The City of Johannesburg, South Africa, plans to rename the road on which the U.S. Consulate is located after Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled.

Sandton Drive is a central artery in Johannesburg, and Sandton, the neighborhood in which the road is located, is home to many of South Africa’s 50,000 Jews. The area is also home to at least four synagogues among other Jewish institutions.

Johannesburg acted on a proposal adopted by the City Council in November 2018 to rename the road, publishing a notice of the change and inviting the public to send in any comments by Oct. 15.

The motion to change Sandton Drive’s name to Leila Khaled Drive was proposed by then-City Council member Thapelo Amad, who on Oct. 7 of last year posted online: “We stand with Hamas, Hamas stands with us, together we are Palestine and Palestine will be free. With our souls, with our blood, we will conquer Al Aqsa.” 

Khaled is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who became infamous as the world’s first female hijacker after taking part in two plane hijackings in 1969.

The State Department declined to comment on the name change.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies, however, said that it is “reprehensible” for Johannesburg to rename the road on which a U.S. Consulate is located after a terrorist.

“This is a hostile and antagonistic gesture at a time when our government is trying to rebuild and repair fragile relations with the United States and encourage investment from them,” the SAJBD wrote in its submission opposing the change. “Renaming the street where the consulate is situated after a woman on their proscribed terror list is a damaging move. This is not in the interests of our city and our country where our economy is desperate for foreign investment.”

South African Zionist Federation spokesperson Rolene Marks said that “this change appears deliberately provocative towards the U.S. Consulate located on Sandton Drive, potentially discouraging American investment in Johannesburg. It’s particularly concerning given that the U.S. government has officially designated the PFLP as a terrorist organization.”

The head of Johannesburg’s municipal transport committee, Kenny Kunene, spoke out against the name change, calling it an attempt to “humiliate the U.S. by making their diplomats and officials carry business cards with Leila Khaled’s name on them. The American consulate’s website will bear Leila Khaled’s name.”

Kunene warned that the U.S. is South Africa’s second-largest export partner and the African Growth and Opportunity Act that allows many of those exports to enter the U.S. duty-free will be up for a renewal vote in Congress next year.

“There are many in the U.S. Congress who would like to see South Africa excluded from it next year, and this foolish act will only provide them with fodder against us,” he added.

The SAZF said that “to venerate violence and honor such an individual is an affront to peace-loving South Africans, including the Jewish community in Johannesburg … Honoring an individual linked to an internationally recognized terrorist group sends a troubling message about the city’s values and priorities.”

The organization also pointed out that Khaled “continues to advocate for violence and terror against Israelis to this day. In recent years, she has made statements supporting ‘resistance in all its forms, first and foremost through armed struggle.'”

The SAJBD also said that the renaming not only “engenders hurt and offense,” it goes against the Johannesburg Municipality’s published policy on the naming of streets and public places. 

That policy states that “naming after living people should be avoided because community attitudes and opinions can change over time.” Name changes should take place with “a strong degree of community support” and be “desirable to promote the goodwill of people now living in the new South Africa,” the document states. The policy also states that such names should “contribute to the creation of places that residents and users can relate to and take pride in” as well as “build social cohesion.” 

In addition, the SAJBD argued that the name change does not “increase the marketing or investment potential of the area,” as the city’s guidelines say it should.

“Many of the businesses on Sandton Drive were founded or are run by Jewish South Africans, who have over decades created hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributed to its development. To rename Sandton Drive after a woman who embodies attempts to kill Jews globally is extremely painful to SA Jewry. This is the antithesis of the social cohesion envisaged by name changes,” the SAJBD wrote.