Falastin Street

rdf:langString Falastin Street

rdf:langString Palestine Street or Falastin Street (Arabic: شارع فلسطين) is a street located in eastern Baghdad. It runs parallel and to the west of Army Canal between Mustanssiriya square, through Beirut square to Maysalon square, in the neighborhoods of Mustansiriya, Nile, Al-Muthanna to the west and 14 July, Al-Idrisi, the Martyr Monument, and AlMuthanna to the east. The street was established in the 1960s when the government started a plan to extend Baghdad by adding new neighborhoods. A recent incident took place on Falastin Street where a number of Westerners were kidnapped, in a snatch operation that reportedly involved up to 40 gunmen traveling in an official-looking convoy. A security source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq that the incident took place in Falastin Street, eastern Baghdad. "Gunmen stopped a vehicle and brought out its passengers, believed to be carrying German passports, at gunpoint, and took them in a vehicle to an unknown place," said the source, who declined to be named. According to the Iraqi Interior Ministry official, the New York Times reports, the attack occurred just outside the Technology and Information Directorate, a section of the Finance Ministry located on Palestine Street, a religiously mixed area near Sadr City. The Palestine Street area has witnessed many recent reconstruction efforts, whereby many trees were planted by Baghdad municipality, and fountains and playgrounds were constructed. Palestinian Street is the leading commercial and shopping center in eastern Baghdad.