The Caledonian Cousinhood: How the Zionist Movement Embedded Itself in Scottish Life

 

Scotland has had more than 125 years of experience with Zionism.

During that time, many thousands of Zionists have come and gone, lived in or passed through Scottish cities and towns. Some have gone on to greater things after leaving Scotland; others have ended up in occupied Palestine as settler colonists, often joining the Israeli occupation forces responsible for ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

This article draws on extensive historical research to illustrate the complex familial, business and political networks that gave rise to, and continue to shape, the Scottish Zionist movement. It aims to show how deeply embedded the Zionist movement is in Scotland—and, by implication, throughout the West. Understanding these networks is crucial to grasping the social foundations of Zionism—and, therefore, to determining the most effective way to dismantle the movement.

To begin, I want to introduce a writer who spent formative years in Glasgow. His life and work help illuminate the insular, self-reinforcing structure of Zionist elites in Scotland.

His name was Chaim Bermant.

Chaim Bermant (1929–1998) spent much of his childhood in Glasgow, where he was immersed in the Scottish Zionist atmosphere. Born in Braslaw, Poland (in the northwest of present-day Belarus), he came to Glasgow as a child at the age of eight.

He was educated at Queen’s Park Secondary School and the Glasgow Yeshiva, and later graduated in economics from Glasgow University. He subsequently departed for London and the London School of Economics (LSE).  (more...)

The Caledonian Cousinhood: How the Zionist Movement Embedded Itself in Scottish Life