Supersessionism - Part V
June 2016
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The journey toward statehood by the Jewish people was trodden with suffering and hardships. Aspirations of many Jews were evidenced at every Passover meal as they prayed, “Next Year in Jerusalem.” Jews learned to adapt to every climate and culture.
Moses Hess wrote in his popular book Rome to Jerusalem of how Jewish nationality was connected inseparably with the Holy Land and the Eternal City, Jerusalem. In 1876, George Eliot, a pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans, wrote Daniel Deronda. The impact of her work affected Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a Russian Jew. He would later be responsible for reinventing and modernizing the Hebrew language. Several movements throughout Europe and Russia sought to return to Palestine/Israel. Few were successful, and many of those who were died due to inclement conditions.
The fervor of Jews gained momentum as a Hungarian-born Jew, Theodore Herzl, would envision a national homeland of Jews. Herzl witnessed the rise of anti-Semitism in France at the time of the Dreyfus affair, when a Jewish officer was guilty of treason, a charge that was later found to have been false.
Herzl would found his World Zionist Organization (WZO) to inspire Jews to seek a national identity and national homeland. Herzl’s WZO, with its program at the Basel Congress, instigated a zeal for Jews throughout the world to contemplate a national homeland. At the WZO’s second congressional meeting in Basel, a Russian Jew, Chaim Weizmann, a chemistry student at a nearby Swiss university, was influenced to get onboard with the Zionist cause. He would later be instrumental in inventing synthetic acetone—a gunpowder that assisted the allies in their defeat against the Germans in World War I.
BABY STEPS
Step by step, the Jews were beginning to see the light of opportunity at the close of World War I. After a year of continuous negotiations between the Zionists and the British government, a letter sent by A.J. Balfour to Lord Rothschild, dated Nov. 2, 1917, became known as the Balfour Declaration.
Toward the close of World War I, the Jewish national home depended upon the fate of the Balfour Declaration. It had to be accepted by the victorious powers, as well as in the mandates provisions of the League of Nations. Fortunately, at the Paris Peace Conference, it was agreed to grant the Palestine Mandate to Britain, and to accept the promise of the Balfour Declaration in order to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine. Twenty-seven years after Herzl’s passing, his dream would come true.
COMPLICATIONS
The Arab community in Palestine previously was opposed to Jewish immigration and now with an increase of Jews populating the area much contention would rise. The Balfour Declaration included a phrase that nothing should be done with regard to establishing a Jewish national home that might be to the detriment of other communities in Palestine.
The Arabs began to riot in 1920 and 1921. Early Jewish settlers who tried to protect Jews by carrying weapons found themselves getting arrested. Ze’ev Jabotinsky was arrested and imprisoned. Many years later, he would start the conservative Likud party in Israel. The volume of setbacks and confrontations are too numerous to detail here, but the Arab hostilities would increase against the Jews. This was done through the Mufti of Jerusalem.
Although the British were well aware of the Arab propaganda it became difficult for the British to quench the hatred of the Arabs towards Jews. In 1929, riots and violence of Arabs against Jews became heightened. The British government set up a commission of inquiry to examine the causes of Arab unrest. In brief, the outcome of the critical report blamed the Jews for disrupting the Arab community through mass immigration. The Arabs did not accept the mandate, and wished for the abandonment of the Balfour Declaration with the idea that future Jewish immigration would need curtailed. This would come at a time when heightened anti-Semitism in parts of Europe, especially in Germany and Poland, would affect the lives of millions of Jews.
HITLER
On January 30, 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany. His anti-Jewish political campaigns were quickly translated into action. The physical attacks and exclusion from their professions drove large numbers of Jews to Palestine/Israel. Their motive was to escape persecution. The German Jews were sympathetic with the aim of the Zionists though. They soon were found in all the various professions. The Jewish population continued to grow in Palestine. Efforts were made by Zionists to come to some agreement with the Arabs. In July of 1934, David Ben-Gurion met Abdul Hadi, the leader of the movement devoted to Palestinian Arab independence. Ben-Gurion asked, “Is it possible to reconcile the ultimate goals of the Jewish people and the Arab people?”
In next month’s article, I will continue to explain the events that ultimately led to the rebirth of the nation of Israel.
Moses Hess wrote in his popular book Rome to Jerusalem of how Jewish nationality was connected inseparably with the Holy Land and the Eternal City, Jerusalem. In 1876, George Eliot, a pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans, wrote Daniel Deronda. The impact of her work affected Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a Russian Jew. He would later be responsible for reinventing and modernizing the Hebrew language. Several movements throughout Europe and Russia sought to return to Palestine/Israel. Few were successful, and many of those who were died due to inclement conditions.
The fervor of Jews gained momentum as a Hungarian-born Jew, Theodore Herzl, would envision a national homeland of Jews. Herzl witnessed the rise of anti-Semitism in France at the time of the Dreyfus affair, when a Jewish officer was guilty of treason, a charge that was later found to have been false.
Herzl would found his World Zionist Organization (WZO) to inspire Jews to seek a national identity and national homeland. Herzl’s WZO, with its program at the Basel Congress, instigated a zeal for Jews throughout the world to contemplate a national homeland. At the WZO’s second congressional meeting in Basel, a Russian Jew, Chaim Weizmann, a chemistry student at a nearby Swiss university, was influenced to get onboard with the Zionist cause. He would later be instrumental in inventing synthetic acetone—a gunpowder that assisted the allies in their defeat against the Germans in World War I.
BABY STEPS
Step by step, the Jews were beginning to see the light of opportunity at the close of World War I. After a year of continuous negotiations between the Zionists and the British government, a letter sent by A.J. Balfour to Lord Rothschild, dated Nov. 2, 1917, became known as the Balfour Declaration.
Toward the close of World War I, the Jewish national home depended upon the fate of the Balfour Declaration. It had to be accepted by the victorious powers, as well as in the mandates provisions of the League of Nations. Fortunately, at the Paris Peace Conference, it was agreed to grant the Palestine Mandate to Britain, and to accept the promise of the Balfour Declaration in order to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine. Twenty-seven years after Herzl’s passing, his dream would come true.
COMPLICATIONS
The Arab community in Palestine previously was opposed to Jewish immigration and now with an increase of Jews populating the area much contention would rise. The Balfour Declaration included a phrase that nothing should be done with regard to establishing a Jewish national home that might be to the detriment of other communities in Palestine.
The Arabs began to riot in 1920 and 1921. Early Jewish settlers who tried to protect Jews by carrying weapons found themselves getting arrested. Ze’ev Jabotinsky was arrested and imprisoned. Many years later, he would start the conservative Likud party in Israel. The volume of setbacks and confrontations are too numerous to detail here, but the Arab hostilities would increase against the Jews. This was done through the Mufti of Jerusalem.
Although the British were well aware of the Arab propaganda it became difficult for the British to quench the hatred of the Arabs towards Jews. In 1929, riots and violence of Arabs against Jews became heightened. The British government set up a commission of inquiry to examine the causes of Arab unrest. In brief, the outcome of the critical report blamed the Jews for disrupting the Arab community through mass immigration. The Arabs did not accept the mandate, and wished for the abandonment of the Balfour Declaration with the idea that future Jewish immigration would need curtailed. This would come at a time when heightened anti-Semitism in parts of Europe, especially in Germany and Poland, would affect the lives of millions of Jews.
HITLER
On January 30, 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany. His anti-Jewish political campaigns were quickly translated into action. The physical attacks and exclusion from their professions drove large numbers of Jews to Palestine/Israel. Their motive was to escape persecution. The German Jews were sympathetic with the aim of the Zionists though. They soon were found in all the various professions. The Jewish population continued to grow in Palestine. Efforts were made by Zionists to come to some agreement with the Arabs. In July of 1934, David Ben-Gurion met Abdul Hadi, the leader of the movement devoted to Palestinian Arab independence. Ben-Gurion asked, “Is it possible to reconcile the ultimate goals of the Jewish people and the Arab people?”
In next month’s article, I will continue to explain the events that ultimately led to the rebirth of the nation of Israel.
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