Tel Aviv council rejects Arabic caption in city logo

/ August 8, 2012

The Tel Aviv city council on Monday rejected a motion to re-imagine the emblem so it includes the city’s name in Arabic as well as in Hebrew and English.

A proposal from Adalah – TheLegal Center for Arab Minority Right in Israel

תחתית הטופס

The motion was put forward by council member Ahmed Mashrawi (Meretz). The general secretary of Hadash inTel-Aviv and council member Yoav Goldring (Ir LeKulanu – City for All) who raised the issue as early as 2009, endorsed the motion. “Arabic is not just the language spoken by Jaffa residents and students residing in the city. Maimonides used it and many of the city’s eldest residents spoke it in their native lands. This could be a unifying message that shows mutual respect and co-existence.”

The Labor party Mayor, Ron Huldai however is firmly against the move. “The motion contains nothing but the initiator’s desire to get a headline and spark political wrangling,” Huldai said.  Councilman Benjamin Babayoff (Shas) also opposed. “I voted against the motion, my personal opinion is irrelevant. The Shas faction has its rabbis, they asked not to vote with the opposition at this point.”

Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Right in Israel) Attorney Sawsan Zaher commented on the topic:  “The city logo is a major symbol for residents and of course to City Hall. The logo represents the residents of Tel Aviv and thus it is important. Tel Aviv-Yaffa is a mixed city, and therefore the city should at least – for declarative purposes – add the Arabic language to the logo.” We cannot understand the mayor’s refusal to add Arabic, an official state language. It’s not Russian or Amharic. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled in our case against the Tel Aviv municipality and ordered them to add Arabic to the street signs in Tel Aviv.

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