The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem approved, last Sunday night, a decision to replace the original names of several streets and districts in and outside Jerusalem’s Old City with ‘Hebrew’ names that carry Talmudic connotations, according to WAFA correspondence.
Among the streets slated for change is the name of Jabal al-Zayotoun (Mount of Olives) district, which is set to be changed into “Har Hamshaha”, the Talmudic reference to the mountain.
Other changes also include the name of the neighborhood district of al-Bustan, in the Silwan area, which would be changed into “Shir Hamaalot”, a Talmudic name that refers to a road leading to what is known for Jews as the Temple. Jews claim that the Temple is located at the site of al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the latest Israeli decision, adding that such decision comes as part of Israel’s attempts to change the cultural and historical identity of the city, aimed at changing the status quo there.
It said the decision violates international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions which prohibit changing street names in occupied territories.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, analysts said that the Israeli decision to change the street names is a barefaced infringement and violation of international law, which prohibits changing street names in occupied territories.
The Israeli occupation authorities have altered at least 300 street names across occupied Jerusalem so far.
“Israel’s Jerusalem Mayor, Nir Barakat, has often pursued such a policy to boost Judaization schemes across Occupied Jerusalem and undermine the Islamic and Arab peculiarity of the city,” reported the Information Center.
Dozens of Palestinians, including school students, have been injured as Israeli forces suppress a number of protests which have set out across the occupied West Bank in condemnation of Israel’s recent escalations at al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, according to local and medical sources.
Palestinians, including students, took the streets on Monday, following calls by the Palestinian teacher union to hold peaceful rallies to protest the ongoing Israeli aggression on al-Aqsa mosque and worshipers.
There has been growing tension across the West Bank and Jerusalem in recent days due to provocative raids by Jewish fanatics into al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Israel have been enforcing a unilateral temporal division on the mosque; banning Palestinians from entering the compound during specific hours, while settlers are provided with a police escort into the Islamic holy site.
In Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers used teargas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets toward Palestinians who rallied in support of al-Aqsa mosque in light of recent Israeli police attacks on the mosque compound and worshipers to enforce a unilateral division between Muslims and Jews. Several suffocation cases were reported.
In Hebron, A Palestinian was shot with live ammunition, while others sustained injuries by rubber-coated steel bullets as Israeli forces violently suppressed similar rallies across Hebron.
Ayman Aby Ayyash, 17, was shot in the foot with a live bullet, whereas two other Palestinians, whose identities remains unidentified, sustained rubber bullet wounds during clashes that erupted in the Hebron’s town of Beit Ummar. They were both treated at the scene, while Ayyash’s injury necessitated his transfer to a hospital.
Security sources said that clashes also broke out between forces and Palestinians in other locations across Hebron, as forces suppressed similar rallies in support of al-Aqsa.
Forces crushed a rally organized in Bab al-Zawyeh area, town of Bani Na’im, and Halhoul bridge, where many students suffocated due to inhaling tear gas fired at them by Israeli army.
Meanwhile, Israeli army cracked down on a protest near Ofer prison, west of Ramallah, and attacked the protesters with rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades and teargas canisters, causing several suffocation cases among Palestinians.
The protesters, in return, threw stones towards the Israeli soldiers stationed there.
Similar rallies in support of Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque were also organized in the Jenin district, in northern West Bank, but there were no reports of clashes with the Israeli military.
In the meantime, thousands of Palestinian students took to the streets in the Arab town of Sakhnin, in the Galilee region, in protest of the Israeli escalations at al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem. The students chanted slogans in support of al-Aqsa and waved the Palestinian flag.
The protesting students in Sakhnin also expressed their willingness to embark on a long-term strike in protest of the Israeli assaults against Palestinians worshipers in al-Aqsa.
