Creation of Israel:
An Imperialist-Zionist Joint Venture
Nizar Sakhnini, 2 October 2005
The first call for “Jewish” nationalism
and the creation of a “Jewish” state came from Imperial
France. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was interested in expanding his
Empire, stood within twenty-five miles of Jerusalem
and proclaimed: “Israelites arise! Now is the moment…to claim
your political existence as a nation among nations!” Eight years
later, Napoleon issued an invitation for a Jewish convention for all European
Jews.
The French emperor, however, was not alone in
encouraging the Jews to go to Palestine.
Palmerstone of Imperial “Great” Britain
was interested in facilitating Jewish immigration to Palestine in 1840. When Britain
bought the Egyptian share in the Suez Canal Corp. in 1875, Lord Rothschild
(Baron de Rothschild) financed the deal.
Two years later, Lord Rotschild financed the first Jewish settlement
in Palestine,
Betah Tekfa. (Mohammad Hassanine Haikal, Secret
Negotiations between the Arabs and Israel – Arabic
– pp. 21-51. See also Peter Grose, Israel
in the Mind of America, New
York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1983, p. 8)
These imperial calls were soon echoed by “the
three prophetic harbingers of political Zionism”: Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai
(1798-1878), Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer (1795-1874), and Moses Hess
(1812-1875).
Moses Hess was a German socialist ideologue. In the
1850s, Hess changed his ideological direction and in 1862 published his Zionist
vision in a book entitled “Rome and Jerusalem: The Last
Nationality Question”. Moses argued that anti-Semitism would prevent the
Jews from assimilating in Christian society and, consequently, they needed to
establish their own national state in Palestine.
At the time Hess wrote his book, the Ottoman
Empire was weak and on the verge of disintegration. Western
Imperialist powers were planning to jump on and inherit the “Sick Man of
Europe”. Accordingly, Hess felt that “the state the Jews would
establish in the heart of the Middle East
would serve Western imperial interests and at the same time help bring Western
civilization to the backward East”. (Benny Morris, “Righteous
Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999”, New York,
Alfred A. Knopf, 1999, pp. 14-17)
Leo Pinsker, a Jewish physician in Odessa,
published a book in 1882, “Autoemancipation”,
urging his people to go and settle in Palestine
as farmers and artisans. He
founded the society of Hovevei Zion (Hibbat Zion or Chibath Zion) in order to
facilitate emigration of Jews to Palestine.
Ahad Ha’am was also one of the founding leaders
of Hovevei Zion. He visited Palestine in
1891 and called for the creation of a Jewish cultural center, stressing that Palestine was not only a
small land but also not an empty land. He pointed out that there was
little uncultivated or utilized soil in Palestine
other than some stony hills or sand dunes and warned that the Jewish settlers
should not provoke “the wrath of the natives by ugly
actions”. (Hans Kohn, Zion and
the Jewish National Idea, from The
Menorah Journal, XLVI, Nos. 1 & 2, 1958, reproduced in Walid
Khalidi. Reproduced in Walid Khalidi, pp. 807-840)
Theodor Herzl published his “Der Judenstaat” in 1896, which articulated
the political Zionist ideology and plans for colonizing Palestine. Herzl played a leading role
in creating the institutional infrastructure for the political Zionist movement
by founding the Zionist Organization in 1897. The ZO created a network of
institutions in Palestine and all over the world
for the purpose of creating a Jewish State in Palestine and the surrounding region.
Herzl admitted that the idea of a Jewish State implied
transplantation of Jews from wherever they lived to a new location. Such
an idea, however, would create economic and social disturbances. To avoid
this situation and secure the integrity of the idea, Herzl proposed “the
creation of a body corporate, or corporation. This corporation will be called
The Society of Jews. In
addition to it there will b a Jewish Company,
an economically productive body”. (Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution to
the Jewish Question, London: H. Pordes, Translated by Sylvie D'avigdor - 6th Edition, pp. 20-21)
To achieve the idea [the Jewish State], The Society of Jews and the Jewish
Company had to proceed according to a master plan, which Herzl laid
down in his pamphlet. This plan was reflected in the Basle Program that
was adopted by the ZO in 1897.
For Herzl, the plan was simple “Let the
sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy
the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for
ourselves”. Herzl was ready to establish the state
anywhere. All he wanted was permission from the great powers allowing the
Jews to establish their state on a neutral piece of land. “Should
the Powers declare themselves willing to admit our sovereignty over a neutral
piece of land, then the Society [of Jews] will enter into negotiations for the
possession of this land”. He was fully aware that the native people
may be attached to their land and may resist colonization of their country by
foreigners. To avoid such a situation, he opposed gradual Jewish infiltration
(immigration) to the chosen country. “An infiltration is bound to
end badly. It continues till the inevitable moment when the native
population feels itself threatened, and forces the Government to stop a further
influx of Jews. Immigration is consequently futile unless based on an assured
supremacy”. “Assured supremacy” was to be attained by
dealing with the rulers of the respective country with the support of the Great
powers. Accordingly, “The Society of Jews will treat with the
present masters of the land, putting itself under the protectorate of the
European Powers, if they prove friendly to the plan”. To get the
approval of the present masters of the land, he proposed to “offer the
present possessors of the land enormous advantages, take upon ourselves part of
the public debt”. The support of the Great powers, on the other
hand, could be obtained by offering “special services” to them:
“Supposing His Majesty the Sultan [Turkish Sultan] were to give us Palestine, we could in return undertake to regulate the whole
finances of Turkey [Turkey
at the time was in huge amount of debt]. We should there form a portion
of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an
outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. We should, as a Neutral State,
remain in contact with all Europe, which would
have to guarantee our existence. The sanctuaries of Christendom would be
safeguarded by assigning to them an extra-territorial status such as is well
known to the law of nations”. (Ibid, pp. 28-30)
Herzl’s Der Judenstaat, however, almost died
with him in 1904. What saved the project were British plans during WWI
for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and control of the Eastern parts of
the Arab homeland, which formed a land bridge between Egypt and India. France, on the other hand, had similar
objectives and was mainly interested in Syria,
including its Mount Lebanon coast. These
designs were reflected in the Sykes-Picot agreement that was signed on 16 May
1916 according to which the whole Fertile Crescent
was divided into British and French spheres of influence.
The British role was significant in facilitating the
Zionist project. Chaim Weizmann, the architect of the Zionist-British
relationship, got acquainted with C. P. Scott, the editor of the Manchester Guardian. On 12 November 1914,
Weizman wrote a letter to Scott stating, “…should Palestine
fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish
settlement there, as a British dependency, we could have in twenty to thirty
years a million Jews out there, perhaps more. They would develop the
country, bring back civilization to it and form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal”.
According to Weizmann, Herbert H. Asquith, then
British Prime Minister, wrote the following in his diary on January 28,
1915. “I received from Herbert Samuel (who was later appointed as
the first British High Commissioner for Palestine)
a memorandum headed ‘The Future of Palestine’. He goes on to
argue at considerable length and with some vehemence in favor of the British
annexation of Palestine…
He thinks we might plant in this not very promising territory about three or
four million European Jews and that this would have a good effect on those who
are left behind… I confess I am not attracted to this proposed addition
to our responsibilities…” Asquith later added,
“Curiously enough, the only other partisan of this proposal is Lloyd
George. And I need not say he does not care a damn for the Jews or their
past or their future, but thinks it will be an outrage to let the Holy Places
pass into the possession or under the protectorate of ‘agnostic and
atheistic’ France”. (A detailed account of the Zionist activities
and contacts leading to the Balfour Declaration was given in: Chaim Weizmann, Trial and Error, Chapters 7-18, pp.
93-208)
The Balfour Declaration, promising support for a
“Jewish National Home in Palestine”, which was issued on 2 November
1917, resuscitated the “Zionist Dream” and launched a state of
cooperation between the World Zionist Organization and the Imperialist
powers. This close cooperation was enhanced following WWII under U.S.
patronage.
U.S. relationship with the Zionist-Arab conflict started as early as
WWI. Its position began as a neutral power interested in the application
of self-determination to all ethnic groups as advocated by President Woodrow
Wilson. This relationship developed into supporting Britain in its designs for control and hegemony
in the Middle East as a result of the
discovery of oil in the area. It was further developed into supporting Zionist
plans in Palestine that gradually enhanced into
a strategic alliance between the U.S.
and Israel..
Palestine was not an empty land waiting for the Zionists to build up their
contemplated state. Dispossessing the Palestinian Arabs of their lands
and driving them out of their country provoked the inevitable reaction of a
people attached to their land. The Palestinians realized the implications
of the combined Zionist-Imperialist invasion and began a long and unrelenting
resistance against the colonial settlers and their Imperialist
supporters.
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