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Palgrave Macmillan

British Trade Unions, the Labour Party, and Israel’s Histadrut

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  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. Ronnie Fraser

    1. London, UK

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  • Focuses on the British trade unions’ attitude to Israel and Zionism

  • Refutes the accepted wisdom that British trade unions have always been a supporter of the Jews of Palestine and Israel

  • Corrects assumptions that the Israel/Palestine conflict has always been as divisive as it is currently

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 1-10

  3. The Early Years

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 11-83

  4. The Years of Indifference

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 85-131

  5. The 1960s, the Golden Era in the TUC’s Relations with the Histadrut

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 133-172

  6. The Move to Outright Criticism of Israel

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 173-217

  7. Changing Sides

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 219-272

  8. Conclusion

    • Ronnie Fraser
    Pages 273-284

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 285-322
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Keywords

About this book

This book explores the British Labour Party and the trade unions and how their relationship with the Jews of Palestine and Israel has evolved over the past one hundred years. It also reflects the changing attitudes of the Labour Party and the unions towards the persecution of the Jews, a Jewish homeland in Palestine, Israel and antisemitism. An in-depth examination of critical events in European and Middle East history reveals the links between British unions and their Israeli union counterpart, the Histadrut (General Federation of Labour), and sets out the circumstances in which the unions went from backing the Labour Party’s  1917 war aims declaration, which called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, through to the present day, which sees the unions promoting campaigns for boycotts and sanctions against the State of Israel.

Reviews

“Fraser has lived this issue, but he manages admirably in his new book to step back and take a detached, academic and thoroughly researched and sourced look at the historical ups and downs of the relationship between British trade unions and Israel. … Fraser has pulled together a treasure trove of material and crafted a convincing narrative from it. … I suspect the book will be read even by some of the most fervent anti-Zionists in the union movement, as it is their history too.” (fathom, fathomjournal.org, February, 2023) 'Ronnie Fraser has reclaimed an important episode in British working class history. It reveals a time when the British Left embraced Zionism and supported the rise of a Hebrew Republic in the Land of Israel.’

—Colin Shindler, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  • London, UK

    Ronnie Fraser

About the author

 Ronnie Fraser is a retired Mathematics Lecturer who founded the Academic Friends of Israel, which campaigns against the academic boycott of Israel and antisemitism on campus.  He was awarded his Doctorate by Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: British Trade Unions, the Labour Party, and Israel’s Histadrut

  • Authors: Ronnie Fraser

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86814-7

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-86813-0Published: 05 February 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-86816-1Published: 05 February 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-86814-7Published: 04 February 2022

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 322

  • Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Political History, Modern History, Judaism

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