Jewish Guardian
London Jewish weekly (1919–1931), edited by Laurie Magnus and backed by opponents of political Zionism in the League of British Jews
| The Jewish Guardian
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Weekly newspaper (defunct) |
| Founded | October 1919 |
| Founder(s) | Members of the League of British Jews |
| Defunct | 1931 |
| Headquarters | London |
| Industry | Newspaper publishing |
The Jewish Guardian was a London Jewish weekly published from 1919 to 1931 by opponents of political Zionism. It was edited by Laurie Magnus, and Israel Abrahams chaired its board of directors. It was set up as a rival to The Jewish Chronicle under Leopold Greenberg, which had backed the Balfour Declaration.[1][2][3] The Chronicle's 1949 centenary history says the paper was "founded to uphold the principle that Judaism is a religion and to deny its nationalist basis".[1]
History
Origins
The Chronicle's 1949 history says that after the Balfour Declaration Sir Philip Magnus asked Leopold Greenberg, on behalf of prominent Jews who opposed it, for space in the Chronicle, because wartime restrictions prevented them from starting their own paper. Greenberg agreed, with a disclaimer, and Laurie Magnus was allowed to write anonymously as "Diarist" in a column called "Leaves from a Jewish Notebook". The column ended when "Diarist" tried to publish an account of a supposedly triumphant meeting addressed by Laurie Magnus in the East End, at which, the editor had learned, Magnus had in fact been "utterly discomfited". "Not long after, he and his friends began to produce their own paper, The Jewish Guardian, in order to set forth their views."[4]
The historian David Cesarani writes that the League of British Jews was formed shortly after the Declaration on the principle that Jews were a denomination rather than a nation. On 18 March 1918 a literary sub-committee of the League, with Lucien Wolf as "the prime mover", discussed starting a newspaper. Wolf asked the wartime Paper Commission for a licence on the grounds that the Chronicle and the Jewish World represented one party only and that their company was "only partially British".[5] The committee aimed to raise £25,000, of which £3,000 was soon promised; S. G. Asher pledged £1,000. The League first issued a monthly bulletin, Jewish Opinion, from December 1918, and in October 1919 it published the Jewish Guardian "as a full-blown rival to the Jewish Chronicle".[2] Cesarani quotes Sir Isidore Spielman, who sat on the paper's board, as telling Israel Zangwill that "Master Greenberg has run the community long enough & it seems to me that he tries to 'boss it' with his J. C. and J. W. as Northcliffe tries to 'boss' the country with his Times and Mail."[2]
Ownership, editor and board
Cesarani cites the paper's statement of intent of 3 October 1919, which said it was founded "to provide the Jews of Great Britain and the Empire with an organ of their own, their own in the sense that they own it". Although it claimed to be independent, he writes, it was financed by Claude Montefiore and several wealthy members of the League of British Jews. Laurie Magnus, son of Sir Philip Magnus, was editor and Israel Abrahams chaired the board of directors.[3] Magnus had lost £40,000 on a newspaper in 1904 and had since worked in publishing, notably as a director of Routledge.[3] The 1949 history also says that Abrahams became chairman of the Guardian's board when it was set up, and that his last contribution to the Chronicle over the initials "I.A." appeared on 4 May 1917.[6] Cesarani says Magnus and Abrahams left the Chronicle a month after a "Diarist" column criticised its treatment of the League, and elsewhere that they left in 1919 "on account of its Zionist posture".[5][3]
Competition with The Jewish Chronicle
According to Cesarani, the Guardian challenged the Chronicle's claim to full coverage and literary excellence, and systematically undercut its advertising rates. Partly to fend it off, the Chronicle started a literary supplement in January 1921.[3] The 1949 history dates that monthly supplement to 28 January 1921.[7] Cesarani notes that Greenberg sent a young staff member to buy two copies of the Guardian when it appeared every Thursday morning, so as to catch any story the Chronicle had missed.[8]
Decline
Cesarani writes that the market "was too small for two Anglo-Jewish weeklies". The Guardian attracted high-quality advertising from a well-to-do readership, but its circulation was too small to be economical. Its line moved gradually "from anti-Zionism to non-Zionism and tepid support for the Jewish Agency", but it barely reached beyond the League, whose membership never exceeded 1,200.[3] The 1949 history says the paper had financial backing "such as no Anglo-Jewish periodical enjoyed before", but "in the end became philo-Zionist although by no means nationalist". It "died, in consequence of inanition rather than exhaustion, after an existence of some twelve years, though not without having attained a high literary standard and introduced more than one new name to Anglo-Jewish journalism".[1] Both sources date the paper 1919–31.[1][9]
People
| Name | Role | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Laurie Magnus | Editor | [1][3] |
| Israel Abrahams | Chairman of the board of directors | [6][3] |
| Sir Isidore Spielman | Board member | [2] |
| Claude Montefiore | Financial backer | [3] |
| Lucien Wolf | Prime mover of the League's 1918 newspaper plan | [5] |
| League of British Jews | Backers; the paper did not reach far beyond its membership | [2][3] |
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Jewish Chronicle 1841–1941: A Century of Newspaper History (London: The Jewish Chronicle, 1949), p. 162.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 127.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 140.
- ↑ The Jewish Chronicle 1841–1941: A Century of Newspaper History (London: The Jewish Chronicle, 1949), p. 150.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 126.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Jewish Chronicle 1841–1941: A Century of Newspaper History (London: The Jewish Chronicle, 1949), p. 152.
- ↑ The Jewish Chronicle 1841–1941: A Century of Newspaper History (London: The Jewish Chronicle, 1949), p. xiv.
- ↑ David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 282, n. 127, citing the recollections of Sam Klein in the Jewish Chronicle London Extra, 13 November 1981.
- ↑ David Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 139.