Sewing the Fabric of Statehood: Garment Unions, American Labor, and the Establishment of the State of Israel by Adam M. Howard (review)

Following the Trump administration's announcement in December 2017 that the US would move its embassy to Jerusalem, New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg asked the question, "is liberal Zionism dead?" (January 8, 2018). As the long-standing consensus on this ideology seems no longer tenable to many, Adam M. Howard offers a starting point for considering how this position became a mainstay of US politics through the assistance of the American labor movement. In this engaging, well-researched monograph, he shows how, between 1917 and 1948, US unions and their leaders contributed to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. By considering unions as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), he turns attention to the ways in which labor's influence can stretch beyond the shop floor and into the realm of international politics.

Howard locates the origins of labor's interest in Zionism in the American Federation of Labor's (AFL) support for the 1917 Balfour Declaration. The Bundist leaders of the largely Jewish garment unions, however, were skeptical of Zionism, viewing it "as a nationalist distraction from an international workers' movement" (14). However, "ideological and practical reasons" gradually warmed these leaders to supporting Histadrut, the Jewish worker organization in Palestine (15). While immigration quotas prevented eastern European Jews from coming to the US in the 1920s, leaders such as United Hebrew Trades secretary Max Pine argued that assisting Jewish workers in Palestine was consistent with Bundist principles. Pine encouraged Abraham Cahan, editor of the Jewish Daily Forward, to visit Palestine, helping to build connections between Histadrut and Yiddish socialists in America. By 1928, the conventions of the AFL and the garment unions all passed resolutions in support of Histadrut.

During the 1930s and 1940s, unions demonstrated their ability to raise awareness on foreign policy issues. With the rise of Nazism, many non-Zionists supported Jewish settlement in Palestine as necessary. Unions raised funds for Histadrut, and in 1937 the National Committee for Labor in Palestine sent a delegation there. Howard describes the trip as an "epiphany" for leaders such as Max Zaritsky, who returned believing the "undeveloped land ideal for future settlement" (34). Between 1938 and 1943, Zaritsky worked to establish purchase land in Palestine for two agricultural colonies. Through elaborate fundraising events, he brought Jews and non-Jews together from across the labor movement, alongside labor-allied politicians, to support Palestinian settlement in the face of new British restrictions.

As the war ended and the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed, American labor leaders "elevated Jewish statehood to the forefront of its agenda" (50). Between 1944 and 1947, the ILGWU, ACWA and other unions contributed resources directly to nation building efforts, constructing schools, factories, and hospitals. They also struggled to convince the Labour Party government in the UK, by way of pressure on President Truman, to lift restrictions on Jewish migration to Palestine. As a result of this advocacy, Howard argues that the British turned the issue over to the newly formed United Nations.

Following a round of lobbying by US labor, the United Nations voted on November 29, 1947 to partition Palestine. As war in the region ensued, union leaders saw the Truman administration's arms embargo as "placating State Department officials, who sought to secure U.S. oil interests at the expense of Holocaust survivors" (78). In the midst of the 1948 presidential campaign, labor leaders and the Liberal Party of New York made Palestine a key issue. On April 14, they turned out 50,000 workers to pack Yankee Stadium, calling for an end to the embargo. The next month, as the British mandate came to an end, Truman recognized the State of Israel. This earned him praise from labor leaders and the support of the Liberal Party, helping him secure the votes he needed in November. During the following years, the labor movement worked...