First Street In The World Named After A Twitter-account

PR Log (Press Release) – Sep 27, 2009 – NABLUS/AMSTERDAM - In a Palestinian refugee camp, a street has been named after a twitter account. The '@arjanelfassed tweetstreet' is located in Askar refugee camp, situated within the municipal bounderies of Nablus, the largest Palestinian city in the nothern part of the West Bank.

The streetname was bought by the Dutch-Palestinian owner of the twitter account, Arjan El Fassed, through a website (www.jouwstraatnaam.nl) set up by a Dutch group to support cultural and expressive after-school activities for the children in the camp.

'Since a refugee camp by definition should not remain permanent, selling streetnames of the camp is a creative way to connect people and support these children after school', says Arjan El Fassed. 'Naming the street to my Twitter-account is a symbolic way to connect both online and offline with the children of Askar'.

The refugee camp is overcrowded and home to more than 16,000 refugees. Around 1,000 Palestian children under the age of 12 have no place to go after school. The Palestinian Child Care Society (PCCS) has established a youth centre and by selling the names of the 200 streets in the camp via the website www.jouwstraatnaam.nl it supports after-school activities.

Askar camp was established in 1950 on 209 dunums of land within the municipal boundaries of Nablus. Refugees in Askar came from 36 villages that were depopulated in the 1948/1948. Most refugees are from the areas of Lydda, Jaffa and Haifa.