Arthur M. Goldberg, General Counsel of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, told 400 Labor Zionist leaders meeting here this weekend that while the American labor movement backs Israel, its support cannot be taken for granted. He said that the labor movement is changing geographically and ethnically and that Blacks, Puerto Ricans, women and Chicanos are coming into membership “and demanding their day in the sun” and that “Labor Zionism is the natural bridge to these groups.” Continuing, he said, “If we expect the trade unions of 1980 to be in support of Israel, we must come to terms with the Blacks, women’s rightists, the Puerto Ricans and Chicanos and with their aspirations.”
Judah J. Shapiro, president of the Labor Zionist Alliance, called on the leaders to continue working for a just society in America to achieve a good and vibrant Jewish community. Daniel Mann, a member of the LZA National Executive Committee and executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, said that by working on issues of social justice Jews could bring in the “Jewish dimension” and the Israel experience in social welfare. He also said that in these issues Jews would be able to work with newly emerging ethnic groups in America.
Benjamin Abileah, Deputy Consul General of Israel in New York, told the Labor Zionists that there is a “new chapter in the Middle East, but that there will be a long process of negotiation, He said there were a “few rays of hope,” and cited the situation along the Egyptian-Israel front.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
