ABSTRACT
Jewish workers were joining the Algemeene Nederlandsche Diamantbewerkers-bond (ANDB) and the Social-democratic workers party (SDAP) in increasing numbers. Despite this ostensibly rapid integration of Jewish workers in the general labour movement, Jews and non-Jews locked horns inside the organizations. The first elections in 1902 were interim parliamentary elections in District IX. Some officials from SDAP electoral District IX rejected the offer out of concern that the Jewish SDAP members would be more likely to alienate than attract potential non-Jewish voters. Since June 1901 a debate had been in progress within the ANDB about whether the union should support observance of the Sabbath. Many believed that Jewish workers with Jewish employers were being forced increasingly to work on Saturday, as their bosses were introducing Sunday as the day of rest. The course of events surrounding the SDAP election campaigns in 1902 reveals that the distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish workers still mattered.
