THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT

 ‘Great revolutions which strike the eye at a glance must have been preceded by a quiet and secret revolution in the spirit of the age… It is a lack of acquaintance with this spiritual revolution which makes the resulting changes astonishing’  - Hegel

The Jewish Diaspora 

The migration of Jewish tribes to Egypt and their return to the ‘Promised Land’ somewhere between 1400-1200 BC was the beginning of a period that was far from peaceful. For two millennia Palestine’s history was one of bondage or over lordship of one sort or another. Thus under troubled oppression from the Romans the Jews left Palestine to take refuge from their oppressors. It remained under different hands for a very long period of time.

During the long centuries of their sojourn in different parts of the world, the Jews never gave up the idea of returning back to Palestine.

An active movement for Jewish return to Palestine does not appear until the second half of the 19^th century. This movement aimed at the establishment of a national Jewish state in Palestine, the ancient Jewish homeland. This movement radically changed the course of Jewish history and the nature of the bond between the Jews and the land of Israel.

The European Jews in 1815 were a community who still lived in the land of European society and rural districts like Hesse and Alsace. The great cities of Europe – Paris, Vienna, Berlin, London, Moscow and St. Petersburg were still predominantly Judarian.

 

Beginnings of Anti Semitism

The Jews achieved important positions in journalism, literature, music, science, paintings and philosophy. The world of finance was run by a large number of Jewish magnates and revolutionary movements were also often led by the Jews.

One of the outstanding contributions to the field of political thought was that of Karl Marx, a German Jew who preached his doctrine of class war and naturalistic interpretation of history.

Disraeli and Einstein made a tremendous impact on world thought. Universities, academics and school drew a larger and larger number of Jews into their activities. Their predominance over political and industrial power, if not at the height of society was not taken well by the other advanced countries in Europe and thus brought about various nationalist movements against the Jews. This provoked hostility amongst the Europeans. The varying degrees of oppression and discrimination to which they subjected in their land of adoption naturally helped to intensify their nostalgia for Palestine.

Political persecutions were first witnessed in Russia and Russian Poland where the concentration of the Jewish population was the highest, thus resulting in an active Jewish immigration to the United States and the Palestine territories.

Herzol was a Hungarian Jew who called the first Zionist Congress at Bazel in Switzerland in 1897. Its aim was to create a new mother country for the Jews in Palestine. Herzol was elected as the president for this organization where various Zionists movements were encouraged in various parts in Europe.

By 1911 the Zionist movement had grown from Herzol’s visionary idea to a strong and organized worldwide philosophy.

Humiliations faced by the Jews worldwide

In Germany, Prince Bismarck launched an anti Semitism camp against the Jews. He feared that Jewish domination over the industrial and other important affairs of the country would consequently weaken the strong German territory.

The tsarist government imposed new restriction on the Russian Jews. Orthodox Jews, whose habits and external appearance differed from those of the majority culture, were victimized and attacked. The anti Jewish movements in Russia became so intense and violent in the 1880s that a number of Jews were forced to migrate to the US and the Western European countries.

The growing importance and the wealth of the Jews angered the other communities and they began anti Jewish campaigns.

Socially, the Jews were viewed with increasing mistrust and hostility and were not allowed in the participation of national life, were debarred from public affairs, to own land and excluded totally from social life. Many times they were expelled from the country without any adequate reason.

 

The Balfour Declaration (2^nd November 1917)

As the convener of the first Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897 and the founder of the World Zionist Organization, Theodore Herzol felt that Zionism would never be achieved through silent labour at the edge of world politics. During the First World War the Zionist movement became extremely popular. At this time, Britain received this movement and readily agreed to support them and their cause.

After a formal meeting with their leader Chian Wiezman, the British government made a policy statement on 2^nd November 1917. This statement viewed

1. The establishment of Palestine as a permanent home for the Jews.
2. That the British crown would stand by the Jews in their object
3. Nothing would be done to prejudice the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish community in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by the Jews in other countries.

Britain purposely declared their cooperation through the Balfour declaration firstly to safeguard their future investments in the middle east and secondly, the Jewish community in Palestine would serve as an immediate means for mobilizing the Jews for the allied war cause.

In 1922, Churchill’s White Paper made it clear that Palestine would not be given completely to the Jews, but only a part of Palestine would be set aside for their home. The Jewish immigration into Palestine would be allowed to its economic capacity. The ‘Treaty of Lausanne’ (1922) conferred the British mandate in Palestine giving the Jews, the entire power of Legislation and administration.

This mandate permitted the Jewish immigration into Palestine. They were given permanent citizenship of the land. In the 1930s because of this treaty, the Arabs now frequently began to conflict with the Jews, thus leading to a full-scale clash in 1936.

Few wars have appeared so justified in the eyes of the participants, as to the Jews it was the fulfillment of a programme that they had cherished since the ‘Diaspora’ – the great dispersion from Palestine nearly 2000 years ago. To the Arabs it was a simple case of not becoming aliens in the country that they had known as their own for 12 centuries.

A royal commission was set up to investigate the real cause behind this rebellion and concluded that there was no common ground for a settlement between the Arabs and the Jews. Thus the portioning of Palestine would make separate provinces. In 1938, the Palestine portioning committee was set up to demarcate the areas of the two states but before any decision could be made the second world war broke out. Thus, the conflict was shelved for the time being till the end of the war.

 

Jews in the Second World War

Not only because of the Balfour declaration but also out of no option, the Jews in Palestine volunteered in the British army. Hitler had already begun his intolerance towards the Jews and they were absolutely determined to wipe out the Semite race. On the other hand the Jews, witnesses to their massacre were determined to do the same.

Hitler’s liquidation of 6 million Jews in Germany horrified the world. Thus the US and the British government decided to give their unflinching support to the Zionist demand for a separate state. Due to this sympathy the Arabs once again renewed their conflict with the Jews. Since the matter could not be resolved through peaceful measures, it was referred to the UNO.

 

Emergence of Israel

A special session of the general assembly was called in April at the request of Britain to recommend a policy for Palestine. The Jews did their best to influence the commission. The Arab Higher committee representing the Palestine Arabs did not take it very seriously, thinking that to do so would mean recognizing Jewish rights.

Finally on May 14^th 1948, the state of Israel was declared. With the emergence of Israel the dream of the Zionists was fulfilled. The Jews acquired a homeland with an independent state of their own thus bringing an end to their trials and tribulations. They could now legitimately work for a better future.