Book Description

Contends that the starting point from which the "new" Jewish politics emerged was the organized joint Jewish-Christian protest against anti-Jewish legislation in Russia which was held in London in 1827. From this event on, the British Jewish community perceived itself as the champion of the rights of Jews everywhere. Traces the development of these politics from 1827-1903, dwelling on the main campaigns and Jewish diplomatic efforts during this period, including the Damascus Affair of 1840, the Mortara Affair in 1858, the diplomatic struggle for the civil rights of Romanian Jews and against the pogroms there in the 1860s-70s, and reactions to the pogroms in Russia in 1881-82 and the Kishinev pogrom of 1903. Gradually, from the mid-19th century on, American Jewry joined in the British Jewish protest campaigns and diplomatic efforts. Relates the activities of some Jewish leaders, e.g. Moses E. Levy from Florida and Moses Montefiore. Not all of the Jewish interventions were successful; however, the significance of the new Jewish politics can be measured not only by the formal successes of its campaigns. From the start, this new politics attracted masses of Jews in Britain and the USA, and developed into broad social movements. The tradition of popular movements for the defense of Jews worldwide continued during the rise of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s, and during the campaign for the rights of Jews in the USSR in the 1970s.