By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz – 2 Nov 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125247.html
A Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Council member resigned Sunday in protest of what he called “efforts to erase any memory of Arab names and identity from the city.”
The move by Meretz delegate Ahmed Masharawi comes after the city named a new street in Jaffa after a Jewish couple – despite an ongoing campaign to have it named after a recently deceased Jaffa dignitary.
The new signs designated in the Ajami neighborhood on Friday morning bear the names of Shmuel and Sultana Tagger, Jews who arrived from Bulgaria and were among the founders of Tel Aviv.
Local residents and their representatives had lobbied for several months, including direct petitions to mayor Ron Huldai, to name the street after Sheikh Bassem Abu Zeid, the imam of the Mahmoudia mosque who died in July 2008 at the age of 59. Abu Zeid’s family members still live on the contested street today.
The municipality also failed to mark the new street name in Arabic, despite most residents of the neighborhood being Arabs.
“It’s not enough that they ignore our requests, but how can they ignore the fact that a third of Jaffa’s population are Arabs?” Masharawi said Friday. “I’m afraid this is intentional, and motivated by a desire to Judaize Jaffa, to draw more Jews to the city.”
“We were hoping that after the wide and very important works carried out in the neighborhood, the municipality would acknowledge the importance of commemorating Arab culture and local dignitaries in Jaffa’s streets,” Masharawi said.
Masharawi went on to say that the municipal street names committee declined requests to name streets after Jaffa residents and dignitaries several times in the past.
“Whenever we make a proposal, the municipality begins an in-depth investigation of the person’s history. Anyone who protested Israeli policy in the occupied territories is ruled out. But this isn’t the case – the late imam was an apolitical man, who dedicated himself to bringing people together around principles of tolerance and mutual respect,” Masharawi said.
The head of the streets names committee, Haviva Avi-Gai, said that according to the committee’s bylaws and regulations, it can only discuss a candidate for commemoration if at least two years have passed since the person’s death.
“The frustration of the Jaffa residents is really beside the point, because all their requests are happily confirmed. We will soon be naming seven adjacent streets after Arab personalities,” she said.
