Difference between revisions of "Scottish Friends of Israel"

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(Add timeline 2003–2023, website, people and references)
(Link Mickey Green to Myer Green (same person))
 
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*2004 (September) - [[Myer Green|Mickey Green]], "co-ordinator, Scottish Friends of Israel", of Newton Mearns, rejected the ''Jewish Chronicle'''s report as a "grotesque and distorted misrepresentation", writing that the [[Yad Vashem]] image on the website "stands solely as a reminder of the raison d'etre for the existence of the State of Israel".<ref name="JC2004Sep3">Letters, "Here's tae us, wha's like us…", ''Jewish Chronicle'', 3 September 2004.</ref>
 
*2004 (September) - [[Myer Green|Mickey Green]], "co-ordinator, Scottish Friends of Israel", of Newton Mearns, rejected the ''Jewish Chronicle'''s report as a "grotesque and distorted misrepresentation", writing that the [[Yad Vashem]] image on the website "stands solely as a reminder of the raison d'etre for the existence of the State of Israel".<ref name="JC2004Sep3">Letters, "Here's tae us, wha's like us…", ''Jewish Chronicle'', 3 September 2004.</ref>
 
*2004 (August) - [[Stanley Grossman|STANLEY GROSSMAN]], of the [[Scottish Friends of Israel]] (Letters, July 30), says his organisation has been highly commended by, among others, the [[Board of Deputies]] and the [[Chief Rabbi's office]]. But not all of Scottish Jewry is impressed with the Scottish Friends of Israel. Some of us feel that the stereotyping to be found on their website could cause damage to the interests of Scottish Jewry. Letters to the press written in their name do not portray either Israel or the Glasgow Jewish community favourably and are just as extreme as the ugly letters written against Jews or Israel. Many of their letters are crass and insensitive and actually encourage anti-Semitic feeling rather than counter it. [[Tony Tankel|TONY TANKEL]], tony.tankel,@ntlworld.com.<ref>Letters, Jewish Chronicle 13 August 2004, p. 20.</ref>
 
*2004 (August) - [[Stanley Grossman|STANLEY GROSSMAN]], of the [[Scottish Friends of Israel]] (Letters, July 30), says his organisation has been highly commended by, among others, the [[Board of Deputies]] and the [[Chief Rabbi's office]]. But not all of Scottish Jewry is impressed with the Scottish Friends of Israel. Some of us feel that the stereotyping to be found on their website could cause damage to the interests of Scottish Jewry. Letters to the press written in their name do not portray either Israel or the Glasgow Jewish community favourably and are just as extreme as the ugly letters written against Jews or Israel. Many of their letters are crass and insensitive and actually encourage anti-Semitic feeling rather than counter it. [[Tony Tankel|TONY TANKEL]], tony.tankel,@ntlworld.com.<ref>Letters, Jewish Chronicle 13 August 2004, p. 20.</ref>
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*2004 (August) - SFI was originally set up under the auspices of the [[Glasgow Jewish Representative Council|Glasgow's Jewish Representative Council]], and is still affiliated to it. However, the council has criticised the group's stance, and has stepped in to try to mediate in the dispute. "I would appeal to SFI to be true to their original promise to be a broadly based organisation representing all strands of pro-Israel opinion," Dr [[Kenneth Collins]], the council's president, told the JC, adding that he hoped the "offensive material" about [[Peace Now]] would be removed.  However, SFI co-ordinator [[Mickey Green]] said that the article had been the subject of "an unfortunate misinterpretation. We are neither left nor right. We simply exist to present an alternative view [of the Middle East] to the general public."<ref name="JC2004Aug27">Web slur sparks Scottish spat, ''Jewish Chronicle'', 27 August 2004, p. 3</ref>
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*2004 (August) - SFI was originally set up under the auspices of the [[Glasgow Jewish Representative Council|Glasgow's Jewish Representative Council]], and is still affiliated to it. However, the council has criticised the group's stance, and has stepped in to try to mediate in the dispute. "I would appeal to SFI to be true to their original promise to be a broadly based organisation representing all strands of pro-Israel opinion," Dr [[Kenneth Collins]], the council's president, told the JC, adding that he hoped the "offensive material" about [[Peace Now]] would be removed.  However, SFI co-ordinator [[Myer Green|Mickey Green]] said that the article had been the subject of "an unfortunate misinterpretation. We are neither left nor right. We simply exist to present an alternative view [of the Middle East] to the general public."<ref name="JC2004Aug27">Web slur sparks Scottish spat, ''Jewish Chronicle'', 27 August 2004, p. 3</ref>
 
*2004 (July) - In a letter, Stanley Grossman of SFI said the group had been commended by the [[Board of Deputies of British Jews|Board of Deputies]], the [[Embassy of Israel, London|Israeli Embassy]] and the Chief Rabbi's office, and that "We look forward to continuing our successful co-operation with [[Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre|Bicom]]".<ref name="JC2004Jul30">Stanley Grossman, "Media friends", letter, ''Jewish Chronicle'', 30 July 2004.</ref>
 
*2004 (July) - In a letter, Stanley Grossman of SFI said the group had been commended by the [[Board of Deputies of British Jews|Board of Deputies]], the [[Embassy of Israel, London|Israeli Embassy]] and the Chief Rabbi's office, and that "We look forward to continuing our successful co-operation with [[Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre|Bicom]]".<ref name="JC2004Jul30">Stanley Grossman, "Media friends", letter, ''Jewish Chronicle'', 30 July 2004.</ref>
  

Latest revision as of 08:24, 31 October 2026

Glasgow-based pro-Israel advocacy group, founded 2003

Scottish Friends of Israel

Type Unincorporated volunteer advocacy group
Founded 2003
Founder(s) Glasgow Jewish Representative Council media response group; Myer Green (described as co-founder)
Location Glasgow, Scotland
Area served Scotland
Key people Myer Green; Stanley Grossman (Hon. Secretary); Raymond Mann (website editor)
Website scottishfriendsofisrael.org (archived, 2004–2018); Facebook

Scottish Friends of Israel is a Zionist group set up by the 'media response group' of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council in 2003. It's website was in existence until 2018,[1] but since then has been defunct. It created a Facebook page in 2013 which in 2025 has 2.6K likes • 2.8K followers. The Facebook page is still active but seems to be used simply for posting news related to Zionist concerns.

In 2004 the Jewish Chronicle described Scottish Friends of Israel (SFI) as "run by a small group of volunteers based in Glasgow" whose members "write regularly to the Glasgow Herald and national newspapers".[2] In its own words, in a 2023 email to venues signed by its honorary secretary Stanley Grossman, SFI is "supporting Israel's right to defend itself and challenging anti-Semitism and racism".[3] Myer Green has been described by the Jewish Chronicle as the group's leader (2004) and its co-founder (2010).[4][5] No company or charity named Scottish Friends of Israel appears on the Companies House register.

The web page of the Scottish Friends of Israel in April 2004, from the Internet Archive.

Timeline

'Scottish Jews split on website', Jewish Chronicle, 19 November 2004.
  • 2023 (April) - On 1 April 2023 Stanley Grossman, as "Hon Sec Scottish Friends of Israel", emailed venues about a speaking tour by Pete Gregson, Yisroel Dovid Weiss and Azzam Tamimi, asking that they "prohibit the use of your [venue] by Gregson and his colleagues". The email was "Copied to concerned MSPs and local authority councillors".[3]
  • 2021 (October) - According to a letter from UK Lawyers for Israel to Education Scotland dated 28 May 2025, "In October 2021, The Scottish Friends of Israel Consultative Group was formed at the request of ES to provide an assessment of" the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching resource on Palestine and Israel, and concluded that it was "an attempt by known anti-Israel activists and promotors of the boycott of Israel to introduce a tendentious narrative into schools".[6]
  • 2021 (July) - Grossman told the Jewish Chronicle that material submitted by Scottish Friends of Palestine for an "impartial" schools resource on Israel and Palestine was "very divisive and potentially harmful".[7]
  • 2019 (February) - A letter, "Antisemitic arithmetic", signed "Stanley Grossman Hon Sec. Scottish Friends of Israel Glasgow", compared Community Security Trust figures with allegations against Labour Party members.[8]
  • 2015 (October) - Grossman called a Scottish Green Party resolution "absurd... little more than a hymn of hate for Israel".[9]
  • 2012 (July) - Myer Green of SFI said a planned protest against the Batsheva Dance Company at the Edinburgh International Festival "constitutes cultural warfare against the Israeli people as opposed to the Israeli government".[10]
  • 2011 (June) - The Jewish Chronicle reported that West Dunbartonshire Council had bought a copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion at the request of library member Ron Vallance, "a Scottish Friends of Israel activist". Grossman said such publications were "freely available or purchased on request at the council's libraries" while councillors debated whether Israeli authors should be banned.[11]
  • 2011 (May) - Green said Dundee City Council's Liberal Democrat leader Fraser Macpherson "clearly sees the council as a vehicle to promote the singular agenda of the SPSC" (Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign), over a motion condemning Israel.[12]
  • 2011 (March) - Green called a Scottish Parliament fundraising launch for a "Scottish ship to Gaza" "a futile statement", saying the Parliament "should distance itself".[13]
  • 2010 (December) - Green, "co-founder of the Scottish Friends of Israel", criticised Scottish Friends of Palestine over its complaint to UEFA about Israeli referees officiating during a Scottish referees' strike.[5]
  • 2010 (November) - Green, "co-founder of Scottish Friends of Israel", said he was "taken aback" that Mick Davis of the UJIA and the Jewish Leadership Council "should legitimise the language and perception of Israel's enemies by suggesting that Israel's might be heading along the path to apartheid".[14]
  • 2010 (April) - SFI organised an exhibition at the Scottish Parliament, "Israel's contribution to medicine, science and technology", sponsored by Ken Macintosh MSP. The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign lodged a petition against it and protested outside Holyrood, and the Scottish Trades Union Congress passed an emergency motion deploring "this blatant example of Israeli state propaganda". Green said the exhibition was "intrinsically non-political" but "motivated by the unending torrent of petitions presented at Holyrood making allegations against Israel".[15][16] Earlier that month Green said comments by First Minister Alex Salmond about trade with Israel "leave me feeling somewhat uncomfortable".[15]
  • 2008 (February) - Grossman "has either written to or emailed every Glasgow City councillor" over a motion supporting Mordechai Vanunu, and said: "We believe the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign was behind this."[17]
  • 2004 (November) - A dossier calling the SFI website "racist" was sent to Kenneth Macintosh MSP and Jim Murphy MP by a group calling themselves "concerned members of the community"; it quoted the site as saying Palestinians "are a manufactured people". Tony Tankel, a Scottish Peace Now activist who helped compile it, said "the SFI are saying that they are the voice of Israel in Scotland". SFI leader Dr Myer Green said the group hoped to resolve the matter within the community, but website editor Raymond Mann sent an email to the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council likening opponents to "Kapos".[4]
  • 2004 (September) - Mickey Green, "co-ordinator, Scottish Friends of Israel", of Newton Mearns, rejected the Jewish Chronicle's report as a "grotesque and distorted misrepresentation", writing that the Yad Vashem image on the website "stands solely as a reminder of the raison d'etre for the existence of the State of Israel".[18]
  • 2004 (August) - STANLEY GROSSMAN, of the Scottish Friends of Israel (Letters, July 30), says his organisation has been highly commended by, among others, the Board of Deputies and the Chief Rabbi's office. But not all of Scottish Jewry is impressed with the Scottish Friends of Israel. Some of us feel that the stereotyping to be found on their website could cause damage to the interests of Scottish Jewry. Letters to the press written in their name do not portray either Israel or the Glasgow Jewish community favourably and are just as extreme as the ugly letters written against Jews or Israel. Many of their letters are crass and insensitive and actually encourage anti-Semitic feeling rather than counter it. TONY TANKEL, tony.tankel,@ntlworld.com.[19]
  • 2004 (August) - SFI was originally set up under the auspices of the Glasgow's Jewish Representative Council, and is still affiliated to it. However, the council has criticised the group's stance, and has stepped in to try to mediate in the dispute. "I would appeal to SFI to be true to their original promise to be a broadly based organisation representing all strands of pro-Israel opinion," Dr Kenneth Collins, the council's president, told the JC, adding that he hoped the "offensive material" about Peace Now would be removed. However, SFI co-ordinator Mickey Green said that the article had been the subject of "an unfortunate misinterpretation. We are neither left nor right. We simply exist to present an alternative view [of the Middle East] to the general public."[2]
  • 2004 (July) - In a letter, Stanley Grossman of SFI said the group had been commended by the Board of Deputies, the Israeli Embassy and the Chief Rabbi's office, and that "We look forward to continuing our successful co-operation with Bicom".[20]
  • 2003 - "REDRESSING THE balance" is both the name and the aim of a website produced by Glasgow Jewish Representative Council's mediaresponse group, jointly with the Scottish Friends of Israel. Site designer Raymond Mann said: "There is so much bias against Israel in the media that we in Scotland feel need to redress the balance." The site has some 30 pages and is linked to other relevant web pages. The site is at www.scottishfriendsofisrael.org.[21]

Website

The website scottishfriendsofisrael.org was captured by the Internet Archive from January 2004. In April 2004 its home page carried the strapline "The Middle East Conflict in Perspective" and a feature, "Child Abuse and Martyrdom", describing Palestinians as "refugees rejected by their Arab brethren; inculcated from birth with hatred, murder and suicide".[22] By 2018 the home page described the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign as an "extremist and anti-Semitic fringe group" and carried an article headed "Church of Scotland joins the Anti-Semitic Circle" about the Church of Scotland.[23]

The group's Facebook page was created on 4 August 2013 under the name "SFfisrael", renamed "SFI-israel" on 20 August 2014 and "Scottish Friends of Israel" on 10 September 2014, according to Facebook's page transparency information.[24]

People

People named in connection with Scottish Friends of Israel
Name Role as described Source
Myer Green (also "Mickey Green") "co-ordinator", Newton Mearns (2004); "SFI leader" (2004); "co-founder" (2010) [18][4][5]
Stanley Grossman "Hon Sec" (2019, 2023) [8][3]
Raymond Mann site designer (2003); website editor (2004) [21][4]
Ron Vallance "a Scottish Friends of Israel activist" (2011) [11]

See also

Contact

Notes

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180603210409/http://www.scottishfriendsofisrael.org/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Web slur sparks Scottish spat, Jewish Chronicle, 27 August 2004, p. 3
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stanley Grossman, Hon Sec Scottish Friends of Israel, email "Misuse of …" to venues, 1 April 2023, published by One Palestine, accessed 30 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lindy Markson and Bernard Josephs, "Scottish Jews split in website row", Jewish Chronicle, 19 November 2004.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Robyn Rosen, "Now strikers bring referees to book", Jewish Chronicle, 3 December 2010, p. 4.
  6. ↑ UK Lawyers for Israel, letter to Gillian Hamilton, Chief Executive, Education Scotland, 28 May 2025, p. 1, released by the Scottish Government under FOI 202600516739, Information released – annex, accessed 30 October 2026.
  7. ↑ Jenni Frazer, Push to start 'pro-Palestinian narrative' in Scottish schools Jewish Chronicle, 15 July 2021, p. 10, accessed 30 October 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Stanley Grossman, "Antisemitic arithmetic", The JC Letters Page, 15th February 2019 Jewish Chronicle, accessed 30 October 2026.
  9. ↑ Stephen Daisley, "Why Greens' 'hymn of hate' matters", Jewish Chronicle, 16 October 2015.
  10. ↑ Jessica Elgot, Israeli dancers face Edinburgh festival disruption Jewish Chronicle, 12 July 2012, accessed 30 October 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Marcus Dysch, Boycott council in new Protocols row Jewish Chronicle, 2 June 2011, accessed 30 October 2026.
  12. ↑ Jessica Elgot, Dundee backtracks on Israel boycott Jewish Chronicle, 19 May 2011, accessed 30 October 2026.
  13. ↑ Jessica Elgot, "Scottish MSPs want Gaza ship", Jewish Chronicle, 25 March 2011.
  14. ↑ Simon Rocker, Leaders trade blows over Mick Davis Israel criticism Jewish Chronicle, 25 November 2010, accessed 30 October 2026.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Robyn Rosen, Alex Salmond calls for Israel trade rethink Jewish Chronicle, 8 April 2010, accessed 30 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Marcus Dysch, "Hostility at Holyrood for Israel show", Jewish Chronicle, 30 April 2010, p. 14; online as Anti-Israel demos at technology show, accessed 30 October 2026.
  17. ↑ Leon Symons, "Anger over council's move to back Vanunu", Jewish Chronicle, 22 February 2008.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Letters, "Here's tae us, wha's like us…", Jewish Chronicle, 3 September 2004.
  19. ↑ Letters, Jewish Chronicle 13 August 2004, p. 20.
  20. ↑ Stanley Grossman, "Media friends", letter, Jewish Chronicle, 30 July 2004.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Jewish Chronicle, 5 September 2003, p. 7.
  22. ↑ Scottish Friends of Israel, home page, captured April 2004, Internet Archive, accessed 30 October 2026.
  23. ↑ Scottish Friends of Israel, home page, captured 3 June 2018, Internet Archive, accessed 30 October 2026.
  24. ↑ Facebook, Scottish Friends of Israel, page transparency (page history).
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