Abdullah Kmeil, the Palestinian Authority Governor of the Salfit district in the central West Bank, on Thursday issued a “strict decision” obligating all commercial installations and shops in the area to remove signs and billboards written in Hebrew.
Kmeil, who is also a senior official with the ruling Fatah faction headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, ordered the businesses to replace the signs and billboards with ones written in Arabic.
The decision came after many Palestinian businesses in the West Bank, especially those close to settlements, started hanging signs in Hebrew to attract Jewish clients.
Kmeil gave the businesses one week to comply with the decision, according to the Salfit Governorate Public Relations and Media Department.
Kmeil said that the measure “comes in light of a decision that was taken previously and confirming that the occupation is exploiting the scene of the signs in Hebrew for purposes that serve its racist and fascist policy.”
He stressed the need for everyone to abide by the decision “as a response to the Israeli policy and the arrogance of the occupation aimed at stealing our lands and obliterating the features of the Palestinian identity in the Salfit Governorate, where settlements are expanding.”
The PA governor warned that anyone who violates his decision will be subjected to strict legal action.
Kmeil called on the local authorities and the PA security forces to take immediate action to implement the decision by communicating with the shopkeepers and businessmen to inform them that they need to immediately replace the signs.
The Salfit district is one of 16 Governorates of the PA. Its district capital and largest city Salfit, has a population of nearly 15,000. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the Salfit district had a population of 75,444 in 2017.