Zionism

SIONISMO. – A political movement intended to secure for the Jews an independent and recognized national state, it established itself at the Zionist Congress of Basel (Aug. 1897), at which Teodoro Herzl, a Hungarian Jewish journalist, caused the ideas already set forth in his programmatic book Judenstaat (Vienna 1896) to triumph. Even earlier, the millennial aspirations of the people of Israel to regain their homeland had taken concrete form, especially in Eastern Europe, in movements that promoted Jewish culture, the

revival of Hebrew as a national language, and the colonization of Palestine; but such small, unorganized attempts were often utopian.

In 1881, however, under the stimulus of the bloodiest “pogroms” (southern Russia), the movements intensified and became more concrete. Groups of “Lovers of Zion” were formed in many cities to collect funds and recruit people for the colonization of Palestine, where the first colonies were founded in 1882: this was the phase of sporadic colonization. The physician from Odessa, Jéhùdāh Leib Pinsker, founded in that city in Oct. 1883 the first nucleus and center of all the Hobhēbhē Sijjôn. The previous year he had published in Berlin an anonymous pamphlet (Autoemancipation: Mahnruf am seine Stammesgenossen), in which the Jewish question was presented dramatically and the only satisfactory solution was advocated: to give the Jews a homeland in Palestine (Eres Jisrd'el). Pinsker’s pamphlet had little influence at the time, but later Herzl said that, had he known it earlier, he would not have thought it necessary to write his Judenstaat. If Pinsker lacked fervor in action, Herzl possessed it to an exceptional degree. Converted to s. as a result of the worsening of atheism (the final impetus was the Dreyfus trial in France), he saw in it the only means of resolving the Jewish question and from then on devoted his brilliant gifts to it entirely. After intense propaganda throughout the world to instill the Zionist ideal in the Jewish masses, organize the future colonists, create the principal instruments for reconstruction, and win the major Powers to the Zionist cause, he convened in Basel, on 29 Aug. 1897, the first Zionist Congress, in which more than 200 delegates from every part of the world took part. Here the “Basel Program” was established, and the world Zionist organization was founded, with supreme authority vested in a Congress (annual at first, then biennial). At the close of this Congress, Herzel was able to write in his private Diary: “At Basel I founded the Jewish State. If I said this aloud today, I would be answered by bursts of laughter everywhere. In 5 years perhaps, in any case within 50 years, everyone will understand.” At the exact expiration of the 50 years, the State of Israel would be born, and the following year Herzel’s remains would enter Palestine amid the veneration of the newborn State of Israel, which would acclaim him as “Father of the Homeland.”

After the Congress of Basel, all similar movements were concentrated within the Zionist movement, and numerous organizations and federations were founded everywhere. Herzel encountered no small difficulties, even among the wealthy members of his own people from whom he solicited financial resources, to such an extent that, seeing the near impossibility of obtaining Palestine, after considering other projects he accepted the proposal of the English Colonial Secretary Chamberlain, who offered Uganda as a gathering place for the Jews; but the hostility of many of them toward the project was so violent that Herzel died of grief over it (3 June 1904). From then on the “Basel Program” for Palestine remained firmly established, and in 1907 the Seventh Congress, on the initiative of Haim Weizmann, future first President of the State of Israel, advocated “synthetic s.”, which combined Herzl’s political program with immediate practical colonization. With funds made available by wealthy Jewish financiers, such as, for example, Baron Edmondo Rotschild, through annual collections organized throughout the world, the purchase of land in Palestine and the founding of “Colonies” in the most fertile and strategically important areas were begun, in anticipation of the inevitable reaction of the Arabs. Successive waves of emigrants poured into Palestine, above all from the countries of Eastern Europe where anti-Semitic hostilities were most violent. At first, colonizing immigration was disorganized and often produced meager results; no organized plan regulated immigration, and nothing had been prepared to receive the newcomers, who, in order to enter, had to evade a prohibitive law of Turkey (1882), then the ruler of Palestine. The First World War marked decisive progress for organized s. On 2 Nov. 1917, the British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour declared in a letter to Lionel Rotschild, president of the British Zionist Federation: “His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a ‘National Home’ for the Jewish people and will use its best efforts to facilitate the achievement of this object.” This famous “Balfour Declaration” was subsequently incorporated by the League of Nations into the text of the Mandate over Palestine entrusted to Great Britain (Apr. 1922). But, once the necessities of war had passed and unwilling to incur the antipathy of the Palestinian Arabs, the latter did not hasten to implement the promise, skillfully taking advantage of the vague and equivocal form of the term “National Home.” On the other hand, the Jewish people, strengthened by the right recognized for it, began an “invisible conquest” of Palestine, through successive immigrations supported by various Committees and directed by a central organization, the “Jewish Agency,” with its two branches: the Qeren qajjemeth lé-Jisrā'el (“Horn of the resurrection of Israel”), which supplied the land; and the Qeren haj-jézādh (“Horn of the foundation”), which distributed it among the colonists, organized in the form of large Cooperatives (qibbā), very similar to the Soviet “kolkōz.” Thus, in the twenty-year period between the two world wars, the three most important migrations (dlijjōth) of the five counted by the entire Zionist movement since 1882 took place; of these, the largest, composed for the most part of German Jews, was caused by Nazi anti-Semitism (1934–1939). Difficulties arose in the international sphere, and in Palestine there were repeated hostilities with the Arabs, but the work continued with perseverance. Gradually most of Palestine’s productive land was purchased, agriculture was modernized, in-

in-dustry was developed and cities were founded; Tel-Aviv, the ghetto of Haifa, became an elegant city within a few years and now, as the capital of the new State of Israel, has approximately 200,000 inhabitants. In 1943, the Jewish population of Palestine reached 539,000 individuals, 31.5% of the total population, and the properties of the “Jewish Agency” amounted to 1,300 sq. km., that is, 17% of the territory.

To further promote unity and the national spirit, jiddī, defined as “the jargon of secondhand dealers,” was abandoned, and classical Hebrew of the Bible was adopted as the national language; Ben Jéhūdhāh of Odessa wrote a 15-volume dictionary of it, adapting it to modern needs.

In the face of the extraordinary achievements of s., the Palestinian Arabs began to realize that a Jewish state was not only in the process of being formed, but already existed in their territory, and that little by little they would be overwhelmed by II. Thus the struggle between the two groups began, conducted through acts of terrorism, sabotage, and assassination. The Jews opposed them with a small but powerful clandestine army, called Haghānah, which responded to reprisals and acts of terrorism with the same weapons, while England skillfully oscillated between one faction and the other, although sympathizing with the Arabs. The Second World War (1939–45) marked a pause in the struggle, but it resumed with greater violence at the end of the conflict, since the British Mandate was due to expire in 1948. Proposals and attempts at conciliation multiplied; it was proposed to extend the British Mandate, allowing the immigration of 100,000 Jews once and for all, but the proposal failed amid popular fury. The Morrison proposal for an independent State divided into two provinces likewise failed. In any case, England announced that, as soon as the Mandate expired (15 May 1948), it would leave Palestine in the hands of the United Nations.

The U.N. (31 Aug. 1947) adopted the plan to divide Palestine into two separate States, but the following day open fighting began in Jerusalem between Jews and Arabs and, on 15 May 1948, the official war began between Israel and the Arab League (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan, Egypt, and Arabia), which stood in solidarity with the Palestinian Arabs. Israel, more unified, better armed and prepared, mobilizing women and boys as well, gradually gained the upper hand. The brief conflict was marked by ferocity and cruelty, acts of terrorism, massacres, and reprisals on both sides.

The U.N. imposed three truces, which were not respected; indeed, the U.N. envoy for the truce, the Swedish Count Bernadotte, was himself assassinated on 6 Sept. 1948 by a group of Jewish terrorists. Finally, the U.N. ordered the belligerents to conclude an armistice (16 Nov. 1948), which Israel in fact concluded separately with the various States of the Arab League in the following spring. Israel found itself master of more than two-thirds of the territory. On 11 May 1949, the U.N. admitted the State of Israel into its membership.

Having by now achieved its goal, s. in the original sense of the word should be considered finished; but the question of Jerusalem still remains, the city still being divided between the two contenders: the new city is in Israel’s hands, while the old city is occupied by the Arabs, who garrisoned most of the Holy Places with the Arab Legion. Israel demands Jerusalem as its capital; the Arabs refuse to yield; the U.N. has proposed the internationalization of the city, but the proposal has so far not been implemented.

Pope Pius XII, concerned about the fate of the Holy Places, repeatedly exhorted the nations to adhere to the solution of internationalizing Jerusalem, since it is a sacred city for a billion people. He clearly expressed his anxiety over the fate of the Holy Places in three Encyclical Letters, of 1 May 1948, 24 Oct. 1948, and 15 Apr. 1949, and in the Exhortation of 8 Nov. 1949. Although Jews and Arabs repeatedly assured one another that they wished to respect the venerable Sanctuaries, the profanations, destructions, and threats to which they were subjected during and after the conflict show how well founded the Pope’s concerns are.