Argentine lawmaker proposes renaming ‘Palestine St.’ to ‘Bibas Family St.’

Last week, Israel was gripped by sorrow as the nation mourned the confirmed deaths of the three remaining Bibas family members, who had been held captive by Hamas since its attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023. The two young boys, who held dual Argentine citizenship along with their mother, were brutally murdered shortly after being taken hostage in Gaza, according to the official Israeli autopsy.

In response, Yamil Santoro, a lawmaker in Buenos Aires's municipal legislature, is pushing to rename the street Estado de Palestina (State of Palestine) in the Almagro neighborhood to Familia Bibas (Bibas Family), honoring Shiri Silberman Bibas (32) and her two young sons, Ariel (4) and Kfir Bibas (9 months).

The Times of Israel reports that, “The main obstacle to the name change is an existing law from October 1998 that restricts designating street names for a person until 10 years have passed since their death.”

Santoro told Argentina’s La Nación newspaper that renaming the street after the Bibas family could provide a way around legal restrictions on naming streets after a single individual.

On 𝕏, he wrote: "We are presenting a bill to rename ‘Palestine Street’ as ‘Bibas Family Street.’ It is essential to remember and honor the victims of terrorism."

Argentina's President Javier Milei has a positive relationship with Israel and the nation has reportedly ceased recognizing Palestine as an independent state in United Nations votes. However, the proposed legislation must go before the Buenos Aires Legislature where there are differing opinions concerning the matter.

Some members have suggested that "Palestine Street" is not related to Hamas and the street should not be renamed. They have instead recommended a park or another public space be dedicated to remembering the Bibas family.

He added that they have not yet contacted the Bibas family, stating, “We will wait for a reasonable amount of time to pass before reaching out.” The streets Estado de Palestina and Estado de Israel famously intersect, attracting daily attention from onlookers.