{"id":36765,"date":"2026-08-31T06:50:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T06:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=36765"},"modified":"2026-08-31T06:50:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T06:50:38","slug":"israel-replaces-damascus-gate-name-on-east-jerusalem-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=36765","title":{"rendered":"Israel replaces Damascus Gate name on East Jerusalem signs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>Israeli authorities change public signage as Palestinians warn of efforts to reshape the city’s historic and cultural identity<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Israeli municipality workers install a new sign for Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem (X)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli<\/a> authorities have replaced \u201cDamascus Gate\u201d with \u201cAncient Gate\u201d on public signs in occupied<\/a> East Jerusalem, in what critics describe as a further attempt to erase the city\u2019s Palestinian<\/a> identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damascus Gate, on the northern side of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, is one of the most prominent entrances through its ancient walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also a main route for Palestinians travelling to Al-Aqsa Mosque and a key social gathering point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, signs bearing the name Damascus Gate were removed and replaced with \u201cAncient Gate\u201d in Arabic, English and Hebrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdullah Marouf, a researcher specialising in Al-Aqsa Mosque affairs, said Israel was seeking to Judaise Jerusalem by replacing Arabic and Islamic symbols in public life with Jewish ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

He said the area around Damascus Gate was a vital part of daily life for Palestinians and that Israel had long sought to change its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Hebrew name aims to strip the place of its \u2018Damascus Gate\u2019 designation, as it is one of the main and central gates of Jerusalem,\u201d Marouf told Middle East Eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts to rename landmarks in the area are not new, Marouf said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel previously renamed Solomon\u2019s Cave, between Damascus Gate and Herod\u2019s Gate, as \u201cZedekiah\u2019s Cave\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such names, Marouf said, were intended to alter the character and identity of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsrael has proven its utter failure in achieving this goal, as the image, nature and Arabic language of Jerusalem are clear, and a sign in one of the city\u2019s streets cannot change its reality,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The latest change comes amid a wider campaign targeting street names, landmarks and historical sites across Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli authorities were replacing long-standing Arabic names as part of a policy to reshape the city\u2019s urban and cultural landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement on Wednesday, the governorate said the changes were not simply administrative measures but part of a broader effort to sever future generations from the city\u2019s historical Arabic names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe names of Jerusalem\u2019s gates, streets and landmarks represent an integral part of the city\u2019s national, historical and cultural memory,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReplacing them with new names undermines Jerusalem\u2019s identity and its Arab, Islamic and Christian heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governorate warned that such measures would not erase Jerusalem\u2019s history or its national and cultural memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel\u2019s occupation and later annexation of East Jerusalem, including the Old City, are not recognised under international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from making permanent changes to occupied territory except where required for military or humanitarian reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/news\/israel-replaces-damascus-gate-name-east-jerusalem-signs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israeli authorities change public signage as Palestinians warn of efforts to reshape the city’s historic and cultural identity Israeli municipality workers install a new sign for Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem (X) Israeli authorities have replaced \u201cDamascus Gate\u201d with \u201cAncient Gate\u201d on public signs in occupied East Jerusalem, in what critics describe as a further attempt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34314,34315,1510,27887,33030,27706],"class_list":["post-36765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-changed-the-name-of-damascus-gate","tag-historic-cultural-identity","tag-israel-2","tag-jerusalem","tag-public-sentiments-2","tag-violation-of-international-law","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36765"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36767,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36765\/revisions\/36767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}