Hamtramck City Council votes to rename street after Palestine

The Hamtramck City Council has voted to rename one of its main streets as "Palestine Avenue" as a "symbolic gesture of remembrance and support for the people of Gaza."

The resolution, which passed by a 4-3 vote last week, came five months after the all Muslim council was under fire for approving a flag "neutrality" ordinance that bans flags from being flown on city property for religious, ethnic or other reasons. Critics viewed the measure as anti-LGBTQ.

The newest resolution honorarily renames Holbrook Street between Buffalo Street and Saint Aubin Street. Council members Mohammed Alsomiri, Muhith Mahmood and Abu Musa voted against the resolution.

The resolution highlights the number of people ― 20,000 ― who have died in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7 and says the "renaming is intended as a gesture of solidarity, remembrance, and compassion for the lives lost in Gaza."

The resolution was initially removed from the Dec. 12 agenda by the council. But Mayor Amer Ghalib brought it back for consideration, saying the council would get blasted on social media for avoiding action on the resolution.

"People will be to be very disappointed. The other side, you’re not going to get their support no matter what you do," Ghalib said. "… I don’t want to see on the news that the Hamtramck City Council disapproved naming of a street Palestine. It will look bad. It will look like we don’t support Palestine.”

“This is the last country in the world that is still occupied," the mayor added later. "It is the hottest and most pressing topic that is going on.”

But opposing council members argued in part that renaming streets after countries in crisis wouldn't be practical for the council, even though the council members back Palestine.

"It's getting us nowhere," Mahmood said before the vote. "This is happening everywhere in the world … and if you bring all of those to Hamtramck to a street name, I don't know how viable this is for the community."

Pro-Palestinian activists have ramped up calls for a ceasefire and support for Gaza since Israel declared war against Hamas after the Palestinian military group, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization, attacked mostly Israeli civilians and took more than 200 hostages on Oct. 7. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has resulted in thousands of civilian and military casualties as Israeli officials say they seek the elimination of Hamas.

It was unclear if any street signs in Hamtramck would change because of the council's action. The resolution states that it is not intended to have any impact on official postal addresses or other legal designations.

laguilar@detroitnews.com