"Land Matters"
by Russell Cash
Originally Submitted On 04/23/2013 - EKU
Part 4 - Jewish Zionism
Between 1840 and 1880 the Jewish population nearly doubled. Still the increase by itself was not enough to threaten the fellahin. As the Jews began purchasing large tracts of land on the coastal planes, not previously cultivated, their agricultural ambitions, at first, were proving unsuccessful. Jews underestimated the sacrifice needed to run an agricultural settlement in Palestine nor did they have the experience. However the desire to do so proved beneficial and strategic. The growing demand for citrus crops created an influx of workers to the area. Prior to Theodore Herzl, Zionist ambitions were to blend in with the Arab Palestinians and not necessarily dispossess them of their land. In fact, many Jews were afraid that if they did not benefit the Arab Palestinians in some way, they would view them as a threat and a wave of anti-Semitism would break out. Therefore, in the earlier periods, most Jews were willing to hire the fellahin, as they proved to be better fit for the environment and there was an increasing flow of work to keep them occupied. But as time progressed and the Jews bought more land and Zionism shifted its attention away from assimilation and more towards territory, hostilities began to emerge. Eventually the Jews began innovating new tools and techniques that were foreign to the fellahin. A later Zionist policy was that only Jews should work the land and prohibited the hiring of any Arab laborers. The jobs were going to the new Jewish immigrants who were also receiving a hirer wage for their labor. “The logical conclusion of this process was the separate development of the Arab and Jewish economies and, eventually, the creation of two separate nationalist movements.” (Kimmerling, 2003)
Like Arabism, Zionism first emerged as an ideology before becoming an aggressive political movement. Prior to the 1880’s, in which the first Aliyah took place, the number of Jews living in Palestine hardly constituted a threat to the existing Arab Palestinians, except in places of municipality, such as Jerusalem. However, the conflicts that arose in the major cities were mainly over religious and civil rights and not necessarily land ownership. A few pre-existing Jews, mostly non-European Jews, had created a few agricultural settlements outside the metropolitan areas and had acquired certain skills to work the land, which the white European Jews did not possess. “Aboriginal Palestinian Jews, farmers, had long established themselves in the town of Acre and were versed in both Arabic and Hebrew.” (Schneer, 2012)
Prior to the Russian pogroms, Zionism, at best, encompassed a small group of Jews that wished to preserve their already existing ties to the land of Palestine and one day blend in with the natives. Their plan was quite simple; support existing Jewish settlements in the form of money and resources, and progressively send new immigrants to either support the settlements or create new ones. Initially, the idea of reclaiming the land of Palestine as a national home for the Jews was a remote thought. However, as Zionist aspirations continued against the looming Russian pogroms, the holocaust of WWII, and the later Jewish influx of refugees to Israel, the need for a sovereign Jewish homeland appeared unavoidable and in some ways inevitable.
Had it not been for the Jewish Rothschild family, it is questionable if Zionism and the creation of modern Israel would have worked altogether. The Rothschild’s would provide a primary source of funding that would bridge the gap between the Jewish muscle and will to survive in Palestine with the British and western political backing necessary to legitimize the state. In fact, Theodore Herzl had originally requested the Rothschild’s to back his vision and plan for the new Zionist organization. However, he was turned down as the Rothschild’s were already committed to funding certain settlements in Palestine as previously noted. At the time, Herzl’s ambitions were seen as too aggressive and in fact, many Jews had yet to embrace the idea of a sovereign nation. Until then, the Rothschild’s had provided the necessary resources that essentially helped maintain and build Jewish infrastructure, which later added to their organizational impact on politics. “Their subventions provided the necessary cushion when crops did not grow, funds for equipment, tools, seeds, teachers, schools, doctors, administrators, and funds to purchase land.” (Schneer, 2012) Needless to say, such philanthropist activities were not available to the Palestinians. Instead, those who might have been capable of providing such assistance often took advantage of them exploiting their land.
By the later part of the 19th century, Zionism was starting to catch on in places where Jews were either motivated by nationalist aspirations or starting to feel the wave of anti-Semitism. Still, in other places, notably Britain, Zionism was not popular among many of the Jews until after WWI. As Theodore Herzl forged Zionism into a political effort, and even until after his death, there were mixed reactions to Zionism among Jews stemming from the many sub branches that quarreled for control. Nonetheless, the commencement of the first Aliyah had brought roughly 7,000 new Jewish immigrants to the land, “the largest number in a single year since the Romans had destroyed the Second Temple”. (Schneer, 2012)
As the Jewish population increased to around 30,000, it was the organizational efforts of Zionism that gave the Jews a leading edge that would last with them to the present day; not the desire to establish a homeland, at least not yet. “Most of the Jews of the First Aliyah had no realistic hope of establishing a Jewish nation in Palestine. … [T]here was no political movement advocating a Jewish state until near the• end of the First Aliyah in 1897, when Theodore Herzl organized the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland.” (Dershowitz, 2004) Yet, Zionism provided the basic necessities to expand Jewish society, such as schools, civil and industrial infrastructure, banks, areas of commerce, and the basis for a future political framework. Eventually, Zionism would be integrated in with every facet of the Jewish life, even if the Jews did not consider themselves true Zionists.
Although Theodore Herzl is often crowned as the father of Zionism, it wasn’t until after his death that his ambitious goals became a reality. One might say Herzl provided the momentum Zionism needed in order to gain political attention or it might have died out early on or taken an alternative route. Herzl’s main contribution, among others, was his aggressive efforts to organize and mobilize Zionism as a political movement. As long as it stayed in the forefront of the minds of Jews and politicians, much needed dialog and debate would figure out the details. As mentioned previously, many Jews found Herzl’s ideas rather risky. However, whether realized or not, Herzl would provide the philosophy that would ultimately come into being once the Zionist organization was put into action. For the most part, Herzl was a gadfly. He publicly vocalized what many Jewish Zionists were afraid to admit publicly. In reference to Palestinians he commented, “We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it any employment in our own country. ... Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly.” (Quigley, 2005)
While Herzl provided the political framework, and Jews provided the spirit and will, Zionists in Britain, with the help of British officials and the Rothschild’s, added the final touch, solidifying Zionist ambitions in Israel and its demand for a national Jewish state. Prior to this however, Jews were still divided among four major camps, each promoted by well-known Jewish leaders and who had ties to the British parliament, as well as other prominent Jews around the world. Some scholars do not identify these sub branches as falling under Zionism, however for the sake of simplicity and because others do, this paper considers these branches with respect to Zionism. Originally, the Zionists in Britain split into two camps, the Territorials who wished for a Jewish national homeland supported by a major nation like Britain and the Practicals, who did not believe the movement could gain support of a superpower and instead wished to assimilate in with the native Palestinians. Eventually, these two camps would merge into a new camp referred to as Culturals. “They fashioned an alternative strategy to both territorial and political Zionism that emphasized building up Jewish society within Palestine as it was, and strengthening Jewish culture throughout the lands of the Diaspora.” (Schneer, 2012) Finally, there were the anti-Zionists who feared the Zionist ambitions would lead to a wave of anti-Semitism worldwide and strongly advocated against it. At some point during its evolution, each had a fundamental impact or played an integral role in forming modern Zionism.
Chaim Weizmann, a Russian born Jew and later the first President of Israel, was one of the most influential leaders of Zionism. By profession he was a well-known chemist whose expertise was in large demand in Britain. Weizmann developed a new way of creating acetone, which at the time was crucial to the coming war effort. Originally something of a Cultural later turned Territorial; Weizmann concentrated much of his early efforts to establishing educational institutions in Palestine. With the help of Albert Einstein they created Hebrew University in Jerusalem, one of the leading international schools in the world. As well, Technion, another university in Israel, honors Weizmann as their founder. He shared close ties with Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, who also has an institution named after him. Weizmann’s role as a Zionist leader in education and establishing institutions would prove beneficial as he would later help create the Palestinian Land Development Company (PLDC). With the help of the Rothschilds, the PLDC would unite with another organization, the National Jewish Fund (NJF). The NJF would acquire land purchase by the PLDC and attach certain stipulations to the land, such as only Jews could lease and work the land under the fund. “In 1901 the World Zionist Organization formed a company to buy land for Jewish settlers … in "Palestine, Syria, and other parts of Turkey in Asia and the Peninsula of Sinai … to redeem the land of Palestine as the inalienable possession of the Jewish people.” (Quigley, 2005) Such coordination exemplifies the organizational role of Zionism that kept the movement a step ahead of its competitors.
By the mid part of his career as a Zionist, Weizmann took center stage as he assumed leadership status among the Zionists and created key relationships with important British officials, predominantly Lord Balfour. That is not to say Weizmann and Zionism did not come with its challenges. In fact, Weizmann, like many, changed his attitudes towards Zionist goals and eventually realized the only way the Jewish people could truly be sovereign is if they had their own homeland in Palestine. However, unlike Arab leaders, European Zionists, despite oppositions towards one another, were quick to assemble, negotiate, and seek diplomatic solutions to pressing obstacles. In retrospect, the final Zionist agenda, after many years of debate, like any diplomatic meeting, was forged in a political fashion. The last step was to get the backing of a major world power like Britain. This is precisely what Zionist leaders set out to do. Ironically, they turned to other countries first. While the British were somewhat worried Zionists might settle with another country such as Germany, it was actually France who gave its signature to the Zionists in a document much like the Balfour Declaration. Likewise, with the support of the Vatican, Zionists won the alliance of Italy. But it would be the French document that would act like a bartering mechanism when approaching the British that would encourage them to do the same. In contrast, Palestinian efforts to appeal to the international community were less than comparative. And in times when they did, such as the Arab League Conference in Paris, issues pressing Palestine were second to the other Arab nationalist desires.
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