day festival of Sukkot. Friends and neighbors are often invited to partake in the festival.
In the West Bank town of Efrat, mayor Oded Revivi invited a group of 30 Palestinians to his Sukkah. Four of the Palestinians were later detained by Palestinian authorities on accusations of “normalization,” the Palestinian term for fraternizing with the enemy.