Israel Cohen (1879 – 26 November 1961) was an Anglo-Jewish, Zionist leader, writer, and journalist, who served as secretary of the World Zionist Organization.
Early life
Born to Polish Jewish immigrants in Manchester, England in 1879, Israel Cohen was educated at Manchester's Jews' School (1884–1892), Manchester Grammar School (1892–1895); and then simultaneously at Jews' College and University College, London, where he received his BA. From 1895 on, Cohen became actively involved in the Zionist cause.
Upon reading an article in The Jewish Chronicle about pogroms in Russia in 1891, Cohen became interested in Jewish affairs and political matters. Following a speech given by Theodor Herzl, he was further inspired to join the ranks of the Zionist movement in 1896 and became a lifelong supporter of the Zionist movement upon the establishment of the World Zionist Organization at the First Zionist Congress in Basel in August 1897.
Cohen wrote prolifically on the subjects of Zionism, anti-Semitism, and other areas of Jewish concern. His first publication was an article that appeared in the Manchester Evening Chronicle in September 1897. This was followed by a short sketch that appeared in January 1898 in the Jewish World. He subsequently wrote hundreds of newspaper articles and pamphlets for both Jewish and non-Jewish publications alike.
Later life
From 1909 to the beginning of the Second World War, Cohen directed the English department of the Zionist Central Office in Cologne and later in Berlin. During the First World War he was held in Ruhleben internment camp for sixteen months from November 1914. He described these experiences in Ruhleben Prison Camp: A Record of Nineteen Months' Internment, which was published in 1917.
In 1918, Cohen became secretary for the World Zionist Organization in London. During the years 1918–1921 he carried out a number of important diplomatic and fund-raising missions on behalf of the Zionist leadership. These took him to Poland and Hungary, where he investigated and reported on the pogroms and other anti-Jewish acts of violence; and to Jewish communities in Australia, Hong Kong, India, China, and Japan. In Harbin, China, Cohen sought aid for the Palestine Restoration Fund, whose goal it was to purchase Palestine from Turkey.[1] Cohen later described his encounters in The Journey of a Jewish Traveller (1925), and A Jewish Pilgrimage: The Autobiography of Israel Cohen (1956).
Following the Zionist Congress of 1921, which took place in Carlsbad, Cohen was appointed general secretary of the Zionist organization in London, a position he held until 1939. He was also a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and in 1946 he was appointed head of its Foreign Affairs Committee delegation to the peace conference in Paris.
When working in Germany, Cohen became the Berlin correspondent for The Times and The Manchester Guardian, and continued to represent the latter at every Zionist Congress up until 1946.
A book titled "A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century" and referred to by multiple variations on that title was attributed to Cohen by quotation reference, but no copy of the book or evidence of its cataloguing has been proven to exist (whether by Cohen or any other author). The claimed quote was considered a hoax intended for propaganda purposes as the source of the quote had been known to produce hoaxes in the past, among other inconsistencies. This issue made it into the U.S. Congressional Record during the course of debate.[2][3]
References
^Fogel, Joshua (2015). "The Japanese and the Jews". Between China and Japan: The Writings of Joshua Fogel. Brill. p. 386.
Schneiderman, Harry and Itzhak J. Carmin, ed. Who’s Who in World Jewry: A Biographical Dictionary of Outstanding Jews. New York: Monde Publishers, Inc., 1955.
Cohen, Israel. A Jewish Pilgrimage: the Autobiography of Israel Cohen. London: Vallentine, Mitchell, 1956.
