Ramallah street named after Yahya Ayyash despite Israeli objection
The Palestinian Authority slammed on Thursday Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to a decision to name a Ramallah street after Hamas activist Yahya Ayyash, saying Israel was absurdly using the term incitement.
“Israel is using the term incitement in an absurd manner, which indicates the Israeli government’s distress,” the PA press office wrote in a statement responding to Israel’s condemnation of the decision.
“When describing legitimate and nonviolent activity – such as boycotting products produced in the settlements – as incitement, there’s no wonder that they [Israel] continue to make such bizarre use of the term,” the statement said, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
Following a report on Channel 10 revealing the plan, Netanyahu issued a statement saying it was an “outrageous glorification of terrorism by the Palestinian Authority.”
However, the Palestinian Authority criticized Netanyahu’s stance and said that “those who live in a glass house should not throw stones.”
“Israel is full of streets named after killers such as Menachem Begin, the Irgun and the Lehi.”
Ayyash, also known as the “engineer,” was killed in 1996 in an Israeli assassination, after his cell phone exploded in his home.
Israel blames him for being “the architect of multiple attacks, including a 1994 bombing of a Tel Aviv bus.”
According to the Channel 10 report, the street sign posted at the Ramallah location read: “Yahya Ayyash, 1966-1996, born in Nablus, studied electrical engineering in Bir Zeit University. Was a member of the Iz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and was linked by Israel to a number of bombings. He was assassinated by Israel in his Beit Lahia (Gaza Strip) home in 5.1.1996.”
