Cairo Governorate changes the name of Selim I Street in Zaytoun

CAIRO - 14 August 2019: Governor of Cairo Atef Abdel Hamid decided to change the name of Selim I Street in Zaytoun, based on the proposal of Mohamed Sabry el Daly, Professor of Contemporary History at Helwan University.

The proposal stressed that it is not right to name a street after the first colonizer of Egypt, who stole its independence and made it one of the mandates of the Ottoman Empire, besides killing thousands of Egyptians, in addition to executing the last Mamluk Sultan Toman Bay and paralysing the Egyptian Army at the time.

A community dialogue will be held under the chairmanship of Zaytoun district administration and the people of the neighborhood, the shop owners and interested intellectuals and historians to choose an appropriate name for the street.

This came during a meeting of the governorate nomenclature committee chaired by the governor and the presence of Major General Hany Shenishn, Director of Housing Directorate and representatives of the Ministries of Interior and Defense, Mohsen Salah the Assistant Secretary General and representatives of the Postal and Education Authority, educational buildings and a number of leaders of the province.

The Governor of Cairo agreed during the meeting to name a number of schools, road axes and new streets after martyrs of the armed forces and police in acknowledgment and appreciation of the governorate towards their endless sacrifices for the sake of the homeland and to immortalize their memory.

The committee approved to name the Zaytoun Elementary School for girls in the neighborhood Zaytoun after the name of the martyr Mohammed Ahmed Ghonaim, Katameya Boys School in New Cairo after martyr Emad Amir Rushdy Ali and Maadi secondary school for girls after the martyr Ahmed Shawky Ali.

The committee also approved the proposal to name Dar el Salaam Primary School after martyr Adel Mustafa Abdel Rahman, Hadayek el Kobba National School after martyr Shadi Alaa el Assi, Mokattam School of Languages after martyr Islam Muhammad Ali Mashhour and the Secondary School of Girls in Helwan after martyr Saber Abu Nab Ali.

The governor of Cairo called on the need to put commemorative plates inside all schools that bear the names of the martyrs, including a prolific biography of the martyr whose name the school bears. The schools must also display a large picture of each martyr, the details of their sacrifices and the circumstances of their martyrdom to set an example for school students.

The Governor of Cairo also stressed that the martyr's name must be preceded by the title "Hero", demanding a celebration of each school bearing the martyr's name as a reminder of what they had done for the sake of the homeland, and to honor their memory by presenting their biographies and heroic acts in each school during the first class of the academic year.

During the meeting, the committee also agreed to name a number of streets after the names of martyrs as follows:

El-Montazah Street in Heliopolis Square in Nozha will be named after martyr Hisham el-Din Azab, Shabab el Mohandeseen st. in Nasr City will be named after martyr Ziad Mohammed Gad, Gabaris st. in Heliopolis will be named after martyr Aiman Hatem Abdel Rahim, Khalil Owais st. in Masr el Kadima district will be named after martyr Mohamed Ashour Ali Saad,

The proposal to name Al-Hamam Street in Heliopolis district after Dr. Tawhid Abdel Rahman was approved, as she is the first Egyptian doctor hired by the Egyptian government in 1932.

The governor also pointed out that the Cairo Governorate will hold a celebration to honor the families of the martyrs and hand them commemorative copper plates with the names of the schools bearing the names of their martyr siblings.