Committed to working-class solidarity that stretched beyond ethnic boundaries, the society hosted many intense debates among left-wing Jewish political groups.

The 1919 strike was strongly supported by Jewish radicals. Three of these individuals served on the Strike Committee – AA Heaps, a labour politician; and Max Tessler and M Temenson of the Metal Workers Union. The Israelite Press carried scathing indictments of the Citizens’ Committee. Liberty Temple served as an information centre on the strike. Anti-strike campaigns targeted Jewish strikers with a barrage of anti-immigrant and antisemitic attacks. On June 17, Liberty Temple was raided by the police. Jewish homes were ransacked, and three men were arrested and faced with the possibility of immediate deportation – Samuel Blumenberg, Michael Charitinoff, and Moses Almazov. A Jewish Workers’ Committee was formed to organize a Strike Relief Fund in their support.

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