By a vote of 8-2, the Jerusalem Municipality's Names Committee, headed by Mayor Moshe Lion, has approved the naming of new streets in the village of Shiloach (Silwan in Arabic) south of the Old City, after rabbis and a Jewish philanthropic organization, according to Haaretz.
Councilman Yossi Havilio, one of the opposing votes, said, "This is sticking a finger into the eyes of the Arabs. The area is mostly populated by Arab residents and there is no reason to name the streets after rabbis. This will just foment and inflame the mood unnecessarily."
Shiloach neighborhood, on the slopes of the Kidron Valley, is named for the tunnel dug by King Hezekiah to reach the Gihon Spring outside the walls of the City of David, Jerusalem's water supply, without leaving the city. Jews bought land in Shiloach village in 1882 and Yemenite immigrants lived there.