{{Infobox organization , name = Jewish Labour Movement , pronounce = , nickname = , named_after = , logo = JewishLabourMovementLogo.png , image_border = , size = , alt = , caption = JLM logo , abbreviation = JLM , motto = , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = 1903 , founder = , extinction = , merger = , type = , tax_id = , registration_id = , status = , purpose = , headquarters = , location_city = , location_country = United Kingdom , coords = , region = , membership = 3,000 , membership_year = 2020 , language = , owner = , sec_gen = , leader_title = National movement chair , leader_name = Mike Katz{{Cite news , url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/new-jewish-labour-movement-chair-mike-katz-honoured-and-humbled-1.482700 , title=New Jewish Labour Movement Chair Mike Katz 'honoured and humbled' , date=7 April 2019 , work=

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

, access-date=8 April 2019 , leader_title2 = Parliamentary chair , leader_name2 =

Margaret Hodge Dame Margaret Eve Hodge, Lady Hodge, (née Oppenheimer, formerly Watson; born 8 September 1944) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barking since 1994. A member of the Labour Party, she previously served as ...

, leader_title3 = National secretary , leader_name3 = Adam Langleben{{cite web , title=National Executive Committee , url=https://www.jewishlabour.uk/national_executive_committee , website=www.jewishlabour.uk , access-date=22 October 2021 , leader_title4 = National vice chairs , leader_name4 = {{hlist , Stephane Savary , Joe Goldberg , Sarah Sackman , Ruth Smeeth{{cite news , url=https://labourlist.org/2019/04/jewish-labour-movement-opts-to-stay-and-fight-with-new-leaders/ , title=Jewish Labour Movement opts to "stay and fight" with new leaders , last=Rodgers , first=Sienna , website=LabourList , date=8 April 2019 , access-date=23 April 2019 , main_organ = , parent_organisation = , subsidiaries = , secessions = , affiliations = {{hlist ,

Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

, Board of Deputies of British Jews ,

Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the British Zionist Federation or simply the Zionist Federation (ZF), is an umbrella organisation for the Zionist movement in the United Kingdom, representing more than 30 organis ...

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

Labour Party (Israel) The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The ...

Meretz Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Knesset ...

{{cite web, url=https://www.jewishlabour.uk/what_is_the_jewish_labour_movement, title=What is the Jewish Labour Movement?, access-date=13 July 2019, work=Jewish labour Movement , budget = , budget_year = , revenue = , revenue_year = , disbursements = , expenses = , expenses_year = , endowment = , endowment_year = , staff = , staff_year = , website = {{official URL , formerly = Poale Zion The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), known as Poale Zion (Great Britain) from 1903 to 2004, is one of the oldest socialist societies affiliated to the UK Labour Party. As of 2020, it is a member of the progressive coalition of Avodah/

Arzenu {{Israel-stub Arzenu is an organization for the political representation of Reform and Progressive Religious Zionist communities in Israel and fourteen other countries. It was founded in 1980 as a ''Brit Olamit'' in the World Zionist Congress, and ...

/ Ameinu within the

. Its sister parties are the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The ...

(Havodah) and Meretz. It is affiliated to the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the

. Its objects are to maintain and promote Labour or Socialist Zionism as the movement for self-determination of the Jewish people within the state of Israel, and to support, develop and promote political activists who work to enable the objects and values of the Jewish Labour Movement.

Aims and membership

The organisation's aim is stated as "To organise and maintain a political movement of Jewish people within the UK Labour Party and the international labour movement". Full membership is open to Jewish people, while non-Jewish supporters can apply for ally membership. Only full members are eligible for a vote in JLM processes and internal elections. Members of parties which oppose the Labour Party in elections are ineligible for membership.{{cite web , url=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/jewishlabour/pages/565/attachments/original/1511347177/20112015_-_JLM_Rules_-_V6_-_Clean_Copy.pdf?1511347177 , title=Jewish Labour Movement Rules , publisher=Jewish Labour Movement , date=January 2016 , access-date=23 April 2019 The values of the JLM are centred around a connection between

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, the Labour Party and socialist Zionism, and the values which are espoused by these movements, including international peace and cooperation, social justice, equality and freedom. This doctrine is enshrined in the organisation's constitution and values, which state their values as including 'international peace and cooperation,' 'democratic socialism in the UK and Israel, 'the application of 'Jewish ethical principles to create a society based on social justices and a sustainable environment', 'to promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life' and opposition to 'fascist, racist and anti-Semitic groups.'

Poale Zion

Establishment

The origins of

Poale Zion Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire in about the turn of the 20th century afte ...

in Britain were in the ''Ma'aravi'' ("Western") Society, formed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1902 by Jewish socialist journalist Kalman Marmor, under the influence of the Eastern European

Labour Zionist Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...

movement led by Marxist theorist

Ber Borochov Dov Ber Borochov (russian: Дов-Бер Борохов; 3 July 1881 – 17 December 1917) was a Marxist Zionist and one of the founders of the Labor Zionist movement. He was also a pioneer in the study of the Yiddish language. Bio ...

. Alderman, Geoffrey ''Modern British Jewry'',

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1998, p. 175. Branches of Poale Zion were formed in London and

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

in 1903/04 and 1905 respectively, and in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

by 1906. Two branches were formed in London, one by the garment workers union, one by the Independent Cabinet Makers Union.Alderman, p. 76. A permanent headquarters was opened in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed a c ...

in February 1904, and a nationwide organisation was launched at a conference in Manchester in 1906.Mendes, p. 217.

Early 20th century

Poale Zion was active in Britain during World War I, under the leadership of J Pomeranz and Morris Meyer, and influential on the British labour movement, including on the drafting (by Sidney Webb and

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of t ...

) of the Labour Party’s War Aims Memorandum, recognising the "

right of return The right of return is a principle in international law which guarantees everyone's right of voluntary return to, or re-entry to, their country of origin or of citizenship. The right of return is part of the broader human rights concept freedom ...

" of Jews to Palestine, a document which preceded the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

by three months. In this period, it published the periodical ''Jewish Labour Correspondence''. After World War I, Poale Zion published several pamphlets in Yiddish and a Yiddish journal, ''Undzer Veg''. Shlomo Kaplansky collaborated with the Independent Labour Party in setting up the Vienna International of socialist parties. In mid-1920, the World Union of Poale Zion in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

set up a Poale Zion office in

, led by Shlomo Kaplansky and

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the na ...

. The office was in rooms in Petticoat Lane, where

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: )‎ 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was ...

worked part-time translating Yiddish into English. They built contacts with both Labour and the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse worki ...

,Gorny, p. 27. and succeeded in becoming affiliated to the British Labour Party in 1920 under the name of The Jewish Socialist Labour Party, claiming membership of 3,000, although actual membership was a few hundred. One issue that they tried to influence policy on was the northern border of Palestine which was being decided at the

San Remo conference The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Villa Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution pa ...

. They hoped that it would be extended as far as the

Litani River The Litani River ( ar, نهر الليطاني, Nahr al-Līṭānī), the classical Leontes ( grc-gre, Λέοντες, Léontes, lions), is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley, west of ...

. They had only limited success in influencing Labour Party Middle East policy and the office closed in March 1921. However, party leader Ramsay MacDonald was influenced by PZ, who would publish his pamphlet ''A Socialist in Palestine'' (1922) documenting his visit to Palestine. In 1923, Leah L'Estrange Malone became the organisation's first female chair. By 1928, the World Union of Poale Zion claimed to have 1,000 members in the United Kingdom.

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label= German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a ...

.
Kongress-Protokolle der Sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale – B. 3.1 Brüssel 1928
'. Glashütten im Taunus: D. Auvermann, 1974. p. IV. 100. World PZ leader Dov Hoz was based in the UK in 1928, and set about reviving and re-organising Poale Zion (Great Britain), including inspiring PZ members to become more active in the mainstream Labour Party. Young Poale Zion was launched in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By t ...

in 1928, by Sam Dreen. Poale Zion and Dov Hoz played a crucial role in the

1930 Whitechapel and St Georges by-election The Whitechapel and St George's by-election, 1930 was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 December 1930 for the British House of Commons constituency of Whitechapel and St George's in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney. Vacancy The seat h ...

, swinging the Jewish vote behind the non-Jewish Labour candidate,

James Henry Hall James Henry Hall (24 March 1877 – 6 June 1942), known as J. H. Hall, was an English trade unionist and Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Whitechapel and St Georges division of Stepney from 1930 to ...

, rather than the Jewish Liberal candidate Barnett Janner. In the 1940s, Poale Zion (Great Britain) claimed a membership of nearly 2,000.

Late 20th century

In 1957, Poale Zion played a role in the formation of Labour Friends of Israel,Edmunds with which it continues to work. In June 1982, Poale Zion formed a Scottish branch, with the MP for

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a raise ...

, Maurice Miller, becoming its chair. In the mid-1980s, PZ claimed a paper membership of 2,000. Before the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Poale Zion represented the dominant pro-Zionist view within the British Labour Party. However, as the left became increasingly anti-Zionist, relations with the left of the party were increasingly tense. For instance, in April 1983 women members of Poale Zion were prevented from attending an

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday list of minor secular observances#March, celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights, women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, ...

seminar at the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

's County Hall, and in 1984 it was proposed that the Labour Party end the connection.{{cite web, last=Oryszczuk, first=Stephen, url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/corbyn-backed-motion-to-severe-ties-with-jewish-labour-group/, title=Corbyn backed motion to sever ties with Jewish Labour group, work=

Jewish News The ''Jewish News'' is a free weekly newspaper, established in 1997, that serves the Jewish communities of Greater London – specifically Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Essex. In 2002, it won the ''Press Gazette'' free newspaper of the year. In F ...

, date=25 May 2016, access-date=19 January 2018 In 1985,

Eric Heffer Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 192227 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the ...

suggested Poale Zion as a model for a black socialist society, as a way for Labour Party Black Sections to represent black and minority members within the party structure. In the 1990s, PZ affiliated to the Anti-Racist Alliance, a black-led anti-racist movement closely aligned to the Labour Party Black Sections and founded by Marc Wadsworth, and later to its successor the National Assembly Against Racism. Leading postwar members of Poale Zion included Maurice Orbach; Samuel Fisher, Baron Fisher of Camden; Leo Abse, who set up the Cardiff branch in 1948; Mary MikardoEdmunds, p. 137. and Ian Mikardo; Simon Pinner and his son Hayim Pinner, who was president of the youth wing and editor in the 1960s of its paper ''Jewish Vanguard''; the brothers Leslie and

Harold Lever Norman Harold Lever, Baron Lever of Manchester, PC (15 January 19146 August 1995) was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Early life He was born in Manchester, the son of a Jewish textile merchant from Lithuania, and was educate ...

(Leslie served as chair); Percy Sassoon Gourgey, secretary in 1959 and the chair 1964–67;Rubinstein and Jolles, p. 364. Sidney Goldberg, general secretary at the time of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; and Eric Moonman, chair in the 1970s.

Reginald Freeson Reginald Yarnitz Freeson (24 February 1926 – 9 October 2006) was a British Labour politician. He was a Member of Parliament for 23 years, from 1964 to 1987, for Willesden East and later Brent East, with 14 years on the front bench. He bec ...

served as the political secretary of Poale Zion, co-chair and editor of its journal ''Vanguard'' in the late 1980s to early 1990s. In the 1990s, Lawrie Nerva was chair. In 2002, Louise Ellman was vice-chair.

Jewish Labour Movement

2004–2015

Poale Zion (Great Britain) was relaunched as the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) in 2004 in response to changes within global left Zionism during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...

, with an increased focus on Britain's Jewish community.{{cite news, url=http://www.jlm.org.uk/vanguard/20050301.pdf , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707152455/http://www.jlm.org.uk/vanguard/20050301.pdf, archive-date=2007-07-07, title=The Jewish Labour Movement Manifesto – Spring 2005, access-date=15 October 2019, work=Jewish Vanguard{{cite web, url=http://www.jlm.org.uk/cgi-bin/sitetools.cgi?task=servepage&id=1, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210153102/http://www.jlm.org.uk/cgi-bin/sitetools.cgi?task=servepage&id=1, archive-date=2007-02-10, title=Welcome to the Jewish Labour Movement, last=Ellman, first=Louise, date=1 September 2006, access-date=15 October 2019, publisher=Jewish Labour Movement Louise Ellman recounts that the July 2004 'launch at the House of Commons was a highly successful event, with the Israeli Ambassador and the Foreign Office Minister responsible for Middle East matters as guest speakers. Messages of goodwill were delivered from the Prime Minister, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the World Labour Zionist Movement'. Louise Ellman rose from being vice-chair to chair in 2006, a position she held until 2016. There were JLM speakers at the official commemorations of the

Battle of Cable Street The Battle of Cable Street was a series of clashes that took place at several locations in the inner East End, most notably Cable Street, on Sunday 4 October 1936. It was a clash between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march by me ...

on its 75th and 80th anniversaries in 2011 and 2016 respectively. In the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, JLM nominated

Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Home Secretary since 2021, and previously from 2011 to 2015. She served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2008 to 2009 and Work and Pens ...

The 2016 restructure

After ten years in the role, Louise Ellman retired as Chair to become Honorary President.{{cite news, url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/the-loyalists-standing-their-ground-against-labour-s-tide-of-hate-1.63375?highlight=poale+Zion, title=The loyalists standing their ground against Labour's tide of hate, last=Dysch, first=Marcus, date=7 April 2016, access-date=25 August 2019, newspaper=

Her successor, Jeremy Newmark, was a former CEO of the UK's Jewish Leadership Council and a former spokesperson for the previous

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

Jonathan Sacks Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks ( he, יונתן הנרי זקס, translit=Yona'tan Henry Zaks; 8 March 19487 November 2020) was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United ...

. He had also stood as a Labour candidate for Parliament in 2017, in Finchley and Golders Green. Sarah Sackman and Mike Katz were elected as Vice-Chairs.{{cite news, url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/ex-jlc-chief-elected-jewish-labour-movement-chair/, title=Ex-JLC chief elected Jewish Labour Movement chair, work=

, date=10 February 2016, access-date= 9 April 2019 Sackman had stood as Labour's candidate in the Finchley and Golders Green constituency in the 2015 general election while Katz was selected as a Labour Party candidate in the

2016 London Assembly election The 2016 London Assembly election was an election held on 5 May 2016 to elect the members of the London Assembly. It took place on the same day as the London mayoral election and the United Kingdom local elections. Four parties had AMs in the ...

. Peter Mason, the former director of London Jewish Forum and a councillor in Ealing, became national secretary. He was also elected to Labour's National Constitutional Committee, which handles disciplinary cases, the first JLM candidate to be elected to a national committee for 20 years. It followed a report by former Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti that recommended a transfer of powers to the NCC. ''The Jewish Chronicle'', observing that '(JLM's) affiliation to Labour as a socialist society means it benefits from inside access to the party's various structures and systems', said that 'Mr Newmark is adamant that, to win the battle, Jews have to remain in the party rather than decamp in the face of Jew-hatred.' Newmark said "There are some people who have left the party. I respect their position and understand it up to a point but I don't agree with it on any level. If you leave a political vacuum, others will come in and fill it. The whole purpose of JLM is to become an organising focus within the party and a space for people who feel Labour is their political home." In March 2016, David Hirsh of

Engage Engage or ''variation'', may refer to: * Engagement in preparation for marriage * Engagé, 18th-19th century engaged contract workers * Engage (organisation), a UK-based political organization * Engage (visual arts), the UK National Association ...

, in an article entitled "Jew hate and today's Left", noted that "The Jewish Labour Movement—the old Poale Zion—is emerging as a key organising focus within the Labour Party." The JLM was described by ''The Jewish Chronicle'' as a 'gathering-place for moderates concerned about the direction the party is taking under Mr Corbyn' and affiliate membership was established for non-Jews. Membership increased to around 1,000 with a "flood" of affiliate members showing their "support and solidarity". The 2016 JLM annual general meeting voted unanimously to adopt a new structure to enable it to increase its engagement inside the Labour Party on a local, regional and national basis. In the 2016 Labour Party leadership election, when MPs unsuccessfully sought to replace

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...

, JLM nominated

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...

after over 90% of its members voted for him in an internal ballot.{{cite news, url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/92-per-cent-of-jewish-labour-movement-back-owen-smith-for-party-leadership-1.62590, title=92 per cent of Jewish Labour Movement back Owen Smith for party leadership, last=Sugarman, first=Daniel, date=15 August 2016, access-date=15 October 2019, work=

Some commentators{{Who, date=December 2022 concluded that the revived JLM wished to remove or weaken Corbyn and others sympathetic to the Palestinians. Young people who had had some success in their early political careers were appointed to a range of roles in the organisation. They included networks officer, Rachel Wenstone, former National Union of Students vice-president; political education officer, Jay Stoll, a senior parliamentary assistant to a Labour MP and former general secretary of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

' student union; campaigns officer, Adam Langleben, who had been elected to Barnet Council; and youth and student officer, Liron Velleman, still a student but holding a role in the party's

Chipping Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing C ...

branch. In July 2016, Ella Rose was appointed as the organisation's first director. Rose was formerly a Union of Jewish Students president and a Public Affairs Officer at the

Israeli Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of Israel, excluding honorary consulates. As of November 2021, there are 82 resident embassies, including a Taiwan office, and 22 consulate-generals and two representative missions in the 164 states that reco ...

. She also sat on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Leadership Council's Lead programme and on the Board of Deputies of British Jews. In September 2017, the JLM held its first ever one day conference. By February 2018, the JLM had over 2,000 members, according to National Secretary Peter Mason.{{cite news, url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/revealed-how-jeremy-newmark-deceived-the-jewish-leadership-council-out-of-thousands-of-pounds-1.458214?highlight=Peter+Mason, title=Revealed: JLC audit reports Jeremy Newmark deceived it out of thousands of pounds, last=Harpin, first=Lee, date=8 February 2018, access-date=14 October 2019, work=

Leadership and organisation

In February 2018, Jeremy Newmark resigned as chair of the JLM after ''

'' published an internal audit report into his conduct while he was CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council. It was alleged that, between 2006 and 2013, he defrauded the council of more than £10,000. The newspaper claimed that the council had covered up his alleged behaviour and accepted his resignation on the grounds of ill health. Newmark denied any wrongdoing, though he resigned as Chair of the JLM two days later to enable him to respond to the allegations.{{cite news , url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/revealed-how-jeremy-newmark-deceived-the-jewish-leadership-council-out-of-thousands-of-pounds-1.458214 , title=Revealed: JLC audit reports Jeremy Newmark deceived it out of thousands of pounds , last=Harpin , first=Lee , work=

, date=8 February 2018 , access-date=12 February 2018{{cite news , url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-activist-jeremy-newmark-resigns-in-row-over-charity-expenses-cszqx9wr9 , title=Labour activist Jeremy Newmark resigns in row over charity expenses , last=Brown , first=David , work=

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

, location=London , date=10 February 2018 , access-date=12 February 2018 {{subscription required Later in February, the JLM reported some financial matters to the police for investigation.{{cite news , url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jewish-labour-movement-refers-internal-financial-matters-to-the-police-1.459196 , title=Jewish Labour Movement refers 'certain internal financial matters' to the police , last=Rocker , first=Simon , work=

, date=21 February 2018 , access-date=23 February 2018 He was replaced by Ivor Caplin. In October 2018, the Director, Ella Rose, left for a role with the

Holocaust Educational Trust The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) is a British charity, based in London, whose aim is to "educate young people of every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today." One of the Trust's main achievements ...

. In April 2019, Mike Katz was elected National Movement Chair, defeating Ivor Caplin, and Ruth Smeeth was elected as Parliamentary Chair, succeeding

Luciana Berger Luciana Clare Berger (; born 13 May 1981) is a British former Member of Parliament who was MP for Liverpool Wavertree from 2010 to 2019. Initially a member of Labour Co-op, in 2019 she left and co-founded The Independent Group, later Change UK, ...

, who resigned from the Labour Party in February 2019. Joe Goldberg, Sarah Sackman and Stephane Savary were elected as National Vice-Chairs. In January 2020,

became Parliamentary Chair while Ruth Smeeth, who was no longer an MP, became a National Vice-Chair. In October 2019, the Honorary President, Louise Ellman, resigned from the Labour Party but said that she was not planning to support another party, meaning she remained eligible to be a member. The Jewish Labour Movement has a Local Government Network which seeks to recruit ambassadors in every Labour Group across the country to be a point of contact, educate local members and work with JLM nationally.{{cite web, url=https://www.jewishlabour.uk/local_government, title=Local Government, access-date=14 October 2019, work=JLM Its Jewish Councillors Network provides a space for and support to Jewish Labour councillors nationally as representatives and campaigners for the Party and political leaders and role models within the Jewish community. The Youth and Students section provides 14–26 year old members a network and opportunities to engage with the JLM and the Labour Party.

Relationship with the party

At the September 2017 Labour Party Conference, new rules proposed by the Jewish Labour Movement were adopted making hate speech a disciplinary offence. In March 2018, the JLM supported a demonstration by Jewish groups against the Labour Party leadership's handling of antisemitism. In April 2018, the Jewish Labour Movement asked for and received a guarantee that JLM would remain Labour's only Jewish affiliate, after suggestions that Jewish Voice for Labour might be allowed to affiliate. This was one of 19 requests made by JLM to the Labour Party, alongside six set by Jewish community organisations. In September 2018, as the JLM asked, Labour added all 11 IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism examples, unamended, to the Party's code of conduct.{{cite news , last1=Sabbagh , first1=Dan , title=Labour adopts IHRA antisemitism definition in full , url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/04/labour-adopts-ihra-antisemitism-definition-in-full , access-date=10 September 2018 , work=The Guardian , date=4 September 2018 In October 2018, the JLM appealed to Labour Party members to send it examples of antisemitism within Labour. In November 2018, the JLM submitted a dossier of examples to the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

and asked it to investigate the Labour Party which, it said, was "institutionally anti-Semitic". In March 2019,

wrote to the JLM conveying his and the shadow cabinet's "very strong desire for you to remain a part of our movement" following reports that it was considering disaffiliating. In April 2019, former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

and the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's soft ...

, announced that they had joined the JLM. Brown said that he joined to support Jews in light of

antisemitism in the Labour Party Allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom (UK) have been made since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the party in September 2015. After comments by Naz Shah in 2014 and Ken Livingstone in 2016 resulted in th ...

. Khan said he had joined "to demonstrate 'support and appreciation'" for British Jews. In April 2019, JLM decided to remain affiliated to the Labour Party but passed a motion of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn over his alleged mishandling of anti-Semitism within the party. In July 2019, JLM described Labour's appointment of a liaison officer to improve the party's relationships with the Jewish community as a "pointless, ineffective gesture". In September 2019, the JLM held a rally at the Middle Street Synagogue in Brighton during the

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when th ...

. Speakers included MPs, Ruth Smeeth,

Alex Sobel Alexander David Sobel (born 26 April 1975) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds North West since the 2017 general election. He defeated the Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland, w ...

, Louise Ellman,

Stella Creasy Stella Judith Creasy (born 5 April 1977) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for the London constituency of Walthamstow since 2010. She served in the frontbench teams of Ed Miliband and Harriet ...

and Rosie Duffield,

Seb Dance Seb Dance is a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the London region from 2014 to 2020 and since January 2022 serves as Deputy Mayor of London for transport. He was Deputy Leader of the E ...

MEP, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Luke Akehurst, director of

We Believe in Israel The Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) is a UK-based organisation which acts to promote awareness of Israel and the Middle East in the United Kingdom. BICOM publishes materials such as briefings and a journal, ''Fathom' ...

and secretary of Labour First, Nathan Yeowell, director of

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

, Miriam Mirwitch, chair of Young Labour and Rania Ramli, chairperson of the recently disbanded Labour Students. Smeeth said that "This isn't a fight for Jews (or) equality in the party – this is a fight for the Labour Party." Hodge drew loud cheers when she promised that "I'm not going to give up until Jeremy Corbyn ceases to be leader of the Labour Party." In December 2019, the JLM made a submission to the

as part of the EHRC's investigation into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.{{Cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/05/seventy-labour-staffers-give-statements-to-antisemitism-inquiry, title=Seventy Labour staffers give statements to antisemitism inquiry, last=Mason, first=Rowena, date=2019-12-06, work=The Guardian, access-date=2019-12-09, last2=Weaver, first2=Matthew, language=en-GB, issn=0261-3077, last3=Perraudin, first3=Frances It offered alleged incidents of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, including the description of Jewish Labour MP

as a 'Zionist remedial cancer' and a 'Zionist bitch,' as well as the discriminatory practices of the South Tottenham CLP towards prospective ultra-orthodox Jewish members. It also alleged the labelling of Jews as 'child killers,' 'subhuman' and 'Zio scum,' and told of how Jews were told that '

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

was right.' In 2020, the JLM nominated

Lisa Nandy Lisa Eva Nandy (born 9 August 1979) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. ...

in the

2020 Labour Party leadership election Labour Party leadership elections were held in the following countries in 2020: *2020 Labour Party leadership election (Ireland) *2020 Labour Party leadership election (UK) **2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election *2020 Scottish Labour deputy ...

and Ian Murray in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election, in both cases by a small margin.

Training

Following its 2016 restructuring, JLM offered training on antisemitism awareness to

Constituency Labour Parties __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

. In 2018, the JLM refused to provide antisemitism awareness training to those subject to disciplinary proceedings as they did not believe training was an appropriate sanction. In August 2018, the JLM refused to offer training at the Party's annual conference, after disagreeing with the Party leadership over its content. In March 2019, the JLM suspended their training programme. JLM said that their role had been undermined after the Labour Party announced it planned to enrol staff and members of the National Executive Committee and National Constitutional Committee on a short course on antisemitism being developed by the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, despite Labour's stated intention of consulting Jewish communal organisations prior to its implementation. In July 2019, JLM suspended a member who had continued to provide training on antisemitism. In July 2019, the JLM refused to collaborate with the Labour Party in developing educational materials on antisemitism. In June 2020, the JLM said they would not undertake antisemitism training for all Labour staff, as

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

had requested, while "staff who were central to the failure to deal with antisemitism under Mr Corbyn remained in their jobs". In mid–July 2021, Labour's National Executive Committee announced that all prospective Labour candidates would be trained by the Jewish Labour Movement to deal with anti-Semitism. The Jewish Labour Movement also welcomed the NEC's decision to ban four alleged far left factions, namely

Resist A resist, used in many areas of manufacturing and art, is something that is added to parts of an object to create a pattern by protecting these parts from being affected by a subsequent stage in the process. Often the resist is then removed. For ...

, Labour Against the Witchhunt, the

Labour in Exile Network Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

and Socialist Appeal, during that same meeting.

Campaigning

In April 2019, Katz said that JLM would be selective in campaigning for Labour candidates in future elections, saying "If you're backing the leadership and the way they have handled antisemitism – then you are absolutely not going to get our support" and "If you clearly and consistently support us...then we will have your back".{{Cite news , url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/mike-katz-jewish-labour-movement-will-not-campaign-for-labour-candidates-who-back-corbyn-over-antis-1.482894 , title=Mike Katz: Jewish Labour Movement will not campaign for Labour candidates who back Corbyn over antisemitism , last=Harpin , first=Lee , date=11 April 2019 , work=

, access-date=11 April 2019 JLM said their members would not campaign for Lisa Forbes in the June 2019 Peterborough by-election after it was revealed she had liked a social media post of a video of children praying in solidarity with the victims of the

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosq ...

with accompanying text which commented that

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

had a "Zionist slave masters agenda", and had expressed her "enjoyment" in reading a thread which included a comment that

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

had been founded and funded by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

.{{Cite news , url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/labour-s-peterborough-candidate-signed-letter-opposing-ihra-antisemitism-definition-1.485060 , title=Labour's Peterborough candidate signed letter opposing IHRA antisemitism definition , last=Harpin , first=Lee , date=3 June 2019 , work=

, access-date=7 June 2019 Forbes said that she had liked the video and the content of a long thread of posts and had not noticed the specific comments. In October 2019, ''The Jewish Chronicle'' reported that the JLM's members would not campaign in support of Labour candidate Ross Houston in Finchley and Golders Green in the December 2019 general election as a show of solidarity with its previous Parliamentary Chair,

, who was standing for the Liberal Democrats in the seat. It was later reported that day that the JLM had announced that "We will not be campaigning unless in exceptional circumstances and for exceptional candidates, like our parliamentary chair Ruth Smeeth, and members of the parliamentary Labour party who've been unwavering in their support of us. We will not be giving endorsements to candidates in non-Labour-held seats".{{cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/31/jewish-group-removes-campaigning-support-for-labour-in-election, title=Jewish group removes campaigning support for Labour in election, last=Proctor, first=Kate, date=31 October 2019, access-date=31 October 2019, work=The Guardian According to ''The Independent'', JLM "is expected to draw attention (during the campaign) to Labour MPs who it believes have a poor record of tackling antisemitism".

Responses

The JLM has attracted some criticism from within the Labour Party. Critics contended that the JLM had become largely dormant by the early 21st century and was only revived following the election of

.{{cite news, url=https://mronline.org/2019/04/29/jewish-labour-movement-was-revived-to-deal-with-corbyn/, title=Jewish Labour Movement was revived to deal with Corbyn, last=Cook, first=Jonathan, date=29 April 2019, access-date=19 September 2019, work=Monthly Review In September 2017, Michael Kalmanovitz, of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, at a fringe meeting hosted by the "Free Speech on Israel" group alongside the Labour Party conference, asked "What are JLM and LFI doing in our Party? It's time we campaigned to kick them out". At the same conference, a number of Jewish members of the Labour Party launched Jewish Voice for Labour as "an alternative voice for Jewish members of Labour" who do not support the Jewish Labour Movement's "profoundly

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

orientation",{{cite news , last=Sugarman, first=Daniel, url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/new-jewish-group-launched-in-labour-1.443348, title=New Jewish group launched in Labour, work=

, date=25 August 2017, access-date=26 March 2018 contending that "the JLM cannot represent all Jewish members of the Labour Party when it is committed 'to promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life' as well as the wider Jerusalem Programme of the World Zionist Organization."{{cite news , last1=Manson, first1=Jenny, last2=Levane, first2=Leah, url=https://www.labourlist.org/2018/10/jewish-voice-for-labour-we-werent-founded-to-tackle-antisemitism-allegations-in-labour/, title=Jewish Voice for Labour: We weren't founded to "tackle antisemitism allegations in Labour", work= Labour List, date=26 October 2018, access-date=1 November 2018 In March 2018, the ''

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

'' criticised the JLM for its "unquestioning zionism" and for being "unscrupulous enough to call fellow Jews anti-semites when the real fallout is between zionists and anti-zionists." In April 2018, after the JLM voted that it had no confidence in Corbyn, the political secretary of the Labour Representation Committee commented " LMis campaigning to make a Labour government impossible! They are stabbing us in the back. That is insupportable. The JLM must be disaffiliated from Labour as soon as possible."{{cite news, url=https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/mcdonnell-backed-group-claims-jlm-stabbed-labour-in-the-back/, title=McDonnell-backed group claims JLM 'stabbed Labour in the back', last=Frot, first=Mathilde, date=9 April 2018, access-date=14 October 2014, work=Jewish News

References

Footnotes

{{reflist

Bibliography

* Alderman, Geoffrey. ''London Jewry and London Politics, 1889–1986'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambr ...

, 1989. * Edmunds, June.
The Left’s Views on Israel: From the establishment of the Jewish state to the intifada
', PhD thesis,

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, 2014. * Gorny, Yosef. ''The British Labour Movement and Zionism: 1917–1948'' London: Frank Cass, 1983. * Mendes, P. ''Jews and the Left: The Rise and Fall of a Political Alliance'',

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

, 20 May 2014. * Rubinstein, W. D.; Jolles, Michael A.;

Rubinstein, Hilary L. Hilary L. Rubinstein (born 1946) is an Australian historian and author. She researches and writes on British naval history and modern Jewish history. Biography She graduated with a BA(Hons) in economics, history and politics at Keele Univers ...

''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History''.

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

, 2011.

External links

* {{Official website
List of publications at WorldCat

''English Poale Zion Conference Interprets Macdonald Letter As Reaffirmation of Balfour Declaration''

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web ...

, London. 11 April 1931 {{UK Labour Party 1903 establishments in the United Kingdom Jewish organisations based in the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) socialist societies Organizations established in 1903 Poale Zion Zionism in the United Kingdom Zionist organizations