Zionism

Overview

Zionism, or the Zionist movement, is a broad term referring to support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Rooted in ancient Jewish tradition of the ancestral "Land of Israel" in the Middle East, Zionism emerged in late-nineteenth century Europe amid a general increase in ethnic nationalism as well as rising anti-Semitism. While the movement evolved in various forms over the decades, as a whole it was central in promoting Jewish immigration to Palestine and the creation of a Jewish state, which was realized with the foundation of Israel in 1948. Zionism subsequently focused on the promotion and defense of the state of Israel itself. Zionism has remained influential into the twenty-first century, but has also drawn considerable controversy and criticism, both within the Jewish community and without.

Origins

Zionism is intricately connected to the history of the Jewish people, who originated in ancient Canaan (roughly the same area later called Palestine) out of tribes known as the Israelites by the late sixth century BCE. Over the following centuries Jews were widely dispersed, due to both direct persecution by many other groups and more general socioeconomic migration. Their status as a stateless people who had been exiled from their ancestral homeland became a central aspect of Jewish identity. For religiously observant Jews, this was also often connected to the belief that God had promised them the Holy Land and they would one day return there. For example, the phrase "next year in Jerusalem" became an integral part of the Passover Seder tradition. Still, for centuries there was little organized effort to reestablish a Jewish homeland or state of any kind.

By the nineteenth century the largest population of the Jewish diaspora was concentrated in Central and Eastern Europe. There, as well as in urban centers in Western Europe, broader social trends such as modernization, ethnic nationalism, and socialism informed perspectives in Jewish thought, both secular and religious. Also influential was a rising wave of violent anti-Semitism, which led some Jewish people to believe they would never be truly accepted living among other peoples. These forces gave rise to what would come to be called Zionism.

In the early 1880s, after a series of pogroms (organized persecutions of Jews) in Russia, Jewish youths formed a group called the Woveveiiyyon ("Lovers of Zion") to promote immigration to Palestine. "Zion" is the ancient Hebrew poetic term for the abode of the faithful, specifically, Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The Woveveiiyyon began what was called "practical Zionism." However, this early wave of Jewish immigration—known as the "First Aliyah"—was relatively small and disorganized. It also faced considerable opposition within the broader European Jewish community, including from many Orthodox Jews who believed a return to Palestine had not yet been divinely ordained and from others who preferred assimilation into secular European society.

Despite such opposition, Zionism continued to emerge through the end of the nineteenth century. In 1896, after witnessing anti-Semitic demonstrations in Paris resulting from the Dreyfus Affair, journalist Theodor Herzl wrote The Jewish State, in which he reasoned that if an army officer (Alfred Dreyfus) could be falsely convicted of treason in as supposedly enlightened and ethical a country as France, simply because he was Jewish, there was no hope for Jews to live in peace anywhere except in an independent Jewish national state. Subsequently, Herzl organized "political Zionism" on a worldwide scale at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. Herzl's Zionist Organization brought the movement much wider attention and influence, including growing support from established imperial powers, most notably Great Britain.

After Herzl’s death in 1904, Zionist leaders continued to promote Jewish immigration to Palestine. The wave of migration known as the Second Aliyah lasted until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, with wealthy French philanthropist Baron Edmond de Rothschild funding many Jewish settlements and agricultural operations in Palestine. Meanwhile, the Zionist movement branched widely as different political and philosophical ideologies were incorporated into the overarching vision of a Jewish homeland. Notable variants ranged from left-wing Labor Zionism to right-wing Revisionist Zionism. One important rift centered on the socioeconomic relationship between Jews and Arabs in Palestine; while the first wave of Jewish settlers tended to run plantations and hire Arabs for most physical labor, many later Jewish arrivals pushed for completely self-contained Jewish farming communities, or kibbutzim. Another trend within the Zionist movement was promotion of the Hebrew language, often in direct contrast to Yiddish.

Role in the Establishment of Israel

The turmoil of World War I (1914–18) gave further momentum to Zionism as many groups scrambled for control of the Middle East amid the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Russian-born Zionist leaders Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow helped bring about the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which the British government asserted its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. After the war Great Britain seized control of Palestine and was given approval by the League of Nations' Mandate for Palestine in 1922. British authorities initially promoted increased Jewish immigration to the region, and the Zionist Organization formed the Jewish Agency for Palestine in 1929 to coordinate its goals in the region. However, this increasingly generated tension with the Arab population, who had been given their own promises of autonomy by the British and other Western powers and were wary of the growing Jewish presence. A major Arab uprising against the British and Jewish settlers from 1936 to 1939 convinced the British that Palestine should be divided into separate Jewish and Arab states, and they subsequently attempted to restrict further Jewish immigration. Meanwhile, Zionist settlers formed paramilitary groups to defend against Arab attacks, including a main organization known as Haganah and the more radically militant factions Irgun and Lehi (Stern Gang).

World War II (1939–45) proved to be a key turning point for Zionism. The fresh surge of European anti-Semitism that culminated in the Holocaust drove a new, much larger wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine and stirred considerable international support for Zionism, including from the United States. Zionist leaders continued to promote Jewish settlement despite ongoing limits set by the British authorities, intensifying the already fraught tensions in the Middle East. Zionist paramilitary groups assisted illegal immigration efforts and increasingly carried out insurgent operations against the British, while continuing to engage in skirmishes against Arabs as well. Seeking to end its mandate in Palestine and unable to negotiate a diplomatic solution to rising violence between Jews and Arabs in the region, Great Britain delegated the issue to the newly formed United Nations (UN).

In November 1947 a UN resolution proposed partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem designated as an international city. Zionist leaders agreed to the plan and began preparations for establishing a Jewish state once the British mandate formally ended in May 1948. This gave rise to what was essentially an all-out civil war in Palestine between Jews and Arabs. The well-organized Haganah successfully implemented a plan to create a unified line of defense among Jewish settlements, occupying many Arab villages in the process and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Both sides also committed terrorist attacks on civilians during this period. On May 14, 1948, Jewish leaders officially proclaimed the creation of the state of Israel, fulfilling the longstanding goal of the Zionist movement. This accomplishment was then upheld as Israel immediately prevailed in the First Arab-Israeli War and even gained control of more territory than had been laid out in the 1947 UN partition plan.

Zionism After the Establishment of Israel

After the formation of Israel, Zionism evolved to broadly represent support for the continued existence of the Jewish state. In general, Zionists also continued to promote Jewish diaspora immigration to Israel. The Zionist Organization (eventually renamed the World Zionist Organization) and the Jewish Agency for Palestine (renamed the Jewish Agency for Israel) remained active as two of the largest international organizations in this area. However, while the movement still included a diverse array of wings and variations, over the years the term "Zionism" became particularly associated with Israeli nationalism. As the Arab-Israeli wars and Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued, Zionism for many became deeply intertwined with support for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other efforts to protect Israel's right to exist.

Despite its success, Zionism has continued to attract controversy and opposition. This is complicated by frequent confusion and disagreement over terminology. Most experts agree that "Zionist," "Jew," and "Israeli" are all distinct terms that may or may not overlap. As such, one may be a Zionist without necessarily supporting Israeli government policy, and one could be anti-Zionist without necessarily being anti-Semitic. However, watchdog groups such as the Anti-Defamation League note that "Zionist" is sometimes used as a slur for "Jew," and therefore anti-Zionism is sometimes indistinguishable from anti-Semitism in practice. On the other hand, some observers argue that pro-Israel groups purposefully conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism to shield Zionism from legitimate criticism. Even among scholars, use of the term "Zionism" can range in meaning, from general support for the existence of Israel, in the broadest sense, to narrower interpretations such as support for Jewish settlement in Israeli-occupied territories.

In light of this complexity, a few generalizations can be made. Some anti-Zionism is indeed simply anti-Semitic, such as calls for the complete destruction of Israel. Other anti-Zionist or non-Zionist sentiment is better understood as sociopolitical critique of the Israeli government (and especially of those factions who take a hardline stance in Israeli-Palestinian relations). For instance, many liberals (both internationally and within Israel) have criticized Israeli occupation of formerly Arab territories after the Six-Day War in 1967, a policy supported by some conservative Zionists. Finally, there remains a small subset of Jews who continue to oppose Zionism on religious grounds. These are typically Orthodox Jews who find the Zionist movement or the state of Israel too secular.

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