Nakba Avenue
French town names street 'Nakba Avenue'
Street in Bezons named 'in memory of the expulsion of 800,000 Palestinians and the destruction of 532 villages in 1948 by war criminal David Ben-Gurion'; following protest from Israel, French government orders street signs removed.
Bezons, a French commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, has named a new street "Nakba Avenue" in a ceremony attended by city leaders and representatives of the Muslim community.
The new street sign explains it was named "in memory of the expulsion of 800,000 Palestinians and the destruction of 532 villages in 1948 by war criminal David Ben-Gurion"—Israel's first prime minister.
Bezons Mayor Dominique Lesparre, a member of the Communist Party, is behind the initiative.
'Nakba Avenue' named in Bezons
This isn't the first time Bezons shows solidarity with the Palestinian people. In 2013, it conferred honorary citizenship to Majdi Rahima Rimawi, one of the murderers of minister Rehavam Ze'evi. Rimawi was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 80 years.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon called the "Nakba Avenue" initiative "a nauseating act," which "encourages Palestinian terror and positions itself against peace."
"Not for the first time (glorification of Palestinian murderers seems to be their hobby)," he added. "Shameful and ugly."
The signs for the new avenue have since been removed at the instruction of the French government.
