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The Hamtramck City Council last week passed a resolution to rename a mile-stretch of Holbrok Street "Palestine Avenue."
The all-Muslim council voted 4-3 in support of Palestinians in the Gaza, reports Violet Ikonomova of the Detroit Free Press. Last month, the council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where, according to the Gaza healthy ministry, more than 18,000 people have been killed in a war that began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 200 people, mostly Israelis, but some Americans.
Bill Meyer, of the diversity-based organization One Hamtramck, tells the Freep the vote is “a courageous and creative action … showing deep respect to the people who’ve suffered injustice for decades and now face genocide and extinction from their own land.”
Rabbi Simcha Tolwin of Jewish Learning Center Aish Detroit in Oak Park was among those Jewish leaders condemning the vote.
"Naming a street Palestine Ave. shows that Hamtramck supports terrorism, and gives the terrorists the support they need to keep at their goals of genocide through rape, murder and kidnapping of civilians," he said in an email to the Freep, referencing the Hamas attack.
Hamtramck, once a Polish enclave, has a majority Muslim population, many of whom are from Yemen and Bangladesh.
The city previously added the street sign "Bangladesh Avenue" to Conant Avenue between Harold and Davison Streets.
Hamtramck Councilman Abu Musa, who voted against the resolution, said he supports Palestinians but thought there have been other nations' conflicts around the world in which residents might want streets named after.
The council has cast other controversial votes this year. In June, it voted unanimously to ban the display of the Pride flag. In January, the coucil voted to allow religious slaughter of animals on private property.
