Glasgow Zionist Organisation

From Powerbase
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Glasgow Zionist Central Council dispute with Glasgow Friends of Peace Now, 1991.

The Glasgow Zionist Organisation existed from the 1920s. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1979, so it appears to have been created in 1929.[1] It was revived from at least the 1960s to the 1990s. It appears to have changed its name to the Glasgow Israel Committee in recent years.

History

Schaffer dates the creation of the GZO to 1919, (while Braber below says 1928, though Schaffer sources his claim to Braber's 2007 book):

In 1919, in the wake of the Balfour Declaration, several small groups were amalgamated into the Glasgow Zionist Organisation.[2]

According to Braber's thesis:

A few new developments occurred during the late 1920s and they signify the start of the third stage in the development of Glasgow Zionism. A new leadership came into being, partly consisting of previous Zionists activists, partly recruited from a new generation of successful businessmen. Secondly, a certain amount of polarisation appeared within the movement resembling the party politics in general society. And thirdly, events outside Glasgow, like the rise of Nazism and the continuing problems in Palestine, influenced the local movement.
The new leadership emerged at the end of the 1920s when attempts were made to revive a central Glasgow Zionist institution. As the Jewish Echo observed, the movement had been in decline and needed new blood.[3] To unite all the local groups, the Glasgow Zionist Organisation (GZO) was founded (the exact date of the establishment of the GZO is unknown, but this must have been around 1928). It took some years for the GZO to establish itself properly.[4] The organisation was supposed to co-ordinate activities and to organise its own events, like public meetings. The GZO also created different sections, such as for women and young people.
By 1935 the organisation could claim that during the previous year it had sold 1,381 shekelim (the Zionist shekel was sold at a price of one shilling and was regarded as annual subscription to the movement). This was said[5]to represent an increase of fifty per cent during the last two years. The growth of the organisation must have involved a substantial number of people. Six years earlier, in 1929, the complaint had been that “the work was left to merely a handful of Zionists.”[6]
The new leadership of the Glasgow Zionists consisted of a small group of men.[7] They were mostly businessmen. Their communal work was praised in reports on Zionist activity in the Jewish Echo and they were publicly honoured on several occasions.
In 1936, for example, a function was organised in honour of Fred Nettler, president of the GZO (who had just been made a Justice of the Peace and also had the honour of presiding at the 36th annual conference of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland in London). During the same year the name of the treasurer of the JNF, N. Links, was inscribed in the Golden Book on the occasion of his silver wedding.[8] What these two men had in common was that they combined their activity with an active business life. Nettler owned a large furrier business in the city and the wholesaler Links was just having a new six-story warehouse built in Wilson Street. They efficiently but perhaps less idealistically than their predecessors led the Zionist organisations in a similar way as they conducted their business. At this stage it appears as if businessmen like Nettler and Links dominated Glasgow Zionism. In a sense their position as Zionist leaders acknowledged the social position of these businessmen.
Underneath this leadership there was room for others to preside over sections and other organisations. A women’s section was formed in 1928.[9] This group, the Glasgow Ladies Zionist Organisation later affiliated to WIZO, was headed by the relatively unknown Mrs. Selma Teitleman. Later she and her husband, a general practitioner, changed the name to Mann. Most committee members were wives of well-known communal leaders. The group had a difficult start at a meeting in Sloan’s Cafe in Buchanan Street because of a “poor attendence”[10], but quickly got down to work. Some 44 members were enrolled in one month. One of the first activities was the creation of a sewing class on Monday evenings in Mrs. Nettler’s home and the sale of work in Geneen’s Restaurant.[11] They decided during a drawing room meeting at the home of one of the ladies that “no toasts - as suggested by the men - would be necessary,”[12], thus showing a measure of independence and dislike of alcohol.
The ladies’ section further organised social functions, often in the homes of their more affluent members, like a Garden Fete in 1933 in Abraham Goldberg’s residence in Pollokshields which was opened by Abraham Links.[13] Monthly meetings were held for members and money was raised for Zionist causes. During their third year, the ladies collected in total £482 (of which £148 went to the Women’s Zionist Federation and £277 to the JNF). Apart from the income of social functions, the sale of work and occasional donations, 138 women paid an annual subcsription of 10s. 6d. None of the subscribers lived in the Gorbals[14]which confirms the middle class status of this group.
The GZO was an umbrella organisation. It united different political groups. During the 1930s the divisions between these groups increased.

Timeline

2000-2025

1980s-90s

1960s-70s

Lewis Wolfson the only member of the Glasgow Zionist Organisation that attended every meeting between 1929 and 1979.[28]
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.[36]
  • 1968 - GLASGOW: Zionist Organisation— E. Woolfson, president; H. Stone, chairman; S. Barmack, vice-chairman ; D. Wolfe, treasurer.; S. J. Cohen, secretary. [37]
  • 1967 - S Slater - Hon Secretary, 11 Dalziel Dr.[38]
  • 1966 - S Slater - Hon Secretary, 11 Dalziel Dr.[39]
  • 1964-5 - Hon Secretary Sidney Barmack, 26 Hillside Avenue, Clarkston, Glasgow[40]
  • 1963-4 - Harry E Crivan, Chairman Glasgow Zionist Organisation. Hon Secretary Sidney Barmack, 26 Hillside Avenue, Clarkston, Glasgow[41]
  • 1962-3 - 'The Chairman’s report of the Glasgow Zionist Organization in 1962-63 records a dinner held in honour of Mr Daniel Coorsh, who moved from Glasgow to Palestine under these auspices in 1913. Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Garnethill Synagogue, Glasgow, POLWIZ0001, Glasgow Zionist Organization, Chairman’s Report by Harry Crivan.'[42]
  • 1961 'The measures which would have to be taken if children in the Diaspora were to remain Jews were discussed by Professor Ernst Simon, of the Hebrew University, when he gave an address at a meeting held in the Central Hotel last week in connection with the Zionist Federation's Education Fortnight. Mr. Edward Woolfson, President of the Glasgow Zionist Federation, was in the chair. Outlining a practical programme for bringing up children as Jews, Dr. Simon declared that this would have to start with the education of expectant Jewish mothers and fathers at child guidance clinics. As a result of this, children from their earliest years would be reared in an atmosphere where they would see all the symbols and customs of Jewish life observed. This would then be followed by the children being sent to a Jewish or Hebrew Kindergarten, and then to a Jewish day school. Another important part in the proramme, Dr. Simon went on, would be the creation of a Jewish resugence. In this connection, however,it was an unfortunate omen for Anglo-Jewry when people like Rabbi Dr Alexander Altmann left this country as a time when there so much need of them here. There was also a vital need for a planned Jewish adult education programme, said Dr. Simon. But adults, unfortunately, did not desire education. Information they would accept, but education they refused.[43]
  • 1961-2 Chairman - Louis Cina, Hon Secs David Isaacs 173 Nithsdale Road, Glasgow; Lionel Felstein 328 Kilmarnock road, Glasgow.[44]
  • 1961 - H. Secs. L. Felstein, 173 Nithsdale Road; D. Isaacs.[45]

1940s-50s

Glasgow Zionist Organisation, Jewish Chronicle, 11 July 1958.
Councillor J. D. Mack, the Jewish Labour Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme, was the main speaker at a public meeting organised by the Glasgow Zionist Organisa-tion and held in the Jewish Institute on Monday, March 1st. Mr. Fred Nettler, J.P., presided.
Councillor Mack deprecated the failure of politicians to realise that one of the main war aims must be the solution of the Jewish problem and the liberation of a people who had made a stronger fight against Nazi-ism than any others. He warned Jewry in this country of the dangers of complacency, pointing out that the position of insidious anti-semitism was strong and must be carefully guarded against.
He thenreferred to the happier side of the picture the very real and sincere friendship of many true Christians. He instanced particularly Lord Wedgewood whom he was proud to have succeeded, and he also spoke of the friendship of other non-Jewish Members of Parliament, including Miss Eleanor Rathbone, Commander Locker Lampson, and Major Cazalet; he contrasted their championship of the Jewish and the Zionist cause with the apologetic attitude of some Jewish Members of Parliament, stressing that they earned only the contempt of their Gentile colleagues. Alderman Cohen spoke of the Biltmore Resolution, recalling that it had been adopted by American Zionists, by the Palestine Inner Actions Committee and by the English Zionist Federation at its last Conference. The main point of that document was the demand that there must be unrestricted Jewish immigration into Palestine — it was a straightforward policy asking that Palestine eventually become a Jewish commonwealth where they could live with the status and dignity that was the right of all human beings. Alderman Cohen referred to the drive for 50,000 members which the E. Z. F. had embarked upon, and voiced his confidence that Glasgow Jewry, always generously responsive to Zionist calls, would rise again to its responsibilities.
The Appeal was supported by Mr. Nettler who said that prospective members could join any particular section of the Zionist movement which they desired the Organisation, the Poale Zion, the Women's Zionist Organisation or any of the Zionist youth bodies. Alexander Stone, B.L., Hon. Secretary of the Glasgow Zionist Organisation; accorded a warm vote of thanks to the speakers. He also thanked Mr. Nettler for presiding. Mr. Harry Furst, Chairman of the Poale Zion, supporting, associated himself with Mr. Stone's remarks regarding the speakers and the Chairman.[52]

1919-1930s

Glasgow Zionist Organisation meeting in Langside Halls, Jewish Chronicle, 24 November 1939, p. 15.

See also

Glasgow Zionist Association | Glasgow Zionist Federation | Glasgow Zionist Central Council | Glasgow Friends of Peace Now | Scottish-Israel Friendship League | Edinburgh Friends of Israel | Anglo-Israel Friendship League | Glasgow Friends of Israel | Glasgow Young Zionist Organisation

Notes

  1. ↑ San Francisco Jewish bulletin (San Francisco, Calif.), Volume 129, Number 6, 9 February 1979
  2. ↑ 13.
  3. ↑ 1S4. JE 20/1/1928. Compare Jewish Leader 21/3/1930.
  4. ↑ 155. Compare Krausz, Leeds Jewry , pp. 19-20. The Leeds Zionist Council was formed about the same time.
  5. ↑ 156. JE 1/11/1935. Compare JE 20/9/1933, 10/11/1933, 26/1/1934, 2/2/1934, 9/2/1934. In 1933, when a new co-ordination committee as formed, it was reported that during the past two years in total 2,800 shekels had been sold. Shortly after there was a drop in the sale, which probably rose and fell in accordance with international developments and growing and diminishing attention for events in Palestine.
  6. ↑ 157. JE 5/4/1929. Nevertheless, during the year which ended in April 1929 £650 had been collected: a “substantial sum”.
  7. ↑ 158. JE 311/1930. A correspondent of the Jewish Echo complained that rank and file of the movement were not consulted on important matters and called the GZO too elitist. Compare JE 12/10/1934. For differences between the GZO leaders and the editor of the Jewish Echo see below.
  8. ↑ 159. JE 29/5/1936.
  9. ↑ 160. JE 10/2/1928. See also SJAC, Minute Book Glasgow Ladies Zionist Organisation (cited hereafter as SJAC, MBGLZO).
  10. ↑ 161
  11. ↑ 162. SJAC, MBGLZO 26/11/1928, 13/12/1928.
  12. ↑ 163. SJAC, MBGLZO 26/9/1928.
  13. ↑ 164. JE 19/5/1933. The women copied the men in at least one respect. On an earlier occasion, when another Garden Fete took place at her home, Mrs. A. Goldberg was presented with a silver salver on the occasion of her silver wedding which could have been a sign of appreciation but was certainly also an acknowledgement of her social position.
  14. ↑ 165. SJAC, Third Financial Statement (11/2/1930-6/3/1931) in MBGLZO; compare Balance Sheet 1942- 1943 in MBGLZO. In ten years activities and income remained virtually unchanged, although ball evenings were a new item on the agenda.
  15. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20241109074930/https://www.jewishglasgow.org/glasgow-zionist-organisation/
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20211206002236/https://www.jewishglasgow.org/glasgow-zionist-organisation/
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200811040919/https://www.jewishglasgow.org/glasgow-zionist-organisation/
  18. ↑ The Jewish Year book 2002, p. 134.
  19. ↑ The Jewish Year book 1997, p. 132.
  20. ↑ The Jewish Year book, 1993, p.158.
  21. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1992 p.155.
  22. ↑ 91. Jewish Echo, 9/9/88.Cited in Schaffer.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ 93. Albert Benjamin, ‘Talk Show after Row’, Jewish Chronicle, 28/10/88. Cited in Schafer.
  25. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1983 p.125.
  26. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1982 p.125.
  27. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1981 p.128.
  28. ↑ San Francisco Jewish bulletin (San Francisco, Calif.), Volume 129, Number 6, 9 February 1979
  29. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1975, p. 121
  30. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1974, p. 120
  31. ↑ The Zionist Year book 1973, p. 207.
  32. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1973, p. 120
  33. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1971, p. 121.
  34. ↑ 'Education post in Glasgow', 20 March 1970. p. 28
  35. ↑ The Jewish Year book, 1968, p. 121.
  36. ↑ 110. cited in Schaffer.
  37. ↑ Jewish Chronicle, Page 38 for 05-07-1968
  38. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1967, p121.
  39. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1966, p121.
  40. ↑ The Zionist Year Book, 1964-5, p. 203.
  41. ↑ The Zionist Year book, 1963-4, p. 190.
  42. ↑ Cited in Schaffer.
  43. ↑ Jewish Chronicle 20 October 1961
  44. ↑ The Zionist YearBook, 1961-2, p. 196.
  45. ↑ The Jewish Year Book, 1961, p. 119.
  46. ↑ https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12511054.from-the-herald-archives/
  47. ↑ ZIONIST MEMBERSHIP NOW 440, Jewish Chronicle, 11 July 1958.
  48. ↑ Cited in Schhaffer.
  49. ↑ The Zionist Year Book, 1951-52, p. 95.
  50. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1034576315341312&id=100063668585799&set=a.493960119402937
  51. ↑ JC, 31 May 1946
  52. ↑ Jewish Echo, 12 March 1943.
Retrieved from "https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=Glasgow_Zionist_Organisation&oldid=267571"