Tibi Proposes Official Name Change Of Jerusalem To Al Quds

Jerusalem, September 12 – Member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi submitted a legislative proposal today that calls for Israel to switch the name of its capital city to its parallel Arabic appellation, stating that use of the Hebrew constitutes prejudice against the Arab minority in the country.

Bill 1947C, the Name Jerusalem ‘Al-Quds’ in All Official Contexts Act of 2014, aims “to take steps to eliminate bias against the non-Hebrew-speaking minorities in the country” by replacing Jewish terms with “names in a neutral language, the natural vernacular of the region being most suitable.” As such, Jerusalem would henceforth be exclusively called Al Quds – literally, “the Holy Place” in Arabic – the Western Wall would be called Al Buraq, after Muhammad’s legendary steed – and Tel Aviv would be subsumed under the Arabic named of the city from which it emerged, Jaffa. The changes would only go into effect after three years, given the abundance of documents, signs, flags, emblems, plaques, and currency that use the former terms.

“Prejudice against the Palestinian minority is ingrained in so many parts of Israeli culture and government. This law takes several important steps in reversing that worrisome process,” Tibi said from the Knesset podium. “Perhaps one day we can even shift away from the Hebrew term ‘shekel’ to refer to the currency, and employ a less divisive one, such as, perhaps, ‘dinar’, even using banknotes with the images of non-Jewish figures important to our collective history, such as Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini.”

Passage of the bill, even at its preliminary reading, remains unlikely, as Tibi has yet to find success in persuading enough of his colleagues even to vote in favor of sending the bill to committee. “A number of my fellow Arab MKs have enthusiastically expressed their support, but we need a majority to take this to the next stage,” he explained. If the bill does pass its preliminary vote, it must survive in committee and two subsequent votes in the full plenum. If it does reach the Interior Committee, the Name Jerusalem ‘Al-Quds’ in All Official Contexts Act would also likely undergo changes to make its passage either more likely or more to the liking of the various parties represented on that committee.

The composition of that committee does not favor the bill’s passage in its current form, meaning that the Jewish Home and Likud parties, which control the committee, would most likely modify it, possibly choosing to rename other locations instead: Chashmonaim West instead of Teaneck, or Upper West Katamon in Manhattan.

Tibi said that renaming the country “Palestine” instead of Israel would be an unnecessary piece of legislation, as he expects that to happen by itself sometime over the next thirty years.