Advocate for name change stood his ground
HOLLYWOOD — His rabbi told him it was a lost cause.
His wife thought he was wasting his time fighting City Hall.
Even old-timers from Hollywood’s black Liberia neighborhood thought he was tilting at windmills.
But Benjamin Israel, for months the lone voice demanding that Hollywood change three street names honoring Confederate leaders, paid them no mind.
Israel, an African-American, Orthodox Jew and native New Yorker who moved to Hollywood in 1979, says he knows a wrong when he sees one. And it was wrong to
have streets in Hollywood named after Confederate commanders like Robert E. Lee, John Bell Hood and, above all, Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was also the first grand wizard of the KKK.
For two years, city leaders turned a deaf ear. But Israel kept the issue alive, motivated by the words “tikkun olam,” a Hebrew phrase meaning “repairing theworld.”
The father of eight eventually got help from hometownactivists, the Anti-Defamation League, Black LivesMatterandprominent elected officials, including Sheriff Scott IsraelandCongresswoman Debbie WassermanSchultz, whoissued a statement last week urging Hollywood to change the names of the streets.
But long before then, it was Israel’s voice ringing out at Hollywood commission meetings, fighting for new street names — not because it was a Hollywood issue, but a national one, as he put it.
Israel’s battle was not in vain.
On Monday, with the worldwatching, Hollywood commissioners finally agreed to rename the streets. Under the current plan, Lee Street will become Louisville, Hood Street will become Macon and Forrest will change to Savannah.
A final vote is coming on Aug. 30 — and people on both sides are lining up like soldiers on a battlefield, just in case city leaders change their mind.
Israel, for one, plans to be there.
All three streets extend through the entire city, but only two — Forrest and Hood — run through Liberia.
The controversy made headlines two years ago when vandals painted over the street signs.
A similar call 15 years ago went ignored. At that time, it was longtime Hollywood resident Barry Sacharow whohad taken up the cause.
“I just focused onForrest. He was a polarizing figure,” said Sacharow, now a retired Broward College professor.
Sacharow says Hollywood commissioners told himto survey residentswho live on Forrest Street to see whether they wanted the name changed. Many felt it was not important.
“So I stepped away,” Sacharow said. “Benjamin Israel never stepped away. I have an enormous amount of respect for him. Benjamin Israel reminds us that this is not an issue just for the African-American community. It’s an issue for all of us.”
Joseph Israel, a younger brotherwholives inLosAngeles, was not at all surprised by his brother’s dedication in the face of defeat.
“As a boy, he was spirited,” Joseph Israel said. “For most of our lives, he’s been a very determined individual about what he thinks is right and wrong.”
Of the three streets, Israel finds Forrest to be the most odious.
“This is Forrest’s legacy — the Ku Klux Klan,” he said, pointing to a photo in an American history book showing a crowd of white men and women gathered under the body of a black man who’d been lynched. The photo was taken in Indiana in 1930.
“This guy Forrest was a monster and yet you have a street here named after him,” Israel said. “And I ran into brickwalls everywhere I went. The politicians had such a cavalier attitude.”
At one point, Israel sought advice from a higher authority, Rabbi Edward Davis from Young Israel of Hollywood.
The rabbi met Israel 34 years ago, not long after he moved toHollywood.
“He’s a good guy,” said Davis, who’s known Israel since he started coming to temple 34 years ago. “He was taking up what some considered to be a lost cause. I tried to dissuade him. I thought itwould be a futile effort. Why bother to ruffle feathers? But when he’s on a bandwagon, he’s on it.”
Not everyone is a fan of Israel.
Cynthia Baker, a Hollywood resident fiercely opposes changing the street names, says she doesn’t know Israel, but is well aware that he played a key role in the long-running debate over the street names.
“When I was brought up, I was taught that ‘no’ was a good answer,” said Baker, a native of Richmond, Va. “My parents always taught me that.”
But Liberia resident Alonzo Palmer says he’s cool with the new street names.
He already has his own name for Forrest Street. He calls itForrestGump, for the sweet but goofy character in the 1994 film of the same name.
“That’s a nickname,” Palmer said. “I’m OK with the newname. It’s correcting an error. I was surprised that kind of personwould have a street named after him.”
Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy says Israelwas the first resident asking tomeetwith him after he was elected in November. Andthe Confederate street nameswere first on his list of topics.
Levy says he didn’t need much convincing.
“It’s not appropriate to honor those who furthered the idea of slavery,” Levy said. “For me I was quick to realize howimportant an issue this was. And for some people, it took a while.”
Israel mocked the claim that changing the street names was tantamount to erasing history, as some have claimed.
“Nobody learns history froma street sign,” he said.
Israel does not see himself as a hero.
“People are reaching out wanting to pat me on the back,” he said. “But I don’t want credit. I just want the names changed.”