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1. Zionism is Jewish nationalism

2. More specifically, Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement, which developed during the second half of the 19th century among Jews of Eastern Europe. The movement has always insisted on creating a Jewish state in Palestine. Zionism is thus the modern form of the milennia-old dream of Jewish people to become free to rebuild a Jewish state in the land of Israel. This idea has existed within the Jewish community since the Roman Empire destroyed the nation of Judea almost 2,000 years ago.

It should be noted that some early secular Zionist leaders, like the extremely influential Theodor Herzl, proposed "temporary Jewish statehood", and did not insist on it taking place in Palestine. However even they hoped for a permanent home in Palestine. This concept was brought to vote (as "Uganda Proposal"), and eventually dismissed at the 1905 Zionist Congress (see below).

Ideology

Political Zionism

Political Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to freedom and political independence in their own homeland. Political Zionism is the ongoing effort of Jews to use political means to develop and secure the Jewish people's national existence in the land of Israel.

Zionism recognizes that Jewish peoplehood is characterized by certain common values relating to religion, culture, language, history and basic ideals and aspirations, although secular and religious Zionists emphasize these aspects differently. Zionism believes that Israel should be a historically, culturally and religiously Jewish state. This does not mean that all citizens should be or must be Jews, nor does it even mean that Jewish citizens must be religiously observant Jews. As defined by the documents and practices of Zionists over the past century, what this means in practice is that Israel is Jewish in much the same was that Italy is Italian, or that Ireland is Irish. Not all Israelis are Jews. There is a significant minority of Arab Israelis, and there are Israelis of many other ethnic and religious groups as well, all of whom are accepted as equal citizens by the Israeli Jews.

Origins of Zionism

The desire of Jews to return to what they consider their rightful homeland was first expressed during the Babylonian exile and became a universal Jewish theme after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. and the dispersal that followed.

But whilst Israel was a universal Jewish theme, that universal Jewish theme is not the same thing as Zionism. Until the rise of Zionism, most Jews believed that the Jewish people would return to Israel with the coming of the Messiah, i.e., only after divine intervention; some proposed that Jews attempt to return earlier, by their own devices, but until the rise of Zionism in the 19th century they were a minority.

Timeline of Zionism in the modern era

• 1861 The Zion Society is formed in Frankfurt, Germany.
• 1881-84, 1903-06, 1918-20 A series of Russian pogroms (officially sanctioned attacks against Jewish communities) kills tens of thousands of Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Jews flee.
• 1882-1903 - The First Aliyah (immigration). The first major wave of Jewish immigrant to build a homeland in Palestine (See ). Initially, Jewish immigration is allowed and ignored as marginal; with the time it earns the dislike of local Arabic and Turkish authorities.
• 1880-1920 Two million Russian Jews migrate to the US.
• 1870-1890 Russian group Chovevei Tzion (Lovers of Zion) emerges, and sets up a series of Jewish settlements in the land of Israel, financially aided by Baron Edmond de Rothschild. The 30 farming colonies in Palestine were populated by European Jews with no common language; this problem was solved by Eliezer ben Yehuda who labored to revive Hebrew as a spoken language. ()
• 1894 The Dreyfus Affair. In France, Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew, is falsely accused of treason. The country uses Dreyfus, and Jews in general, as a scapegoat for their country's problems. Dreyfus is finally released from prison when the French writer Emile Zola takes up his cause. At the Dreyfus trial, a Jewish journalist from Vienna, Theodore Herzl, realizes that as a nation, the Jews will never be safe without a homeland, and eventually becomes the founder of modern political Zionism.
• 1896 In response to the Dreyfus affair, which he witnessed as a journalist, Theodore Herzl writes Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), a book advocating the creation of a free and independent Jewish state. As the location, he proposes either Palestine or Argentina. Hoever, from his later moves, it seems that the latter was just an idea he was playing with at the time of the writing; he never presented an appropriate proposal, and in 1902 he published a second book on the subject, the novel Altneuland, which takes place in Palestine.
• 1897 The First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland urges "a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine" for Jews. Subsequent Congresses met through 1931. (See )
• 1896-1904 Herzl finds most world leaders of the time (including the English government, German government, Turkish monarchy and Pope Pius X) unwilling to assist to the creation of a Jewish National Home.
• 1903 Herzl presents to the 6th Zionist Congress a plan in which a temporary Jewish state would be established in Uganda (the famous "Uganda Proposal"). It aroused great controversy, between the more pragmatic and the more idealist participants of the congress. The proposal was finally dismissed at the 1905 7th Zionist Congress. See .
• 1917 The British defeat the Turks and gain control of the land of Israel. The British issue the Balfour Declaration which gives official British support for "the establishment in Palestine for a national home for the Jewish people". The declaration also contained the provision that the rights of the existing population "must not be prejudiced". (See )
• 1920 At the San Remo conference in Italy, the Palestine Mandate is assigned to Britain. Palestine at this time includes all of what would later become: Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and all of the Kingdom of Jordan (See , , ). It is uncertain how Britain initially intended to divide the land between Jews and Arabs, as Britain had made conflicting promises to build alliances with Arabs, Jews and the French during World War I.
• 1920 Britain receives a League of Nations Mandate over Palestine. During the twenty eight years of British rule, Arabs are allowed unlimited immigration to build their numbers in Palestine. Arabs oppose the same rights for Jews, even during the Holocaust. Attacks on Jewish settlements are frequent. Note that Arabs would oppose the "build their numbers" through migration argument -- Arabs were happy living where they were, and Palestinian Arabs simply did not want to be anyhow disturbed in what they considered to be their own territory by an influx of immigrants.
• 1921 Britain proclaims that all of the territories belonging to the Mandate of Palestine east of the Jordan river is forever closed to Jewish settlement, but not to Arab settlement. This territory, Transjordan (later, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), is given to the Emir Abdullah.
• 1923 Britain gives the Golan Heights to the French mandate of Syria. Arab immigration is allowed; Jewish immigration is not.
• 1936 The British propose a partition between Jewish and Arab areas. It is accepted by the Zionists, but rejected by the Arab parties (See ).
• 1939 The British government soon issues the 'White Paper' which effectively cancels the Balfour Declaration. They announce an absolute limit of only 75,000 on future Jewish immigration to Palestine (See ). This is linked to the three-year old Great Arab Uprising, which left the British in a feud with the disloyal Arab leadership, which needed to be amended quickly facing the approaching World War II.
• 1947, November 29. The United Nations approves a plan which partition Palestine (which is permanently split in this way from territories east of Jordan) into a Jewish and Arab state. It is again accepted by the Jews, but rejected by the Arabs (See . The Arabs argued that it was unreasonble that they, comprising 70% of the population, should only receive 47% of the territory. As the alternative, however, they demand nothing short of complete control over the whole of Palestine. Immediately after the U.N. accepts the partition plan, Arab gangs sponsored by the local leadership begin attacking their Jewish neighbors. A civil war ensues.
• February-March 1948: Forces of the Haganah manage to defend most Israeli positions from local Arab assaults. Furious Arab leadership asks other Arab nations for help.
• 1948, May 14. The State of Israel declares itself as an independent nation. Major forces of at least five Arab nations invade it.

Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism and Zionism

When Zionism was first proposed it was highly controversial and a great many Jews opposed it. Many Jews would rather try to integrate into the society they lived than try to return to Israel. This was the position taken by Reform Judaism at the time. Reform Judaism changed its opinion after the Holocaust, and the Reform movement became a strong supporter of the State of Israel. In practice, most American Jews (of all religious denominations) did not want to emigrate to Israel; there, support for Zionism came through political, financial, and other means short of actually moving.

Many Hasidic Jews and other ultra-Orthodox Jews believed that any attempt to return to Israel before the coming of the Messiah was sacrilegious. At one time the Lubavitcher Rebbes were anti-Zionist, though the more recent Rebbes have changed their position from one of anti-Zionism (i.e., active opposition to Zionism) to one of mere non-Zionism (i.e., neutrality towards it).

Today, the overwhelming majority of all Jewish organizations and denominations is strongly pro-Zionist.

Jewish anti-Zionism Today

Though by far the majority of Jews today are Zionists, there is nonetheless a small number of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews who are opposed to it. Major Jewish anti-Zionist movements include Satmar and Neturei Karta. These groups are not only anti-Zionist; they are also against the legitimacy of all of Reform Judaism, all of Conservative Judaism, and most of Orthodox Judaism as well. The Neturei Karta and Satmar set themselves apart from the rest of the world's Jewish community; some Jews view them as virtually anti-Semitic.

Orthodox rabbi denounces anti-Zionists
Satmar website
Neturei Karta website

The religious Anti-Zionist movement is conservative; there is however also politically motivated anti-Zionism, that for the most part is liberal or socialist. These people motivate their stance by supporting the Arab claim to Palestine, through general opposition to nationalism or for other reasons. Albert Einstein said in 1950 about the then newly founded state of Israel that "I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain -- especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks". A range of well-known Jewish scholars and statesmean, often politically radical or secularized, have opposed Zionism. This inludes Bruno Kreisky, Hans Fromm, Michael Selzer and several others. It is represented in contemporary America among others by controversial academic scholars such as Noam Chomsky, Peter Novick and Norman Finkelstein.

The "Zionism is Racism" controversy

The United Nations General Assembly declared that "Zionism is a form of racism" in Resolution 3379 of Nov 10, 1975. The General Assembly rescinded this resolution in Resolution 46/86 of December 16, 1991.

The State of Israel gives full civil rights to all Israeli citizens, of all national, ethnic and religious backgrounds, including Jews, Christians, Bedouins, Druze, Arabs, Karaites and Vietnamese; this includes a very large number of Palestinians, although some claim that the non-Jews receive poorer treatment by government agencies. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East where elected Jews and elected Arabs work together in a nation's parliament.

Similar to Italy, Morocco, Germany and few other nations, Israel has ethnically preferential immigration laws; its laws prefer Jews to non-Jews, but do allow people of all faiths and ethnic background to become citizens. This is in contrast to Arab states, especially Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Jordan, whose immigration laws are so restrictive as to make immigration for all purposes impossible for non-Arabs; further, the laws of these Arab nations forbid Jews from becoming citizens. In contrast, most Western countries have abolished all ethnic or racial criteria in their immigration laws and treat members of all races and ethnicities equally for immigration purposes. Zionists feel that there is a double standard, as Arab nations are never accused of being racist.

As a matter of clarification, Judaism isn't a race; there are people from all racial groups in the Jewish people: Caucasians, Hispanics, Indians, black Africans, and Asians. Judaism may better be viewed as an ethnic group that evolved from a nationality in exile. Using the terminology of Mordecai Kaplan, many Jewish scholars define Judaism as an evolving religious civilization. The national component to Judaism has always existed during the last 2000 years, but for political reasons Jews never had the ability to implement their beliefs in this area. From the Jewish point of view, the establishment of Israel as a state means that the Jews have achieved the goal of reconstituting itself within its original borders. .

The Law of Return of 1951 stated, based on the Rabbinical practice, that:

4B. For the purposes of this Law, "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism.

In 1970, an ammendment was made so that the law read as:

4B. For the purposes of this Law, "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.

The origins of this amendment lie in the case of Brother Daniel (Daniel Rufeisen), a Polish Jew persecuted by the Nazis and who converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite monk. Israel's Supreme Court ruled that he was not eligible for citizenship under the Law of Return because he converted to Christianity. The rationale given by the Court was that the Law of Return was intended to sponsor Zionist consolidation of the Jewish nation in Israel; and by converting and choosing a life path outside of this nation, Rufeisen effectively gave up his intention to become a part of the Zionist effort, thus not qualifying for the Law of Return.

The decision aroused a controversy in the Israeli public. The consensus that emerged from the following public debate was that since Judaism is not seen by Jews exclusively as a religion (see above), once one rejects one's nationality, one can no longer simultaneously demand membership in it. Moreover, as a member of European clergy, Rufeisen's personal safety from possible persecution by Nazis was guaranteed. Having spent several years in Israel using a temporary permit, Rufeisen was granted citizenship by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, on the basis of the Law of Citizenship.

Section 4b of the Law of Return argues that being Jewish is both a nationality and a religion. Some could argue, based on this, that the authors of the Law of Return intended it as a religious measure, thus effectively creating religious discrimination.

The Israeli constitution (like the British, contained in several pieces of legislation) provides that Israel is a Jewish state, yet also makes clear that non-Jewish Israelis have rights equal to those of Jewish citizens. Making certain that these rights are upheld in practice, however, has proven to be a difficult balancing act.

See for an argument that Zionism is Racism, and for an argument to the contrary.

See also Terrorism against Arabs, Terrorism against Israel

Zionist conspiracy theories

Many people in fringe groups, such as the Neo-Nazi party and Hamas claim that the true aim of Zionism is world dominance; they call this the Zionist conspiracy and use this to support anti-Semitism. This position has historically been associated with Fascism and Nazism. See also conspiracy theory. The most important text in this regard may be the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.