Zionist Organization of America

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The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), founded in 1897 [1], was one of the first official Zionist organizations in the United States, and, especially early in the 20th century, the primary representative of Jewish Americans to the World Zionist Organization, espousing primarily Political Zionism.

Today, the ZOA continues to exist as a prominent pro-Israel group in the United States, with 50,000 current members.

A recruitment poster for the Zionist Organization of America poster, for the Manhattan branch, from an unknown date, circa 1900-1947. The poster reads, "For the Freedom of Palestine, Jews of America Organize. Register as a member of the Zionist Organization of America. 55 Fifth Avenue, New York, or your local Zionist branch"

Contents

[edit] History

The ZOA was initially founded in 1897 as the Federation of American Zionists (FAZ), an amalgam of Hebrew societies, Chovevei Zionists and Jewish nationalist clubs that all endorsed the Basle programme. The FAZ was established at a Baltimore conference where the constitution was adopted by the delegates with Richard Gottheil elected as president and Stephen S Wise as honorary secretary.[2] The ZOA was founded to support the founding of the 'Jewish National Home in Palestine'. Along with its sister organization Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, and the Labor Zionist Po'ale Zion parties, and the Religious Zionist Mizrachi, the ZOA served as one of the key voices in early American Zionism. Their voice was limited however, since most American Jews and the organized American Jewish Committee were initially strong opponents of the Zionist movement, and worried, with their assimilationist views, about charges of ‘dual loyalty’. The demographics of Jewish Americans were changing rapidly around the turn of the 20th century and by 1920 and the Jewish population of had increased by over ten times.

When the secular “people’s lawyer” Louis Brandeis became involved in the movement in 1912, just before the First World War, Zionism started gaining significant support.[3] By 1917, Brandeis' leadership had increased American Zionist membership ten times to 200,000 members, and “thenceforth became the financial center for the world Zionist movement,”[4] greatly surpassing its previous European base of support. In addition early in the war years, he and others established the American Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs, to run Zionist affairs on behalf of the world-wide Zionist Organization, which had been rendered largely impotent because its members were divided by allegiance to the different sides in the conflict.[5]

The Zionist Organization of America was instrumental in mobilizing the support of the U.S. government, Congress, and the American public for the creation of Israel in 1948. Former ZOA presidents of the period included Louis D. Brandeis, Louis Lipsky, Rabbi Wise, and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver.

Following the founding of Israel, and to unify Jewish representation with the executive branch of US government, the ZOA became a charter member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.[6]

[edit] Current activities

The ZOA received a mixed compliment following the 2005 election of Ed Ames, a "personality from the entertainment industry" [7] as president of its Los Angeles branch. The article states: "Founded in 1897, ZOA had been in decline from its heydays under the leadership of Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, but has regained some prominence since the energetic and vocal Klein assumed the presidency 10 years ago." [8].

As of 2005, the organization has a national membership of over 50,000. [9]. There are active chapters throughout the United States, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, South Jersey and Washington, D.C., and Youngstown.

The ZOA today works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations through educational activities [10], public affairs programs, support for pro-Israel legislation on Capitol Hill [11], and by combating what it perceives as anti-Israel bias in the media, textbooks, travel guides, and on college campuses. The ZOA's Law and Justice Department has also been at the forefront of legal efforts to combat campus [12] anti-Semitism.

The ZOA also sponsors educational and cultural programs in Israel. The "ZOA House" is a noted cultural center in Tel Aviv [13]. The ZOA is responsible for founding the Kfar Silver school, which provides education and vocational training for new Jewish immigrants and others on a 500-acre (2.0 km2) campus near Ashkelon. The ZOA's youth division sponsors one of the largest programs for sending young Jews to visit Israel.

The president of the ZOA is Morton Klein.[14] Its executive director is Gary Ratner.[15]

The ZOA was strongly opposed to Israel's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005. In January 2009, the ZOA issued a statement calling on supporters of the withdrawal to apologize, stating that the "past three years of rapid security deterioration in the southern part of Israel," and that "in these circumstances, it is high time for all MKs, journalists and others, regardless of party affiliation, who supported the process of unilateral withdrawal to apologize to the Israeli electorate.[16]

In January 2009, the ZOA expressed concern about President Barack Obama's selection of George J. Mitchell as an envoy to the Middle East. The ZOA criticized Mitchell because he "believes both sides are equally at fault" and that "settlements are the main problem, not the Palestinian Arabs' refusal to end terrorism." The ZOA also stated that "George Mitchell’s success with the IRA-British problem doesn’t translate to success with the Arab war against Israel. However extreme and murderous the IRA was, the goal was not the destruction of Britain and extermination of its people. They wanted only to remove Northern Ireland from British rule. By contrast, the goal of Hamas and the Palestinian nationalist movement is Israel’s destruction and the murder of Jews, not merely the creation of a Palestinian Arab state next to it."[17]

ZOA was explicitly opposed to the selection of Charles W. Freeman, Jr. as Chairman of the National intelligence Council in February, 2009.[18] He withdrew from the post on March 10, 2009.

In late March 2009, ZOA activists urged the United States Congress to tighten sanctions on Iran and place conditions on U.S. aid to the Palestinians. The ZOA stated that Congress should make the Palestinians comply with commitments to "end incitement and arrest terrorists" before receiving the $900 million in financial assistance that the United States has pledged. However, the ZOA reportedly faced opposition from AIPAC, which had called for the aid to be distributed without these additional conditions. The ZOA activists also expressed support for legislation to enhance transparency for U.S. funds that go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees and for a bill that withdraws funding for the 2009 Durban Review Conference.[19]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.forward.com/articles/1227 This article in The Daily Forward says ZOA was "founded in 1897 as the American branch of Theodor Herzl's Zionist movement. It is a racist organization"
  2. ^ Louis Lipsky (1927) Thirty Years of American Zionism Published by Ayer Publishing, 1977 ISBN 0405102631 pp 21-22
  3. ^ Patriot, Judge and Zionist
  4. ^ Louis D. Brandeis and American Zionism American Jewish Historical Society
  5. ^ Michael Brown, The Israeli-American connection: its roots in the yishuv, 1914-1945 Glossary, p354-355
  6. ^ http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/7290
  7. ^ http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/zionist_organization_sings_way_to_la_20050401 which notes that Ames was a 1950s singer and, in the 1960s, an actor on the Daniel Boone TV series
  8. ^ having been elected in 1993 and assuming office in 1994
  9. ^ vs. Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971 edition, volume 16: 165,000 in 1950
  10. ^ http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/18585
  11. ^ http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/congresswoman-brags-of-checking-with-zionist-organization-president-before-she-signs-on-to-legislati.html
  12. ^ http://www.israelcc.org/members/zoa.htm
  13. ^ An article in The Daily Forward notes that the building was sold to a fashion company in 2004, but that did not stop its use for pro-Israel purposes, even if not under direct ownership of ZOA
  14. ^ "ZOA: National president Morton A. Klein". http://www.zoa.org/content/klein.asp. 
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ ZOA: Backers of Gaza withdrawal should apologize by Eric Fingerhut, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), January 20, 2009.
  17. ^ ZOA ‘troubled’ by Mitchell pick by Eric Fingerhut, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), January 26, 2009.
  18. ^ http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=1588
  19. ^ ZOA lobbies Capitol Hill, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), March 31, 2009.

[edit] Suggested reading

  • Louis Lipsky, Thirty Years of American Zionism and rainbows, Ayer Publishing, 1977. ISBN 9780405102639 - Reprint of v. 1 of Selected works of Louis Lipsky published in 1927. (The first 30 years of the ZOA)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Historical archive held at the Central Zionist Archives. File inventory at:

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