Jerusalem Mayor Kicks Off Arab Street Namings

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat will inaugurate a street in the Arab neighborhood of Beit Hanina on Wednesday in the name of a famous Egyptian singer.

The ceremony at 3:30pm will name the street Umm Kultum, after a beloved Egyptian singer, the daughter of an Imam, who died in 1975.

The naming is part of a project to name all streets in Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem.  According to a press release by the Government Press Office, many streets in those neighborhoods have never been officially named.  Now, 145 new street names have been approved and will be affixed to roads in Zur Baher, Beit Hanina, Shuafat, Issawiya, Abu-Tor, Silwan, and Ras Al-Amud.