Hebraization of Palestinian place names

Hebrew-language names were coined for the place-names of Palestine throughout different periods under the British Mandate; after the establishment of Israel following the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight and 1948 Arab–Israeli War; and subsequently in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967. A 1992 study counted c. 2,780 historical locations whose names were Hebraized, including 340 villages and towns, 1,000 Khirbat (ruins), 560 wadis and rivers, 380 springs, 198 mountains and hills, 50 caves, 28 castles and palaces, and 14 pools and lakes. Palestinians consider the Hebraization of place-names in Palestine part of the Palestinian Nakba.

Many place names in Palestine are Arabised forms of ancient Hebrew and Canaanite place-names used during antiquity; many of the original names can be found in the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. Most of these names have been handed down for thousands of years though their meaning was understood by only a few. During classical and late antiquity, the ancient place-names metamorphosed into Aramaic and Greek, the two major languages spoken in the region before the advent of Islam. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant, Arabized forms of the ancient names were adopted.

The Hebraization of place-names was encouraged by the Israeli government, aiming to strengthen the connection of Jews, most of whom had immigrated in recent decades, with the land. As part of this process, many ancient Biblical or Talmudic place-names were restored. In other cases, sites with only Arabic names and no pre-existing ancient Hebrew names or associations have been given new Hebrew names. In some instances, the Palestinian Arabic place name was preserved in the modern Hebrew, despite there being a different Hebrew tradition regarding the name, as in the case of Banias, which in classical Hebrew writings is called Paneas. Municipal direction sign-posts and maps produced by state-run agencies sometimes note the traditional Hebrew name and the traditional Arabic name alongside each other, such as "Nablus / Shechem" and "Silwan / Shiloach" etc. In certain areas of Israel, particularly mixed Jewish–Palestinian cities, there is a growing trend to restore the original Arabic street names that were Hebraized after 1948.