December 3, 2025
The following letter appeared in the Irish Times.
The proposal that Dublin City Council rename Herzog Park – honoring my grandfather, Chaim Herzog, sixth president of Israel and a proud Irish man – and to consider renaming it “Free Palestine Park” is not a gesture of solidarity. It is an act of erasure.
That the council announced on Monday it has withdrawn this misguided measure was welcome news. However, it would be naive to assume this issue is going away, given the anti-Zionist fervor that has reached a fever pitch in Ireland.
The push to rename the park reflects a disturbing willingness to target Jewish history as a stand-in for Middle East politics. The park is located in the heart of Ireland’s historic Jewish neighborhood, beside the country’s only Jewish school.
Should the name be changed, children who pass it each day would be told that their history – and the contributions of Irish Jews – can be erased to make a political statement.
Ireland is part of my family’s identity. My grandfather, of blessed memory, was born in Belfast and raised in Dublin. He fought against the Nazis during the second World War as an officer in the British Army – one of the many Irish-born Jews who put their lives on the line to defeat fascism.
His father, Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog, served as Belfast’s rabbi and later as Ireland’s chief rabbi, standing firmly with the Irish people in their struggle for independence and earning the respect of revolutionary leaders who saw him as a moral voice during a turbulent era.
Ireland’s Jewish community has always been small but enormously impactful. My family’s story is woven into Ireland’s fight for freedom – and Ireland, in turn, shaped my grandfather’s world view, his commitment to justice, and his devotion to public service.
Naming a park after him was never about politics. It was a recognition that an Irish-born figure carried Ireland with him as he became a respected global statesman. Stripping his name would send a message: that Jewish contributions to Ireland are conditional, that our history can be rewritten or discarded when politically inconvenient.
To be clear: sympathizing with the plight of Palestinians and recognizing Irish Jewish heritage are not mutually exclusive. The council could have created a memorial, established a separate dedication, or added markers elsewhere. Instead, it chose to overwrite an Irish Jewish legacy.
This decision does not exist in a vacuum. Since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, Jewish symbols and institutions worldwide have been increasingly targeted, as if local Jews were responsible for conflict thousands of miles away.
Dublin’s proposal fits this pattern far too well. When a Jewish legacy – especially one so rooted in Irish history – is seen as the most expendable or most appropriate for a political gesture in support of Palestine – it can only be interpreted as anti-Semitism.
Ireland prides itself on moral clarity, on standing with those who suffer, and on embracing a complex and pluralistic national story. That story includes its Jews. It includes my family. It includes generations of Irish Jews who contributed to Ireland’s civic, political and cultural life.
As a professional working with Jewish communities globally, I have seen that erasing Jewish memory never fosters peace; it only deepens division.
Herzog Park does not need a new name. Ireland needs the confidence – and the moral clarity – to honor all of its history, including its Jewish history, without apology.
Dr. Alexandra Herzog
Director, William Petschek Global Jewish Communities Department
American Jewish Committee
