Hostage Forum asks Jerusalem mayor to change name of ‘Gaza Road’ to ‘Hostages Street’; city refuses

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issues a plea to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion to change the name of the capital’s Azza Road to “Hostages Street” until the all the captives return home from the Gaza Strip.

Azza Road — pronounced and spelled identically to the word for Gaza in Hebrew — is named after the Gaza Strip since it marks the direction toward the Strip from Jerusalem’s Old City. It has also become the site of countless anti-government protests in recent years, since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resides there.

“Changing the name would carry a clear moral message in the heart of the nation’s capital: Until everyone comes home, life in Israel cannot continue normally,” the Forum writes in its letter to the mayor. “The new sign would remind the city’s residents and passersby every day about the supreme duty of returning all the hostages — the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for dignified burial in Israel.

“It is a symbolic yet significant step that would express solidarity with the families, boost public and international awareness, and send a message of unity and solidarity.”

The Forum says its request comes ahead of Sunday, when much of the Israeli economy will grind to a halt in a general strike in solidarity with the hostages and in protest of a new plan to conquer Gaza City rather than negotiate a deal to bring home the 50 abductees held by Palestinian terrorists, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

The municipality says a short while later that, despite identifying with the families’ pain, it won’t change the name due to the rich history of Gaza in Jewish scripture since the days of the Bible.