TEL AVIV – A Palestinian couple from Gaza have named their triplets Jerusalem, Capital and Palestine in protest of President Donald Trump’s December recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Nidal and Islam al-Saiqli, from Khan Yunis, named their two boys Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Filasteen (Palestine) respectively, while the third triplet, a girl, was named Asima, meaning Capital.
“Thank Allah, I had triplets so we were able to name them in response to Trump’s decision,” said their mother, Islam.
“There is no value to the Trump decision. Jerusalem is our eternal capital,” her husband Nidal interjected.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated an interview with the couple broadcast on Arabic-language television.
The father said that he made the decision on the triplets’ names out of love for “Palestine” and in defiance of Trump’s move.
He added that the triplets’ older sister was named Dalal after Dalal Mughrabi, the coordinator of the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, which resulted in the death of 38 Israeli civilians – including 13 children – in the 1970s.
Earlier this month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party posted a report about the triplets’ naming on the website of its Information and Culture Commission.
“‘Dalal Mughrabi’ became the sister of triplets Jerusalem, Capital and Palestine today,” read the headline.
“The couple already has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter named Dalal after self-sacrificing fighter Dalal Mughrabi who, together with a group of self-sacrificing fighters from the Fatah Movement, took part in an attack that led to the deaths of Israelis four decades ago,” the report said, according to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).
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