For those of us who don’t speak any Arabic, the title for this post actually means: “Arabic or Hebrew . . . what’s the difference?” The title came to me while I was quickly reading an article and I accidentally confused the words “Hebrew” and “Arabic.” They look so similar, but are so inherently different (the difference is one letter) and I found myself saying: “Why are they going to change the names of Arab cities to Arab names?” That’s because it’s not Arabic they’re going them change it to; it’s Hebrew.
Apparently, the new Israeli Transportation Minister, Mr. Yisrael Katz is out to leave his imprint on the roads all over “Eretz Israel” by changing the English and Arabic places names on road signs to “better reflect their Hebrew pronunciation.”
The reason? Road signs written in three different languages reduce “drivers’ ability to navigate to their destinations. We therefore decided to change all of the signs to reflect their Hebrew pronunciation, as is customary in other countries in the world.”
First of all, I wonder which countries they’re talking about their statement and secondly, it’s funny, because last time I checked, people who are literate, be it in Hebrew, Arabic or English, can’t help but reach their final destinations with the signs currently in place. Most Israelis speak both Hebrew and English and most Arabs within Israel speak Arabic in addition to Hebrew. Most tourists to Israel also speak English, can get by in English, or speak some Hebrew or Arabic. Their reasons for the signs are just a weak attempt to cover up the truth.
No, the real reason for changing the already existing “Urushalim” (اورشليم) to “Yurushaleem” (يورشاليم) and the names of Tiberias, Nazareth, Akka and Yafa to Tverya, Nazareet, Akko, and Yafo respectively is to erase the last traces of anything Palestinian or Arab from the face of the land. Mr. Katz, and no doubt Mr. Netanyahu, are out to Hebraize the cities and to Jewify the land in their attempts to eliminate the existence of any history belonging to Arab cities and villages. They want to discontinue the use of any Arab identity attached to these cities through the use of names that “reflect a Hebrew-only transliteration in English and Arabic.” Sounds like Israel is adding a bit of linguistic cleansing to the ethnic one already systematically in place in the West Bank. Let’s not forget that Arabic is an official language of the State of Israel. I bet the next move they’ll want to pull will be to remove Arabic from the “Official Languages” list.
A picture on the road back to Jerusalem from the Dead Sea
Katz went on to add that “almost all Israeli communities’ names have previous names.” Why ask for a clearer statement attesting to the fact that Palestinians were actually living in those communities before the arrival of European Jewry in the early half of the twentieth century. “Some Palestinian maps still refer to the Israeli cities by their [Arabic-language] pre-1948 names.”
All in all though, this move on the part of the new Israeli government doesn’t come as a surprise. Israel has been erasing Palestine for the past 60+ years. Why should they stop now, especially when Netanyahu’s extremist government which insists that Israel is a “Jewish state,” has no real intentions of establishing a Palestinian state as Bibi’s own father revealed on the Channel 2 interview last week.
With so much gone already, what’s left to erase?
[Tarboush Tip: Nidal and Basel]
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- Hey guys it’s the Arab Youtube AND Flickr!!
When seeing this title in my inbox, I thought it said "Arabic or Arabic whats the difference" =P
Amazing how similar the two words are.
Posted by Arayus | July 15, 2009, 3:12 amMe too, I thought it said Arabic or Arabic! Confusing :S
ps. even if every visible trace of Palestine is erased, there's still the intangible love and yearning that its people have for it in their hearts. It might not be worth much to politicians but I think it's what really counts
Posted by Aisha | July 15, 2009, 5:13 pmLike one Arab member of the Knesset said, many of the cities and villages were and will always be Arab. Those places will still be known as know from their Arabic names as Kufr this or Tel that. I mean, people still have the papers to their properties in many cities and they read with the Arab pre-1948 names.
The Israelis can change the name all they want . . . in the end, Jerusalem will always be Al-Quds!
Posted by Los | July 17, 2009, 3:53 amLos, ya Los…good post man! Keep'em coming ya kibeer!
Posted by Hanitizer | July 15, 2009, 9:53 amBab el Khalil for Yaffa Gate??
Posted by Lena Dirbashi | July 15, 2009, 2:08 pmI don’t understand what’s happening. Are they getting rid of the Arabic and English completely, or are they Hebrew-ifying the names so Jerusalem is no longer Jerusalem or Al-Quds?
Posted by Shafiq | July 15, 2009, 1:43 pm"أيها المارون
بين الكلمات العابرة
إجمعوا أسمائكم و انصرفوا"
Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish put it best:
"Oh passers among passing words…
Gather your names and go away"
Posted by BCell | July 17, 2009, 2:12 pmBeauty!
Thanks BCell
Posted by Los | July 18, 2009, 7:23 amThey want to get rid of the signs that have the 3 different languages in order to standardize (Hebraise) them. In other words, all signs that bear the three different spellings of the same exact place will be replaced by signs where the place names all match. The Hebrew will remain untouched, but both the Arabic and the English will match the Hebrew.
Examples:
1) Jerusalem
ירושלים
يورشاليم
Yurushalayim
2) Jaffa
יפו
يافو
Yafo
3)Acre
יפו
اكو
Ako
So the Arabic and the English will match the Hebrew. Safed will no longer be writen صفد in Arabic and Nazareth will no longer be seen as الناصرة. But to Palestinians and Arabs, all these places will always be called by their Arab names.
Likud is preparing the next generation of Israelis . . . can you tell?
Posted by Los | July 24, 2009, 10:04 pmThat's been going on for a while — I had a photo of a sign that said
'givat hatsarfatit'
جيفعات هتسرفتيت
גבעת הצרפתית
That i took a year ago in Jerusalem… And you're supposed to guess that this means 'French Hill'. Which is not, of course, a biblical name of sorts… Proof that this isn't about 'restoring original names' or other such nonsensical excuse – it's simply to erase the Arab identity of the country and, by the same occasion, make life just a tad more miserable for Arabs.
And know that in many other cities in Israel, street signs often drop the Arabic altogether. It's just Hebrew and English.
Posted by Mo-ha-med | July 27, 2009, 1:01 pm