Jewish Chronicle

The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper, published on Fridays. The paper provides news, views, social, cultural and sports reports, as well as editorials and readers' opinions on the letters page.
Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.

Editorial positions

2008-present: The JC has attracted a great deal of criticism regarding its hard Zionist stance, its partisan views,ref and its right-wing, anti-Labour selective racism attacks.ref,ref,ref,ref See also § Timeline.
1990-2005: Under Ned Temko's editorial tenure, The JC was named weekly newspaper of the year in 2003.ref
1948-1990: After the creation of the State of Israel, a sympathetic attitude to the Jewish state was maintained.
1931-1948: Resumed a lukewarm Zionist line.
1906-1931: Became strongly pro-Zionist, and strongly supported the Balfour Declaration.
1878-1906: Hostile to Zionism, in line with the official positions of the religious and lay community leaders.

Current Editor

Stephen Pollard is the current editor of the Jewish Chronicle, as well as a political columnist who has written for several newspapers, including the Express, Spectator, The Independent, the Telegraph and, occasionally, The Guardian.

Politics: Pollard is a hard-right economic libertarian,^[1] and advocates market-based public service reforms. Although starting out on the political Left, by 2006 he held the view that, in the "battle to save western civilisation", the "Left, in any recognisable form, is now the enemy".^[2]

Islam: Pollard has been decried as an "anti-Muslim hatemonger";ref he promotes and endorses a book by Douglas Murray, whose views on Muslims are so extreme that the Tory Party cut ties with him.ref,ref

Israel: Pollard is an "Israel firster": a dedicated Zionist and ardent defender of Israel, arguing it is Israel's duty to protect its civilians from Hamas's ongoing assault.ref Pollard is a key protagonist in allegations of anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism: when it comes to anti-Zionists such as Jeremy Corbyn, Pollard is extremely vociferous, relying on guilt-by-association,ref and claims that Corbyn worships tyrants, is unpatriotic, and excuses 'Russian imperialism' against NATO.^[1]
When the anti-Semite is also a Zionist, Pollard is silent. Two such examples are far-right Zionist politician Michał Kamiński MEP and Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reform Group, and Roberts Zīle of the Latvian Fatherland and Freedom Party. Both were guests at the Conservative Party Conference in 2009 and of the Conservative Friends of Israel.

Rupert Murdoch: Pollard is a big fan of Rupert Murdoch, saying he had helped create a "broad and free and prosperous press".ref, and that "the real Murdoch is a man who has done more to democratise news, sport and leisure than any of his opponents".ref,ref

Fracking: Pollard claims fracking will solve our energy crisis and bring jobs, and that it offers the chance to reduce carbon emissions without having to sacrifice the economy.ref There is nothing "clean" about shale gas; its GHG footprint is at least 20% greater than coal's, more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon, and is only comparable over 100 years.ref,ref

The Kessler Foundation

The Jewish Chronicle is owned by the Kessler Foundation, an American charitable trust, which has overall control of the newspaper and its assets. The Foundation holds ~84% of the voting shares, and ~34% of the non-voting shares, of The Jewish Chronicle Ltd. Kessler Foundation, website

Ownership

ToDo: Trustees: Clive Richard Wollman, Anthony Ian Grossman, Laura Joseph, Charles Kessler.ref

The Kessler Foundation, reg. Nov.1984, CC, CH, OC
- Jewish Chronicle Ltd, reg. Nov.1907, holds 100% A shares in JCPTL, CH
  - JC Online Ltd, reg. Mar.2000, non-trading, CH
  - Jewish Chronicle Trust Ltd, reg. Nov.1969, holds 100% B shares in JCNL, CH, PSC = Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner
  - Jewish Chronicle Newspaper Ltd, reg. Sept.1969, publication of the paper, CH, Stephen Pollard is a director.
  - Jewish Chronicle Pension Trustees Ltd, reg. Aug.2006, dissolved Feb.2019,CH

Timeline

2014	An advert for the Disasters Emergency Committee's Gaza appeal was published, resulting in many reader complaints. Editor Stephen Pollard "explained",ref saying he did not accept the generally published figures on the number of civilian casualties, and that many were terrorists.ref
Feb.2012	Human Appeal International, a British charity, received substantial damages after articles were published implying that Human Appeal had been designated as a terrorist organisation by the US govt and had diverted donations to fund terror and to support the families of suicide bombers.ref
Nov.2008	Pro-Zionist: Stephen Pollard, an ardent neo-conservative and Zionist,ref became editor.ref,ref
May.2006	David Rowan, the Times and London Evening Standard journalist, was appointed editor.ref He left to become editor of Wired UK, a new Conde Nast publication.ref Since Jan.2017, he has worked for the World Economic Forum.ref
Nov.1999	David Francis Kessler died, aged 93.ref,ref
1990-2005	Ned Temko, an American newspaper editor and journalist, whose articles mainly appeared in The Guardian and The Observer, was appointed editor.ref
Dec.1984	The Kessler Foundation acquired most of the JC's share capital by gift from its shareholders.
Nov.1984	Kessler Foundation: UK arm established to acquire and hold shares or loan capital in Jewish Chronicle Ltd.ref (The dates are odd, since the Foundation's Facebook page claims it was established in the USA in 1985.ref.)
1983	Kessler Society founded in Missouri, USA.ref, p.27 The Kessler Foundation is funded by Kessler Society members.ref,ref,ref
1977‑1990	Geoffrey Paul succeeded William Frankel as editor.ref
Sept.1969	The Jewish Chronicle Newspaper Ltd was registered.ref
1958-1977	William Frankel was editor, later becoming chairman in 1991. The JC's farewell said “He was loved by all the staff. Despite his clashes with ‘the beards’ — as he referred to the strictly Orthodox — the vast majority of the community admired his editorial stance, including his long battle over the Jacobs affair.”ref
May.1948	Pro-Israel: After the creation of the State of Israel, The JC consistently maintained a sympathetic attitude to the Jewish state.
Jan.1944	Leopold Kessler died in the USA.ref
Dec.1940	An air raid destroyed the JC's offices in London; most of the Jewish Chronicle archive failed to survive.ref
1939	Leopold Kessler moved to the USA; he remained there for the rest of his life.ref,ref
1935	David Francis Kessler, Leopold Kessler's son, became the managing director of The JC. After a boardroom struggle, he succeeded in sacking editor Ivan Greenberg (son of Leopold J Greenberg), who was deemed too divisive due to his strongly held Revisionist Zionist views.ref,ref
1934	The Jewish World was merged with The JC.ref
1931	Lukewarm Zionism: Leopold Greenberg died; Leopold Kessler became chairman of the board of directors, and the paper resumed a lukewarm Zionist line.
1931	The Jewish Guardian disappeared, leaving The JC as the dominant media voice.
Oct.1919	The Jewish Guardian appeared, counterbalancing The JC's dominant Zionist propaganda.
1913	The Jewish World, a weekly newspaper, was acquired by the JC. It published articles by various Zionist leaders, as well as early non-Jewish pro-Zionists.
?date?	The JC took over its principal competitors, The Hebrew Observer and The Jewish World, obtaining a near monopoly in the Jewish press.
Jan.1907	Pro-Zionist: Leopold Kessler became editor.ref As a consequence, The JC became strongly Zionist, with a remit to be a "firm and influential champion".ref
Dec.1906	The JC was bought to promote Zionism by Leopold J Greenberg (an English Zionist leader and advertising agent), together with Jacobus H Kahn (a Dutch banker), David Wolffsohn,ref Joseph Cowen,ref and Leopold Kessler (a Zionist),ref who provided most of the funding.ref,no-ref Greenberg became editor.ref
??.1878	Anti-Zionism: The JC was sold to anti-Zionist Asher I Myers, Sydney M Samuel and Israel David. Myers became the editor.ref
??.1878	Benisch bequeathed the paper to the Anglo-Jewish Association (Anglo-Jewish Association).
1854	Jewish Chronicle and Hebrew Observer: rival Hebrew Observer was acquired and merged with The JC. Abraham Benisch became proprietor and editor.ref Benisch utilized every opportunity to stress the importance of Jewish settlement of Ereẓ Israel as integral to the solution of Near Eastern problems.ref
1847	The JC again became a weekly newspaper.
Oct.1844	The JC resumed publication, fortnightly.
May.1842	Publication of The JC was suspended.
Nov.1841	The Jewish Chronicle first appeared as a weekly edition.ref