World Union of Jewish Students - History - 1962-1969

1962-1969

A new period of WUJS activity began with the appointment of Dan Bitan as General Secretary in 1962. Bitan re-established connections to member unions in Europe and Latin-America and began preparations for the 13th WUJS Congress to take place in Jerusalem. The Congress saw 50 delegates represent 20 countries, with much of the content focusing on post-war related issues. The Congress condemned Jews living in Germany and refused to recognize the German Jewish student union. The following Congress saw a more liberal approach to the issue and Jewish students were again recognized from Germany, although motions were passed insisting they should move from Germany and Austria.

But the more open policy toward German Jewish students accepted by Congress was perhaps inevitable considering the new Chairperson elected at this event was Michael Hunter, a former Chairperson of the British union, which had long favored the inclusion of German Jewish students within WUJS. In general, the coming years were to be influenced greatly by Hunter's vision. Under his leadership, the World Union began its formal commitment to Zionism and affiliation with the World Zionist Organization. At the same time, perhaps ironically, it began to espouse left-wing political positions in order to continue to be meaningful to a student activist community that was increasingly liberal.

During the summer prior to Hunter's election, WUJS had already begun to move towards a more campaigning union by organizing a seminar in Brussels on "The Situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union." This led to the "European Action on Behalf of Soviet Jewry," a traveling exhibition transported to cities throughout Europe. The ultimate goal of the exhibition, the gathering of signatures for a petition, was achieved quite successfully with 15,000 signatures from the United Kingdom and another 15,000 from across Europe. The campaign received a tremendous amount of publicity, from local newspapers to the broadcast media, including the BBC World Service and Israel Radio. in May 1966, the WUJS campaign climaxed in London with a demonstration over 1,000 people strong in front of the Soviet Embassy.

The 1967 Six Day War changed the political dynamics WUJS operated in. While the war won Israel unprecedented support from most sectors of the Jewish community, the new territorial realities of 1967 prompted a strong wave of anti-Israel sentiment from other camps. This "New Left" sentiment was heard loudly on campus and forced the Jewish student movement to reassess its positions regarding Israel, Zionism and its own self-definition. Such assessments began at the 14th WUJS Congress, held at Ramat Rachel months after the war. The venue itself was symbolic, as only two months earlier it had been an outpost along the Jordanian border. With Israel's June victory, it had become a part of extended Jerusalem, miles from Jordanian territory. The Congress included Shabbat in the newly-liberated Old City and was addresses by Hebrew University Chancellor, Labor Minister Yigal Allon, and Honorary WUJS President, David Ben-Gurion. Also symbolic of new perspectives was the election of British-born Chairperson Mike Hunter and Latin American-born Secretary General Edy Kaufman.

The Congress itself reflected the delicate balance required between the internal Jewish need for support for Israel and Zionism and the external concerns captivating so many young Jews around the world. On the one hand, Congress determined that WUJS should add a staff member to its Secretariat in the form of a Political Officer, noting that it was the "duty of WUJS to struggle for the solution of humanitarian, political and international problems." At the same time, Congress turned its attention to the matter of Zionism. It was noted that Israel required "significant aliyah and that no responsible Jewish student body" could "neglect its responsibility to aliyah." The Congress resolved that WUJS appoint an Aliyah Officer whose role would be to encourage aliyah from member unions. In addition, the Israel office of WUJS was asked to prepare an adequate framework to deal with the social absorption of students, including the establishment of a hostel for WUJS members studying at the Hebrew University and/or working in Jerusalem."

Following the Six Day War, the WZO, with its new Executive Chairman Aryeh Pincus, sought to reinvigorate itself. Among the routes toward this goal was the proposed formal inclusion of youth and students within the WZO. Explaining the rationale behind WUJS' agreement to affiliate with the WZO, Chairperson Hunter wrote of the "serious lack of continuity in Jewish leadership" due largely to the fact that youth were "almost totally absent from both Jewish and Zionist institutions." The World Union believed that this alienation represented a "grave danger...for the future of the Jewish People" and thus in spite of "certain doubts and reservations" had chosen to join hands with the official Zionist movement. The relationship between WUJS and the Zionist establishment was tenuous. While it was "one of the commonest cliches repeated by Jewish leaders the youth, including of course the students, should be the vanguard in the Zionist organizations," Hunter noted, in reality these young people were not given sufficient representation and were used "purely for decorative purposes." Furthermore, WUJS believed, representation in general within the Zionist Organization was problematic, as the election of delegates from many countries was non-democratic.

The Zionist Congress of 1968 resolved "to grant voting and all other delegates' privileges" to youth, students and aliyah movements and to see to it "that the competent authorities take appropriate steps for ensuring that such delegations take part in all future Congresses as delegates with full rights." The WZO constitution was also amended to grant youth, student and aliyah movements seats in the Zionist General Council that directed policy between Congresses. The Congress took very seriously issues relating specifically to the student age group, noting that campus Jewry, in particular, was faced with the task of combating anti-Israel sentiment. They therefore resolved to strengthen WZO efforts "among Jewish students in the Diaspora organized in bodies like WUJS" and recommended the provision of a special budget toward that end.

Against this backdrop, the WUJS Executive staged a walk-out from the 1969 Zionist General Council meetings. Led by Secretary General Edy Kaufman, WUJS representatives came prepared with a series of demands: that the WZO convene a Zionist Congress - the movement's formal decision-making assembly - within six months and that the delegates to this gathering be elected democratically; that Zionist ideology be discussed seriously within the WZO; and that the WZO provide a forum for youth and students to conduct their own debate on Zionist ideology. When, in the end, the General Council adopted a resolution that did not stipulate an earlier date for the upcoming Zionist Congress, the WUJS delegation determined to leave the assembly. This foreshadowed strained relations that would continue between WUJS and the Zionist establishment for years to come.