The History of Zionism

Ethnicity, Nationalism and the origins of Zionism

Herzl After the first Congress

Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly, it would be this: At Basel, I founded the Jewish State .
If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. Perhaps in 5 years, certainly in 50 everyone will know it
Herzls Diary, 3 September 1897

Zionism - Definition
Zionism= From the biblical word "Zion", often used as a synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael).

Encyclopedia Britannica : A Jewish nationalist movement that has had as its goal the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jews The Basel Program( program determined by the first Zionist Congress in Basel in August 1897) : Zionism strive to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law.

Two Fundamental Problems

Are

the Jews a Nation or a Religious/Cultural Group ?

The Right of the Jews to the Land Do they have a right to establish a homeland in Palestine?

Are The Jews a Nation Or a Religious/Cultural Group?

Maurycy Gottlieb

Yom Kippur, 1878

Nation and Nationalism

Nation:

a named human population (The French People, British) possessing a myth of common descent, common historical memories, elements of shared culture, an association with particular territory and sense of solidarity. An Ideology which requires political independence, self determination within the nation units own territory. It holds that political and national unit should be identical.

Nationalism

( Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations; G. Simony, The Zionist Ideology)

Nationalism and Nations

Primordial and perennial phenomena Modern and even an invented phenomena

Nation and Nationalism

I am driven to the conclusion that no
scientific definition of nation can be devised; yet the phenomenon has exited and exits. All that I can find to say is that a nation exists when a significant number of people in a community consider themselves to form a nation, or to behave as if they form one Hugh Seton-Watson

Ethno-symbolic hypothesis Anthony Smith

Ethnicity Ethnicism Nationalism

Ethno-Symbolic hypothesis

Ethnicity The mere presence of ethnic attributes such as consciousness of common origin (whether mythic or actual) religion and territory (or association with territory)

Ethno-Symbolic hypothesis

Ethnicism A state of mind, the conversion of such attributes of ethnicity into highly ranked attributes/values

Ethno-Symbolic hypothesis

Nationalism Aspires to political self determination for the ethnic group in its own land

THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL May 14, 1948

The right to the land From: THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
"The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books. After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom. Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland.

Main Zionists Argumentations Regarding the Right to the Land

1.

The Land of Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and National identity was shaped. They were forcibly exiled from their country Nevertheless while in exile they pray and did not lose faith and hope to return and to restore the sovereignty

2. 3.

4. Despite all manner of restrictions, and persecution and insecurity, Jews continued to maintain some presence in Palestine and Jews as groups and Individuals never ceased to return. 5. Since the destruction of the Jewish Commonwealth by Rome it became a backward province of successive empires, but never been an indigenous statehood and until the 20 century the Jews were the only people who regarded Palestine as their homeland

The Divine Promise

And the lord appeared unto Abram and said unto him. I am God AlmightyI will established my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout the generations for the everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after theethe land of Canaan for the everlasting holding: and I will be their God (Gen 17:1 7,8)

Israels Ancient History From Kingdom to Destruction and Exile

The First Temple built

1000 BC Isreals tribes became a monarchy (According to the bible: Kings Saul, David and Salomon). First Temple built

925 BC Partition of ancient Israel into the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel
722 BC - Assyrians invaded northern kingdom The end of the Kingdom of Israel. Part of the population was deported to the eastern frontier of Assyrian. many people fled south to Judah who became much more populated

587 BCE Judah fell to the Babylonians, Temple destroyed, Main Babylonian exile begins. Large part of the population of Judah (the upper and the middle class was deported) to Babylon. Part of the Jewish population fled to Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora 537 BCE After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persian Empire, in the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great gave the Jews a permission to return to their native land. A post exiled Jewish community was established in Judah comprised of 125,000 to 130,000 souls 516 BCE Second temple built

Second Temple

331 BCE - Defeat of The Persian Empire by Alexander the Great. Judah part of the new empire
323 BCE Death of Alexander. The division of the empire between Alexanders generals 174-163 BCE Judah part of the Seleucid Empire (established by Seleucus, one of the Generals) attempts to impose the Greek culture (Hellenization) on the Jews instead of Judaism

The Borders of the Hasmonean Kingdom

168-142 BCE The Maccabee Rebellion (Hanukkah Festival) 140-37 BCE - Hasmonean Kingdom

63 BCE - The Roman Empire enforced its rule on Judah made it a Roman province 66-73 CE- Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire. The destruction of the Second Temple. It is estimated that over 100,000 Jews were killed, and nearly 100,000 were taken to Rome as slaves. Many Jews fled to countries around the Mediterranean 132-135 - the Bar-Kochba revolt began led by Simon bar Kokhba . 135 the revolt was crushed. The end of Jewish Sovereignty.

The Roman Suppress any remnants of Jewish Sovereignty changing the name of the whole country to Palestine. From now on it will be referred by all its future rulers as part of Syria, called Syria-Palestine. (After Philistines mentioned In the Bible, the area inhabited by them was known as Pleshet, in cities along the coast (Gaza Ashkelon Ashdod)

(330640 CE) - Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) rule (6381099 CE) - Arab (Islamic) Caliphate rule

Hope of Redemption In the Land of Israel

By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion, If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill; Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you, if I don't prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy".

The Messiah
"The anointed King is destined to stand up and restore the Davidic Kingdom to its antiquity, to the first sovereignty. He will build the Temple in Jerusalem and gather the strayed ones of Israel together " ." , "I believe with full faith in the coming of the Messiah. And even though he tarries, with all that, I await his arrival with every day"

Jewish Wedding

Symbols of the Zionist Movement and the State of Israel

Theodore Herzl The visionary of the Jewish state The Menorah Ancient SevenArmed Candelabrum
The Flag of Israel

The Menorah Ancient Seven-Armed Candelabrum

The Menorah on a Hasmonean coin from the 1st century BC

The Menorah on the Arch of Titus, Rome About 70 AD

Language

The revival of the Hebrew Language

The prefix re, : rebuilding, renewing,

The Tallit and the Flag

A man wearing a prayer shawl

Festival of Weeks

Emancipation
But, they say to me, the Jews have their own judges and laws. I respond that is

your fault and you should not allow it. We must refuse everything to the Jews as a nation and accord everything to Jews as individuals. We must withdraw recognition from their judges; they should only have our judges. We must refuse legal protection to the maintenance of the so-called laws of their Judaic organization; they should not be allowed to form in the state either a political body or an order. They must be citizens individually. But, some will say to me, they do not want to be citizens. Well then! If they do not want to be citizens, they should say so, and then, we should banish them. It is repugnant to have in the state an association of non-citizens, and a nation within the nation. . . . In short, Sirs, the presumed status of every man resident in a country is to be a citizen. ClermontTonnerre, "Speech on Religious Minorities and Questionable Professions" (The French National Assembly 23 December 1789)

Responses to European Emancipation

ASSIMILATION

REFORM

TRADITION

German-Jews Christian-Converts Haskallah

Ultra- Modern Orthodox Orthodox Reform Judaism Conservative Judaism

Eastern Haskalah

Western Haskalah

The Ultra-Orthodox attitude

The Exile is the punishment of god. It will end by a miracle redemption and the coming of the messiah. He will come if people will continue to pray and to observe Jewish laws and tradition

Haskalah ( Sekhel) , learnedness scholarliness, enlightenment

Mskilim- enlightened, learned, scholarly Haskalah movement advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies and Jewish studies in a modern way

Precursors of Zionism

A person who expressed ideas that precede in time the emergence of social movement aroused by much the same ideas

Common denominator of the Zionist Ideology 4 propositions

Definition of the Jews as social entity (ethnic group) Diagnosis of the perceived problematic situation of the Jews Advocacy of a solution proposals of means for attaining this solution