Give Arab train stations Hebrew names, says Israeli linguist

How about naming the stations bilingually or trilingually or quadrilingually, etc... Isn't Jerusalem supposed to be the Golden City of Peace? Isn't God a polyglot? Hasn't the esteemed linguist read the Story of the Tower of Babel? What would Abraham say? What would Moses say? What would Solomon say? Denying historic place names is revisionist. This is what Soviet agents would do when one was declared a non-person by the Politburo. They would go into university libraries and tear out the pages of the Soviet Encyclopedia that referred to the newly declared non person. Linguist Dr. Avshalom Kor's approach is as despicable as the ideology of the Grand Ayatollahs of Iran or the French language fanatics in Quebec. The all or nothing approach ultimately leads to tragic consequences. Exclusivity is a lie! How interesting that the Dr.'s name is Absalom or "Father of peace".

As a Sabre raised in Israel I speak Hebrew well enough to know what I'm talking about.Why don't you try to read any daily paper and circle the words in "Heblish" and then find the Hebrew words that exist to replace them.........

Please leave to the Arabs the little of Palestine that is left for them. And by the way, the 'Davidka' is not famous, but rather infamous for its use against civilians in 1948

Amir, I must say I like the way you think. You seem moderate and understanding. As a half Ashkenazi, half Sephardic Jew I feel that the Arabs and particularly the Palestinians are closely related to us. Yet, the Palestinians seem to be the ones that deny the Jews' connection to the land of Israel and Jerusalem. we are constantly labeled "foreign invaders" "colonialists" and "imperialists". Settlements, refugees, water, etc. have little to do with the conflict-until the Palestinian side starts respecting our heritage, there won't be peace.

Whatever the world thinks about Israels control of east Jerusalem the REALITY of the situation right now is that Israel is running the show and just because the palestinians want it as their capital doesn't mean they will get it and now is not the time to be trying to deal with Jerusalem or it will overshadow everything else. Israel is building this light rail and is entitled to call the stations anything it likes. You can have an all arab area and call it Ben Gurion or Ariel Sharon street and there is nothing the arabs can do about it. If they did manage to get their hands on part the city any land within their control they could rename. Israel has changed the names of alot of arab dominated towns & villages before 1948. Alot of local arab street signs with arab named and renamed them with jewish ones. When your in charge you can can choose any names you like for places and Israel is in charge.

The method of enabling foreigners to enunciate a native tongue, but not necessarily understand it, is called transliteration. If you are literate in both languages, it is superfluous, if you are not it enables you to tell the waiter that you prefer your steak rare rather than well done. No necessarily stupid at all.

... a joy to listen to his lectures... ... but he would do well to distance himself from political polemics... ... politics only detract...

Have the zionists struck Arabic from one of the three official languages of the country? Has it been replaced by Russian?

Before you worry about train stations,why don't you stop using "Americanized English" words spelled in Hebrew letters ?It's stupid.......

Of course ALL stations should be given hebrew names Israel is a JEWISH STATE and its national language is HEBREW. There are alot of towns & cities that pre 1948 had arab names then they came under Israeli control and their names were changed to hebrew ones. Local street signs in alot of arab dominated cities have had the old arab names renamed after jews. Street sign spelling - there are now plans to rename the national road signs of towns with the hebrew spelling only to replace the multi lingual names. Names like Jaffa will only be called YAFFO The name will be spelled different in english & arabic but they will all call it Yaffo. Acre will only be called AKKO on all signs accross the country just spelled Jerusalem - in all langauges it will say YERUSHALAYIM not Jerusalem or Al Quds. So if we can change local & national street signs after jews & getting rid of arab names, if towns can be renamed then whats the big deal about giving all stations on the light rail hebrew names?

Racism, pure and simple. Wonder what this linguist would do with Katamon, Talbieh or Ba'aqa? Didnt the Germans do this in Poland?

who is trying his best to do Palestinian ethnic cleansing in E.Jerusalem. Removing anything related to Palestinians is extremist zionist aim

Pure and simple. And what would this gaon propose for Katamon and Talbieh and Baqa?

names from pre-48 to today that were removed by the arabs should be brought back.

People like Avshalom Kor are the inhibitors of any peace process. They refuse to recognize diversity and the need to respect all peoples. Is this our heritage of truth, justice and a concern for those least able to help themselves? Or is this the Protestant ethnic whereby we are righteous and will exert whatever effort to control and suppress others that slow our material gains?

Half of Jerusalem spends most of each day studying in Aramaic! The language is alive and kicking.

Fact: the buses in east Jerusalem (they are in fact service taxis) to this day state their destinations only in Arabic. Since most Jews here seem unwilling to learn how to read Arabic although some do learn how to speak it) they do not use those minibuses. (That may not be the only reason.) Egged bus drivers are reluctant to go into some of the areas that have been progressively tacked onto Jerusalem with the passing years and thus stay out of them. Egged buses state their destinations only in Hebrew. There are many civilized countries that have no problem with two or even three national languages, Switzerland and Belgium being but two. They have no need at all to exclusively translate place-names either. Belgium simply calls places by both names. I remember a metro stop in Budapest called Aquincum - Latin, not Hungarian but no-one's batted an eyelid. History, ancient or modern, is nice. Reminder: the world is united in seeing East Jerusalem as occupied or at best, disputed.

Arieh Zimmerman and Sam Soul are good indications of a still hopefull situation ! Important that also Palestinians reading these postings start to think in clear terms of cooperation and understanding.Hate-mongers on both sides are just undermining the well-fare and lives of peace-seekers and ordinary people on both sides

"p.s. How many Jewish neighborhoods are there in Riyadh?" [zimmerman] Zero. My point, exactly.

I quote Simon of Sydney, "The Arabs arrived here as sword wielding occupiers". In Joshua 6:1-27, we see thatwhatever served Canaan as its contemporary Ellis Island, Joshua did not make use of it. No visa, no peaceful sight-seeing, no work in the garment factories. So, Simon of Sydney, if I may make a slight change in your quote,"The Tribe of Abraham arrived here as sword wielding occupiers". The point I wish to make is that legalisms are useless as a method of determining who has the right to live in this land of milk and honey. For the nth time, the Palestinians are here to stay, as are we. Whether we live together in peace or in conflict is a choice we are leaving to the rancid political leadership, and to shameful calls to stupid actions by extremists of both sides. Sadly, Dr. Kol lends his wit, rather than his wisdom to the fray.

Thank you for your correction, I am sure that it is well meant. So Aramaic is somewhere still alive; but to quote Joseph Stalin, "how many divisions does (it) have? In any case, I rather think that the villagers cannot be suspected of threatening to change the railroad stations names from Arabic to Aramaic.

Is it 1933 in Israel, or 1937? Hard to say which. One thing is clear, that is the folks running the country have an uncanny abilty to emulate those running Germany in the thirties. Same values, different 'race' and time.

Once again you Jasper - the American - is telling the truth ! again jewish americans think they have more "rights" than palestinian themselves ! hilarious. Were you born on that land ? i believe the answer is no. Now my ancesters are from this region and Jerusalem and Haifa in particular. Let's meet and we will teach you a few things about the history of that region. I'll invite some palestinian friends as well. You might be in little less blind and dishonnest afterwards. Who knows ? in the meantime stick to YOUR american origins and don't deny palestinian's for a start.

...more history: 1. Yes it is true about the Roman name-change. At least you don't claim that "Palestine" was invented 100 years ago or in the 1920s 2. Actually, as 85 % of the Palestinians stem from Juda tribe and other Israelite tribes, the presence of Hebrews has been overwhelming - even after 70 AD 3. Arab influx had impact on language and culture, but biologically/genetically the influx was marginal and minute. The naming of the topography is of course not solely the right of the tribe of Juda. Be fair and have double names on places of double interest. Finally, accept your Palestinian brothers and sisters - the promise to Jacob ALSO INCLUDED them - regardless if they speak arabic or are christian or moslems. The promise to Jacob also includes those Jews who do not speak hebrew,for instance Yiddish or Ladino, right or wrong ??

and among the Chaldeans and the Assyrians of Iraq. I once saw a film of the Assyrians praying in their church, and it sounded like the Kaddish, which is, also, in Aramaic.

... to name train stations, and roads, and junctions, and the state itself using the language of the country - Hebrew.

If it wouldn't be so sad, it would be good joke. Is shows the blatant usurpation of Palestinian lands by Israeli occupation.

I can see from some of the responses that history lessons are needed by some of the respondents, sadly some of the Jewish ones. Lesson no. 1. Israel's name was changed by the occupying Romans to Syria-Palestina as the final phase in their attempted destruction of the Jewish Nation (after years of unbelievable violence against the civilian population). Lesson No.2. The Jewish presence in the Holy Land has never been totally absent, only fluctuating. Lesson No.3. The Arabs arrived here as sword wielding occupiers. It is totally irrelevant whether they came here a hundred or eight hundred years ago - they came here as occupiers, occupying the land of the Jews; they did not come here holding land titles, period. The naming of the topography of the land of the Jews should be decided by Jews. If the Arabs want to use Arabic names, they've got the choice of more than a dozen countries comprising hundreds of thousands of square miles. The Jews have only a tiny amount. Leave them in peace.

"If you will it, it is no lie" (forgive me Mr. Herzl). "Don't acknowledge reality, ignore it and it'll just go away, honest!" What kind of linguist is this guy anyway? Aah, right. Newspeak.

You can find a hebrew article about aramaic on Wikipedia. But I don't know to what extent the aramaic that's spoken for example in three western syrian villages is comparable to the aramaic of Ezra and Daniel. One thing I believe to be quite common in aramaic is the article at the end of the word: the letter alef you find at the end of many substantives when you read Daniel. For example "ar'-a" (ha-aretz) and others. Regards

If this is what makes him happy, let Avraham Kor have it his way. Others have try before him to impose hebrew hegemony here in Jerusalem, but Manahat will always be Malha, Givat Hanania will always be Abu Tor, Geulim will remain Baka, and I could go on and on and on...

"Firstly all jews can trace their roots to jerusalem, because this is were all Jews come from..." "In the past 2000 years Jerusalem has been always majority jewish..." Momo. Somebody played a little bit cruel joke with your readiness to believe in any self-serving phantasy. I don't know where do you fetch your ideas from, but let me resume the point of view of Israeli urban geographers regarding the two statements above: It's an utter, hair-raising nonsense.

...Yiddish and Ladino too ? For me totally unacceptable. Why not forcefully change the name of Tiberia (Roman name after the emperor Tiberius). What a freak-show some people are putting up here ! My most sincere regards to openminded Israeli Jews like Arieh Zimmerman and Amos, who are being sensible and reasonable

Israel has tried for decades to erase and expunge all Arabic traces from its lands, from the Arab villages it has destroyed, to the Arab lands it has illegally confiscated, to the names of cities and towns and streets. But these physical acts cannot erase history, and they cannot erase memory. For every village destroyed, every house stolen, ever parcel of land confiscated, and every Arabic name changed into Hebrew, there are thousands of memories, and historical data documenting the violence being done. When Israel is finally a state of equality rights and not an apartheid regime, these beautiful Arabic names will return.

if we follow this logic we should impose on all citizens of Israel to bear only hebrew names, no hebrew name - no citizensship and if you don't like it just get the hell out of here. for rxample no more LIBERMAN in israel (which is a good thing by itself)

"...To accept the terms of the Mandates Article as given below with reference to Palestine, on the understanding that there was inserted in the process-verbal an undertaking by the Mandatory Power that this would not involve the surrender of the rights hitherto enjoyed by the non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

I suggest you google on Tsvi Misinai, and you will understand that more than 85 % of the Palestinians can claim being descendants of the Israelite tribes. After successive conversions they are now Moslems and and Christians, and their native language is Arabic. Are YOU the person to desinherite them of their rights ? Is the land of Israel ONLY a place for the tribe of Juda who happens to follow the Rabbinical line of Judaism ? THAT was NOT the promise from G-D/Hashem/Allah to the seed of Jacob.

"Israeli linguist oversteps bounds, outlives usefulness"

I may be wrong, but as I understand it, for hundrends of years before and after the diaspora, the lingua franca of Israel/Palestine was Aramaic. It therefore follows that in many cases both Hebrew and Arabic place names have their common source in a dead language...ie., we are fighting over the appellations of ghost towns.

Firstly all jews can trace their roots to jerusalem, because this is were all Jews come from, and 99% of arab jews were kicked out of arab countries so there are no Jews. In the past 2000 years Jerusalem has been always majority jewish (excluding an 80yr period) and the last nation to have Jerusalem as its capital was the kingdom of Israel. When you look at the history of the war. The middle east was influenced by pan arabism and there was no difference between Jordan, Syria, Palestine before WW1. It was only a jewish presence in 2% of their land which made them start this war against Israel. Even today when you look at the map of Israel 70% of it is desert, but if peace is an option they are willing to give up as much land as possible, like they did in Gaza and Sinai. I beg to differ with who you say is "greedy"... Its time for the Palestinians to show Israel that they want co-existence. They have made ZERO gestures towards peace and are expert complainers with crocodile tears

What next? Will Israeli bureaucrats require that every Arab business adopt a Hebrew name? That every street have a Hebrew name? That every history book be rewritten to expunge all references to the Arab presence in Palestine?

Most of the towns and villages which are now Arab populated got their names from Hebrew sources and thus were made into Arab names. These are the best proofs that they were taken over and not established as new. Show me an original Arabic named town, except perhaps for Ramallah.

Jasper, you repeat what you have heard but never studied. Present day Israel has been occupied to one degree or another since time immemorial. Wikipedia and other sources agree that in the late 19th century the Arabic speaking population of Palestine included between 410,000 and 600,000 human beings. The majority of the land, even if unoccupied was owned by Absentee Arab land owners. In any case, before the initial purchases of land by the JNF and KKK, essentially none of the land was owned by Jews. Taking a purely legalistic approach to the land, in any case, ignores the social, psychological and ethical problems, created by the attempt to deny Arab speakers their share the live on which they too live. 'Greedy' is the name of the game you seek to play. p.s. How many Jewish neighborhoods are there in Riyadh?

Are you serious? Ramallah and Nablus and Bethlehem and Jericho and Jerusalem & Nazareth didn't exist in the 1880s? or before the crusades? All the Arabic speaking people there moved in after 1880?

Guess what Jasper! Even less Jews can trace their Eretz Yisrael roots past 1890 or even past 1910 for that matter. So what? We are here and they are here. What do you do with them?

why don't they give each station two names: one would be the hebrew version while the other could be the arab version. then on the recording that says what the next stop is it could be in both languages, the signs too could be in several languages....just like the street signs in hebrew, arabic, and english

As much as I appreciate Kor's "Hebrewness", I disagree with him here. Just as the southern Israel RR station is called "Lehavim - Rahat", the name of the Bedouin city the train services, the names of the Jerusalem stations should be in Arabic and relate to the passengers using them and living by the stations. If Jerusalem is a city for both its peoples, as it claims to be, this is a good way of showing it, and a true gesture of goodwill.I don't see the connection of illegal building and using Arabic names.

History isn't tampered by leaving the names as they are, but it is tampered by changing them to underline a partisan motivation, either to "re-dedicate" or to erase. King Saul won't have a kick out of it in heaven, nor will anyone benefit from "Hebraizing". It rather seems a wet dream by a righ-wing nerd. Just leave the names as they are. Erasing the family names from the diaspora to "Hebraize them" was a common fad. Many regret it as a loss of history and background. Erasing the swamps of the Huleh valley was another erasure that cost enormous effort, only to require its reversal with more of the same. Leave the flavor, leave the names, leave it natural and Arab if it has been so for centuries. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't bite. It is all good and fine. BTW You will enrage the Arab population of Israel for no reason. Don't do it !!!

arieh zimmerman sums up my thoughts exactly. enough with this attitude of strengthening our hold on this land and more understanding that another people is also on this land. if we dont find ways to live together, we will both be lost.

Very very few Arabic speaking people in the Holy Land can trace their ancestry back past 1890. Your "eighty generations" is pure hyperbole. The one that pays the piper calls the tunes. The ones who built the railroad name the stations. Don't believe me? Show me any railway in Riyadh that passes through Jewish neighborhoods that name those stations in Hebrew. Can't do it, can you?

Anyone who has listened to Dr. Kor on the radio must be aware that the man is endowed with humor, intellect, and a great love of Hebrew. What is missing from his acerbic personality is now painfully evident, common sense. Like it or not, the land under his feet has also been trod upon and tilled by eighty generations of non-Hebrew speakers who are now buried under its surface. If Avshalom cannot find the wisdom which would allow him to recognize that the Arabs are here to stay, that unwarranted and narrow-minded arrogance will not improve the tenor of our lives, or theirs, he should stick to he cold liniments of language and otherwise remain silent.