The Politics of Street Signs

Street sign in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem
Street sign in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Photo: TMK, June 2009.

Just another small but potent reminder of the political nature of everyday spaces in the Old City of Jerusalem: In the Jewish Quarter, the vast majority of streets (always labelled in Hebrew, Arabic and English) have had their Arabic names vandalised. This is only partially an act of erasure, and just as much part of an on-going negotiation between regional politics and the local environment of the streets.

More on the contested spaces and archaeology of Jerusalem here.

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