Community | July 18, 2009 | 9 comments

Israel's plan to wipe Arabic names off the map

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maasanova
Thousands of road signs are the latest front in Israel's battle to erase Arab heritage from much of the Holy Land.

Israel Katz, the transport minister, announced this week that signs on all major roads in Israel, East Jerusalem and possibly parts of the West Bank would be "standardized," converting English and Arabic place names into straight transliterations of the Hebrew name.

Currently, road signs include the place name as it is traditionally rendered in all three languages.

Under the new scheme, the Arab identity of important Palestinian communities will be obscured: Jerusalem, or "al-Quds" in Arabic, will be Hebraized to "Yerushalayim"; Nazareth, or "al-Nasra" in Arabic, the city of Jesus's childhood, will become "Natzrat"; and Jaffa, the port city after which Palestine's oranges were named, will be "Yafo."

Arab leaders are concerned that Katz's plan offers a foretaste of the demand by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

On Wednesday, Mohammed Sabih, a senior official at the Arab League, called the initiative "racist and dangerous."
  1. groups:
    Community,   Israel,   Free Palestine,   Zionism,   2 more
  2. tags:
    Culture Israel Racism Zionism 2 more
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9 comments // Israel's plan to wipe Arabic names off the map

  • freecrack
  • courage
    • 0
      courage  
    • They are both intruders the land actually belongs to christians someday the jews and muslims will be driven out and christians will reclaim there land.

      theres some sarcasm for ya

    • 2 years ago
  • freecrack
    • 0
      freecrack  
    • seeing as how every civilization throughout the world names thier terriritories based on thier culture why is isreali renaming of territorries any different than new amsterdam being new york or any of the staes in the us not being called indian names?what is now known as the west bank was known for thousands of years as judea. only in the last 60 yrs has it ever been refered to as the west bank it is judea.
      how is gaza not free the isrealis removed ALL influence over the region in 2005, if the gazans arent free now then america is imprissoning mexico similarly. its not an oppressive force its a wall.
      if you feel gazans are being inhumanly imprissoned and want to see it end why not also ask the egyptian govt to end thier security in that region aswell they have a wall with a border too

    • 2 years ago
  • WorldPeaceTV
    • 0
      WorldPeaceTV  
    • Good post maasanova. We get stronger every day when Israeli government does what it does. It wakes up people in the multitudes about Israels blood thirsty greedy intentions.
      FREE GAZA-FREE PALESTINE NOW!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • corndog67
  • FallenMorgan
  • CPr0ffitt
    • 0
      CPr0ffitt  
    • I am sorry corndog67 if you are truly that naive, but it is clear that Israel is not all "hey let's be friends." Their Navy currently is firing rockets from vessels just outside of Gaza. The Israeli Government has built a 24 foot "security wall" is an effort to separate Israelis from Palestinians.

      Still don't believe me? OK check out Jeff Halper's "Obstacles to Peace" He clearly outlines numerous accounts of how the present Israeli government has created an apartheid. ICHAD has documented Israeli sanctioned house demolitions of Palestinians. Also documented was the demolition of hundred year-old Olive trees, who happen to be the main source of Palestinian farmers income to make way for Israeli Housing.

      I can go on for days, so please open your eyes to the real world.Extremist Palestinians within Hamas are cowards for targeting Israeli civilians in Rocket attacks and terrorism, that is true. However because of some over-stimulated sense of righteousness, Israel feels it is completely dignified in its actions. (EVEN IF IT GOES AGAINST GENEVA CONVENTION ARTICLES!!) SO WAKE UP!

    • 2 years ago
  • corndog67
    • 0
      corndog67  
    • No way, it couldn't be. The Isrealis want peace on earth and to co-exist with the Arabs and live happily ever after until the end of time.

      Both sides are at fault for all this bullshit going on. Neither side feels the other has a right to exist, and both are raised from birth to absolutely hate the other side. I'm not taking sides. I say, cut them both off monetarily, they both break the treaties, they both blame the other for everything, we should just back away from the whole deal, except we need the oil. For now, anyway.

    • 2 years ago
  • CPr0ffitt
    • 0
      CPr0ffitt  
    • corndog67:

      I am sorry corndog67 if you are truly that naive, but it is clear that Israel is not all "hey let's be friends." Their Navy currently is firing rockets from vessels just outside of Gaza. The Israeli Government has built a 24 foot "security wall" is an effort to separate Israelis from Palestinians.

      Still don't believe me? OK check out Jeff Halper's "Obstacles to Peace" He clearly outlines numerous accounts of how the present Israeli government has created an apartheid. ICHAD has documented Israeli sanctioned house demolitions of Palestinians. Also documented was the demolition of hundred year-old Olive trees, who happen to be the main source of Palestinian farmers income to make way for Israeli Housing.

      I can go on for days, so please open your eyes to the real world.Extremist Palestinians within Hamas are cowards for targeting Israeli civilians in Rocket attacks and terrorism, that is true. However because of some over-stimulated sense of righteousness, Israel feels it is completely dignified in its actions. (EVEN IF IT GOES AGAINST GENEVA CONVENTION ARTICLES!!) SO WAKE UP!

    • 2 years ago
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