Abraham Links House, 43 Queen Square, Glasgow, G41 2BD
43 Queen Square, Glasgow, G41 2BD is a terraced house in Glasgow, which is located in G41 next door to Queen's Park in the city's Southside. Between 1954 and around 1997 it was known as Abraham Links House in memory of Abraham Links who opened the first JNF office in Glasgow in 1935 at The Glasgow Zionist Centre, 6 Dixon Street, Glasgow, G1 4AX. The house was purchased by his family after his death and gifted to the JNF in his memory.
It is claimed that, 'The Glasgow Zionist Centre was opened in 39 Queen Square in 1936'. [1] But this would appear to be a mix up. The Glasgow Zionist Centre was actually opened at 6 Dixon Street just off the north bank of the Clyde in 1935. The headquarters moved to no 43 Queen Square in 1954.
For nearly 50 years 43 Queens Square, was a hub of Zionist activity. The property was bought by the Links family in memory of Abraham Links an early leader of the Glasgow Zionist movement. It was opened as the base for the Glasgow Commission of the Jewish National Fund on Sunday 4 September 1955. The building was at that point named Abraham Links House. The property was eventually sold and converted into two flats in 1999, some forty four years later.
The Glasgow Zionist Organisation appears to have been based there from the late 1960s - It was listed in the Jewish Year Book at that address by 1971, having been previously (in 1968) listed at 340 Maxwell Road. The group was no longer listed by 1997, though Glasgow Jewish Continuity and Renewal was still listed there. This was a UJIA associated lobby group which subsequently (by 2000) relocated to 222 Fenwick Road, Giffnock, Glasgow, G46 6UE. The property was sold in August 1999 for £128,000.[2]
1980s-90s
- 1997 Glasgow Jewish Continuity and Renewal 43 Queen Sq, G41. Chai: Dr D. Shapiro, Exec Officer D. Kaplan 0141 423 1080 Fax 0141 422 1899.[3] {This is UJIA Scotland}
- 1993 - 43 Queen Square - T. 041 423 4089 Chairman Nigel Allon.[4]
- 1992 - 43 Queen Square - Chairman Nigel Allon.[5]
- 1991 Nigel Allon
- 1989 - 43 Queen Square - Nigel Allon - Chairman.
- 1988 - 'a distinct local agenda ... was brought sharply into focus by an advertisement placed in the Jewish Echo by the Glasgow Zionist Organisation in 1988 during the first Palestinian Intifada. Here, a set of signatories from the Organisation urged the Israeli government to negotiate with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), and described the occupied territories as a ‘cancer in the heart of Israeli society’.[6] This advertisement drew quick condemnation from others within the GZO, and more broadly in Glasgow Jewish communities.[7] In its aftermath, a debate was held on the issue, which revealed the level of communal disagreement.[8]
- 1983 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Square - Chairman Nigel Allon.[9]
- 1982 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Square - Chairman Nigel Allon.[10]
- 1981 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Square - Chairman Nigel Allon.[11]
1950s-70s
- 1975 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Sq - Hon Sec V Bell, 53 Fruin Ave, Newton Mearns.[12]
- 1974 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Sq - Hon Sec V Bell, 53 Fruin Ave, Newton Mearns.[13]
- 1973 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Sq - Hon Sec Kenneth Davidson, 41 Hazelwood Ave, Newton Mearns.[14]
- 1971 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation 43 Queen Sq - Hon Sec AB Douglas.[15]
- 1968 - Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, 43 Queen Sq., S.1. T.: Pollok 4089. H. Secs.- J. Dover, 9 Greenhill Ave, Giffnock. T. Giffnock 3649; F. S. Berkley, 175 St. Vincent St., C.2. T.: City 3188.[16]
- 1968 - The report of Harry Stone, Chairman of the Glasgow Zionist Organisation, after the Six-Day War, highlighted the extent to which British Zionism incorporated a desire to defend Jewry across the world. He explained:
- We are one people with one joint responsibility. During the past year we have suffered grave tragedies with loss of life. We are deeply concerned with the anti-Semitic actions of the Polish government, the fate of the Jews in Russia and our co-religionists in the Arab countries.[17]
- 1967 - Glasgow Zionist Organisation S Slater - Hon Secretary, 11 Dalziel Dr.[18]
- 1954 - base of the Glasgow Commission of the Jewish National Fund and the Blue and White Committee.
Other notable Zionist addresses in Glasgow
- Maccabi Centre, May Terrace, Giffnock, Glasgow G46 6LD
- Glasgow G46 postal code
- 222 Fenwick Road, Giffnock, Glasgow, G46 6UE
- The Glasgow Zionist Centre, 6 Dixon Street, Glasgow, G1 4AX
Notes
- ↑ A Scottish Shtetl, 1984.
- ↑ https://scotlis.ros.gov.uk/property-summary/GLA142070
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1997, p.132.
- ↑ The Jewish Year book, 1993, p.158.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1992 p.155.
- ↑ 91. Jewish Echo, 9/9/88.Cited in Schaffer.
- ↑ 92. In the aftermath of the advertisement other Zionist Jews in Glasgow publically questioned ‘the authority of the authors of that statement to speak for the members of the Glasgow Zionist Organisation or for the silent majority of the Glasgow Jewish community’. ‘Opposed’, Jewish Chronicle, 23/9/88. Cited in Schaffer.
- ↑ 93. Albert Benjamin, ‘Talk Show after Row’, Jewish Chronicle, 28/10/88. Cited in Schafer.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1983 p.125.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1982 p.125.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1981 p.128.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1975, p. 121
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1974, p. 120
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1973, p. 120
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1971, p. 121.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1968, p. 121.
- ↑ 110. cited in Schaffer.
- ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1967, p121.