Israeli new road sign plan stirs controversy

by David Harris

JERUSALEM, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Getting around Israel by following road signs can be a confusing business. The Ben-Gurion International Airport, the main gateway to Israel, is a classic example.

In Hebrew, the airport is called Namal Teufah Ben Gurion. However, Israelis affectionately refer to it by the acronym NATBAG. For years there was at least one road sign in English pointing to "NATBAG," with no mention of it being the international airport. Imagine how many people must have missed their flights as a result.

Thankfully that sign disappeared, but now a storm is raging about the latest plans for road signs over the country. The Transport Ministry has come up with a solution, but it is not one that makes the sizable Arabic-speaking minority particularly happy.

In theory all signs appear in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English. Quite often though, only two of the three appear. Furthermore, the spellings can vary from sign to sign.

For example, the English version of Cesarea varies so much. It is sometimes spelled with a Q at the beginning and an IYYA at the end, and then any number of variations in between. It is all about transliteration, but without uniformity.

That is as far as English is concerned. The situation in Arabicis far worse -- many road signs are simply misspelled in Arabic --totally incorrect letters slipped accidentally into place names making them totally nonsensical.

Transport Minister Yisrael Katz has decided the best way out of the mess is to standardize all signs -- and where there is a different name for a city in English or Arabic, it will be ignored with a transliteration of the Hebrew becoming standard.

Take Jerusalem as an example. Currently signs refer to Yerushalayim in Hebrew, Jerusalem in English and Al-Quds in Arabic. If Katz has his way, the city's name will appear only as Yerushalayim, in Hebrew, English and Arabic.

The move has angered many Israeli Arabs, with some saying it is part of a plan to de-Arabize the state.

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, told Xinhua it intends to appeal against the move and will petition the country's High Court of Justice in the next few weeks.