Glasgow Zionist Association

According to Braber's thesis:

Following the first Zionist Congress in 1897 where the foundation for the international organisation was laid, Zionist enthusiam in Glasgow grew. Large public meetings were held, on one occasion attracting two thousand people. New fundraising and cultural groups were found, including a fashionable Zionist Cycling and Athletic Club. The first local umbrella organisation to be formed was the Glasgow Zionist Association with Schoenfeld as President. In 1906 the annual conference of the Federated Societies of the Zionist Movement in Great Britain and Ireland was held in Glasgow, the first time the conference came to Scotland.

In Glasgow the conflict took a particular shape. Zionist leaders who came from the ranks of the older settlers confronted Zionist leaders of immigrant origin. On one side stood the Bnei Zion group, which had been established at the end of the 19th century. More than the Chovevei Zion, Bnei Zion laid emphasis on political means to realise the Zionist ideal. During the first years of the 20th century immigrants gained the upper hand in the Bnei Zion and elected Percy Baker as their leader. Baker had earlier co­ operated with Schoenfeld in the establishment of the Glasgow Zionist Association133. On the other side stood the Glasgow Dorshei Zion, a group founded in 1903 by Kramrisch and Pinto when the Bnei Zion failed to appoint representatives of the older settlers, including themselves, as delegates to the International Zionist Congress. Dorshei Zion was in favour of a territorial solution like the Uganda scheme. It was a conflict with many aspects, including cultural differences. The immigrants in Bnei Zion followed the Russian Zionists who rejected the Uganda scheme and favoured settlement building in Palestine. The older settlers were obviously looking for practical solutions for the immigrant problem in Britain. Not only was the presence of a large group of poor immigrants a heavy burden on congregational facilities, it was probably also felt that this presence could harm the social status of the Jews in Britain. During this period the debate on the Aliens Bill took place and the leaders of the older settlers might have feared that the anti-alien propaganda could also be directed at them. In addition there was the wider conflict between older settlers and immigrants within the United Synagogue of Glasgow (described in chapter 2).

In various ways the two groups tried to sabotage each other’s activities. The Garnethill executive ruled, for example, in 1904 that no representatives would be sent to a demonstration of the Bnei Zion134. And in May 1906 Pinto and his territorialist followers of Dorshei Zion, now renamed Am Israel (People of Israel), managed to get a Bnei Zion meeting adjourned by talking out the debate. During the same month the breakup of the United Synagogue took place.

Although the territorialists remained active in Glasgow, it was the Bnei Zion group who eventually gained the upper hand. Kramrisch left Glasgow early in the 20th century and Pinto died in 1911. Zionist leadership in general shifted towards the

In 1919, the Garnethill opponents of Zionism were unable to prevent representatives of their congregation from being sent to a newly formed Scottish Zionist Council presided over by Rabbi Salis Daiches of Edinburgh143. Isaac Speculand and S.S. Samuel attended the meeting for the Garnethill congregation and were elected Chairman and Treasurer of the Council (Alex Easterman who had previously been active in the Jewish students’ society and the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council became Secretary and his presence together with Speculand and Samuel shows a new alliance of religious and secular elements). The Council organised fundraising. A public meeting was held in the Gorbals. Later that year the Glasgow Zionist Association was founded144 in an attempt to unite the different groups on a local level. Julius Samuel, the Honorary Secretary of the Garnethill Congregation, declared in his annual report in 1920: “Zionism (is) now beyond party politics but part of the future development of Judaism.”145

People

Rabbi Abraham Shyne

See also

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