Egyptian singer's name chosen as one of 86 new street names to be given in east Jerusalem in first phase of plan to improve quality of life.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Jerusalem municipality will name a street in east Jerusalem after famed Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, it announced Monday.The new Umm Kulthum street will be among 86 new street names authorized for the east of the city: 26 in Tzur Bachar, 34 in Beit Hanina and Shuafat and 17 in Isawiya.RELATED:East Jerusalem roads to be namedFor years, streets in the east part of the city lacked official names, making access to basic services such as mail delivery difficult for residents.Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barakat said of the decision, "We are operating in every sector to narrow the gaps of the city's citizens: in education, culture, infrastructure, transportation, planning and construction. Completing the street naming for all the streets in the east of the city will improve the quality of life, and each resident will have his own address."City Councilor Meir Margalit (Meretz) who holds the east Jerusalem portfolio, estimated that there are at least 1,000 unnamed roads in east Jerusalem and the process of assigning names will take at least a year. In the first round, the community council at Beit Hanina was given aerial photographs and asked to assign names to the highlighted roads.Umm Kalthoum, the Egyptian songstress who died in 1975, was well-received as a star of Middle Eastern music in the West and remains widely beloved in the Arab world.Melanie Lidman contributed to this report.