Women’s Zionist groups had existed across England since the 1890s under the aegis of the English Zionist Federation. The Balfour declaration no doubt gave impetus to Rebecca Sieff and her colleagues Dr. Vera Weizmann, Edith Eder, Romana Goodman and Henrietta Irwell, to form a separate Zionist organisation for women, The Federation of Women Zionists, (FWZ) in 1918.
Rebecca Sieff and Vera Weizmann made a fact-finding trip to Palestine at that time and were shocked by the conditions in which women and their families were living and working. They returned fired up with plans to provide social and welfare services, training in agriculture and domestic science. This focus on caring for people and helping them to achieve a better life, rather than building infrastructure, remains a guiding principle of our movement today.
In 1920 the British mandate for Palestine was endorsed and the event left an indelible impression on Rebecca Sieff. She knew it was time to kindle, throughout the Diaspora, the flame of women’s Zionism. She called women from around the Jewish world to form the Women’s International Zionist Organisation of which the FWZ became a constituent part fondly regarded as the ‘Mother Federation’.
WIZO’s social welfare work continues to develop in accord with the needs of those it provides for and WIZO.uk has always supported it in caring for the people of Israel. WIZO is forever indebted to the vision of the women who conceived it. The instrument they forged has given, and will continue to give, generations of Jewish women the power to convert their love of Israel into deeds.
The history of WIZO.uk is not a memorial to things past. It speaks of a movement which has been creative from the day it was founded. Its members are like relay runners: they seize the torch whilst running; they pass it to others who stride at their side. We are still attracting dynamic, active young women who are forming new groups and we hope that they and their daughters will lead us forward for as long as Israel and its people need us.
