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Zionism
A political movement founded in the nineteenth
century that postulated the national rebirth of the Jewish
nation and
creation of a Jewish state.
The development of Zionism can be divided into two
stages: the
first, early Zionist or pre-Herzl period, from the 1860's to
1896
(Khibat Tsiyon, conference in Katowice), and a second phase,
"political
Zionism".
T. Herzl was political Zionism's founder and
theoretician. In 1896,
in his book The Jewish State (Polish edition, 1917, Panstwo
zydowskie),
he presented the idea of creating a Jewish national state,
outlining the
methods and means by which this could be achieved. In 1897,
at the
First Zionist congress in Basel, the World Zionist
Organization (WZO)
was founded, which was involved in organizing emigration to
Palestine
and defined the movement's main activities and basic aims,
declaring
that "Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish
people in
Eretz-Israel secured under public law." In 1901, at the next
congress in
Basel, the Keren Kajymet Le-Israel was established, which
was a fund
for the purchase of land in Palestine.
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From its very inception, Zionism had several
ideological and political currents, which differed in terms
of their
goals and methods. Cultural Zionism, whose founder and
ideologist was
Akhad Ha-Am, emphasized the need to rebuild the
consciousness of the
Jewish diaspora and focused less on practical political
activities.
Before the First World War, a religious faction formed
(Mizrachi), as
did leftist (Poalei Zion) and liberal factions (Zionist
Organization in
Poland). The idea of creating a Jewish state somewhere other
than
Palestine was also raised. Those who supported this idea
were called
"territorialists".
During the interwar period, other Zionist parties were
founded,
including He-khaluts, Hitakhdut and the New Zionist
Organization (Nowa
Organizacja Syjonistyczna) (organized by revisionists). Many
Jews
opposed the Zionist movement. Diaspora nationalism,
represented by the
Bund and the Yidishe Folks-Partay, was very much against
Zionism.
Orthodox Jews and Chasidim (Agudas Isroel) were opposed to
Zionism for
religious reasons, seeing it as a heresy and denial of
Messianism.
Advocates of assimilation saw Zionism as a pipe dream.
A watershed was the Balfour Declaration, which pledged
Great
Britain's support for the idea of building a Jewish national
state.
After it was proclaimed, the movement gained many
supporters. When Great
Britain was granted the Palestinian Mandate in 1920, first
WZO and then
the Jewish Agency launched a colonization program.
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The founding of the state of Israel in 1948
meant Zionism's main aim had been achieved. As a result, its
goals were
modified, and its main task became to protect the young
state and
strengthen its position in the world. The immigration
program continued
to be fostered and organized. A bill passed by the Knesset
in 1950
guaranteed Israeli citizenship for each Jewish new arrival.
Zionist
parties supported efforts to help immigrants adjust and to
equalize the
cultural differences among Jews who had arrived from a wide
range of
countries.
Zionism focused on internal problems and the political
division into
right and left grew more important. As a result, three blocs
emerged:
the Marxist faction, Mapam (the Hebrew abbreviation of
Mifleget
Ha-poalim Ha-meukhedet, United Workers' Party), the
social-democratic
Mapai (the Hebrew abbreviation of Mifleget Poaley Erets
Israel, Israeli
Workers' Party, popularly known as the Labor Party) and the
rightist
Likud [Hebrew, Unification], uniting former revisionists and
general
Zionists. They play a fundamental role in Israel's political
life,
though there are many other small, non-Zionist parties,
including
religious and Palestinian parties.
(A.C., G.Z./CM)
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