A legacy in limbo: Israels cultural battle in renaming Palestinian cities

3^min

May 14, 1948, marks the establishment of Israel on Palestine's land. Since then, Israel has not only occupied Palestinian territories, displaced families, and destroyed villages, turning them into Jewish cities, but has also waged a relentless war to seize the essence of Palestinian culture and memory.

In this war, the names of cities, villages, towns, and streets have been systematically altered from Arabic to Hebrew.

Changing the names, according to Palestinian historian Mustafa Kabha, is done by the Israeli Government Naming Committee systematically over the years.

It translates the names from Arabic to Hebrew, such as the Palestinian village of "Ain al-Wardat," which, with a stroke of a pen, became "Ein Vered" in Hebrew, or by changing the names completely and giving some of them Torah-related religious connotations, to impose a Jewish character on them.

In the case of complete name changes, let us take the example of the Gaza Strip's surroundings, also known as the "Gaza Envelope." After 1948, dozens of settlements were built on Palestinian land.

Let us examine a sample of these settlements and their original names, according to a study by the Institute for Palestine Studies:

- Ashkelon: Erected on the lands of four Palestinian villages, namely Al-Majdal, Al-Jura, Al-Khisas, and Ni'ilya.
- Zikim: Built on the grounds of the Palestinian village of Hiribya, renowned for its citrus groves.
- Erez: Established on a portion of the Palestinian village of Dimra.
- Sderot: Constructed on the land of the village of Najd.
- Nir Oz: Located where the village of Ma'in Abu Sitta, affiliated with the Arab Al-Ghawali tribe, once stood.
- Holit: Established on the orchards of the Palestinian village of El-Buhdari hamlet.
- Pri Gan: Built on the lands of El-Ahmar and El-Khilawi hamlet.

This historical map represents current Israel overlaid on the historical map of Palestine. Through it, we can identify on which Palestinian lands the settlements were established.

How was the displacement carried out?

Zionist gangs forcibly expelled Palestinians through violence, murder, terrorism, and massacres, such as the Deir Yassin massacre and the Tantura massacre that occurred after the occupation operation.

Without people, the land becomes vacant, and they took it without its inhabitants. They started changing the names of Palestinian villages and cities to Hebrew.

The goal is to erase the Palestinian identity and any trace of the people, culture, history, and nation, claiming that it is a land for Jews and Israel with no inhabitants before.

No matter what Israel does or how it tries to erase the memory of the Palestinian people, the name Palestine and the names of its villages and towns will remain from generation to generation.