Eric Moonman a former labor member of Parliament and president of the British Zionist Federation, said here today that Britain’s new Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was relatively inexperienced in foreign affairs, especially the Middle East. He said the main concern of British Jewry was with Mrs. Thatcher’s principal spokesman on foreign affairs in the House of Commons, Sir lan Gilmour.
Moonman, who was defeated for re-election in the May 3 elections, noted that Sir lan; the Lord Privy Seal, is very active in the Arab lobby in England and has openly advocated a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He called Thatcher’s appointment of Gilmour, a founder of an Arab-British friendship movement, a “foolish and thoughtless move.”
Asked during an interview with, the JTA about the effects of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty on fund-raising activities in Britain, he admitted that Zionism is easier to promote “during a hot war and crisis.” However, he called peace a challenge” and said the Jewish community must come to terms with the situation and respond with more creative techniques in fund-raising to keep up the momentum. in that connection, he observed that while American Jewish organizations had more professionals than their counterparts in Britain, the relations between the lay and political leadership was not always well defined. He said he felt there was far too much duplication of activities among various Jewish organizations in the U.S. Moonman said there was a problem in Britain today of maintaining Jewish identity. He said the fight was against indifference rather than assimilation.
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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.
