Peres Street

One of the ways to commemorate the passing of an important personage, especially if it is a founding father, is by naming public places, and in particular streets, after him. The question now arises: What is to be done about Shimon Peres?

There is no longer any street or public thoroughfare of any importance in Jerusalem that does not already bear a name. Accordingly, in order that due honor be given to him in Jerusalem, where he served for so many years, I have a proposal triggered by your October 6 editorial “A royal visit.”

It is not only the discourtesy shown by the British royal family toward us in the marked failure by the queen to make a visit of any kind – despite visits to far less significant countries on the global scene. (Her entertaining the butcher from Baghdad at tea at Buckingham Palace should be noted.) There is also the question of the anachronism in the present name of the second-most-important street of our capital.

King George V had no connection whatsoever with the Land of Israel. As the street sign shows, he was honored because of the fact that he was the reigning monarch at the time of Gen. Allenby’s entry into the city during World War I. Many streets throughout the country have been named after Allenby and, indeed, other prominent Englishmen and women, such as Lloyd George, Zangwill, Balfour and George Eliot.

There is no need to honor George V. By all accounts, he was not a particularly worthy character. Not only was he a bully as a father, he disgracefully kept his special-needs child locked away in seclusion. His son Edward VIII was an avowed Nazi sympathizer, and his granddaughter’s grandson thought it was amusing to dress in a Nazi uniform at a party.

With such a family background, it would have been fitting for Queen Elizabeth II to have made an official visit; after I such a long reign, she certainly has sufficient authority to countermand any opposition from the UK’s notoriously pro-Arab Foreign Office.

This is a historic opportunity to correct an aberration and honor our ninth president with “Shimon Peres Street.” LOUIS GARB

Jerusalem The writer made aliya from the UK.