Mayor to Inaugurate "Umm Kultum Street” in Beit Hanina

19 October 2012

Mayor Nir Barkat to Inaugurate "Umm Kultum Street” in Beit Hanina
(Communicated by the Office of the Mayor’s Spokesman)

On Wednesday (17 Oct.), Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat will inaugurate a new street in Beit Hanina, in the name of the famous Egyptian singer, Umm Kultum, who died in 1975. Umm Kultum, the greatest female singer of Arabic music, is still revered today. Singer Nasreen Qadri (winner of the Israeli TV show "Eyal Golan Calls You") will sing Umm Kultum's famous song "Enta Omri" (“You are the Love of My Life”) at the ceremony.

The naming of the street after Umm Kultum is part of a comprehensive plan to name all the streets in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. 145 new street names were approved in 2012, including in Zur Baher, Beit Hanina, Shuafat, Issawiya, Abu-Tour, A-Tur, Silwan and Rass El-Amud.

For decades, many streets in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem remained unnamed and many buildings unnumbered. In an unprecedented effort to bridge the gaps resulting from this history, Mayor Barkat instructed professional teams and the Municipality's Naming Committee to map and locate unnamed streets and to work in collaboration with residents to locate suitable names. The Naming Committee engaged local Mukhtars (village and neighborhood heads), religious leaders, neighborhood representatives and residents throughout this process.

ENDS

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