CLASS 6 The Birth of Zionism

CLASS 6 The Birth of Zionism

The Birth of Zionism Goals (students will be able to): Identify key dates in the building of the State of Israel Understand Britain s role in the founding and building of the State Identify the values that formed the foundation of the State Explain the events of the Dreyfus Affair and its impact on the Zionist movement Understand the concept of aliyah Intro (1 minute) In previous classes we learned about the historical significance of the State of Israel and its connection to the Jewish people. Today we will take a journey to examine the building blocks that created the State of Israel. The Origins of Zionism Question: How do you define Zionism? Is there only one definition? Zionism is nothing more but also nothing less than the Jewish people s sense of origin and destination in the land linked eternally with its name. Abba Eban, former Foreign Minister of Israel & Ambassador to the U.N. The aim of Zionism is to create for the Jewish people a home in Eretz Israel secured by law. Max Nordau, vice-president of the First Zionist Congress 1

How did the Zionist movement begin? Many Jews rejected traditional religious life and fully embraced secularism in the hopes of becoming fully integrated citizens with European national identities. This created a tension between Jews personal and public lives. Some Jews, feeling as though they were never fully accepted by their neighbors, especially following the financial crisis of the late 19th century in Europe, sought refuge. Pogroms and persecutions in Russia and Eastern Europe also made life intolerable for Jews as they fled to other parts of the world. Zionism emerged as a result of Jews learning to deal with this tension between their Jewishness and their desire to fit in with their secular societies. The earliest proponents of Zionism argued that the only solution to the challenges faced by Jewish communities was for the Jewish community to be reconstructed in Eretz Yisrael the land in which Jewish identity originally developed and which already had such a central place in Jewish collective consciousness. Note to Teacher: In Russian, the term pogrom means to wreak havoc, to demolish violently. Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other European countries. For additional information see: http://tinyurl.com/pogroms10 In 1862, Moses Hess argued in his book, Rome and Jerusalem, that Judaism was not a religion; rather Jews were a separate nation that had a component of a unique religion. Therefore, as a nation, the Jews should organize politically and socially to establish a Jewish state in Palestine which would also function as the spiritual center for the Jewish religion. By the 1870s, associations had been established with the purpose of encouraging Jewish immigration to Palestine. Organizations such as Hibbat Zion and Bilu, with the funding of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, helped to create a national infrastructure in Palestine, which encouraged even more waves of immigration. Note to Teacher: There were many different strains of Zionism that emerged from the initial ideology: Political, Cultural, Religious, Labor, Revisionist, etc. Each strain had its own leaders, proponents, vision for the movement, and ideas of how to accomplish its goals and vision. 2

Play The Birth of Zionism (16 minutes) Discussion (7 minutes) Discussion: Which points in the film were new information for you? Israel was developed as a secular (non-religious) nation, though it was rooted in Jewish Biblical values. Jews most often settled on and purchased land that was considered uninhabitable. The cultivation of land by Jews led to Arab immigration. Aliyah was permitted under the Balfour Declaration, the League of Nations, and the British Mandate. Even early aliyah led to bouts of Arab aggression. In 1922, the Palestine mandate was split into two, and Transjordan was given to the Arab population. Haj Amin al-husseini was a leader of the Palestinian national movement and a close ally of Hitler during WWII. Possible Answers Question: Many claim that Jewish immigration led to a foreign presence occupying Israel. Based on the information provided in the film, what are the arguments for saying that Jewish immigration was legitimate? Answer: Jews were moving back to their ancestral Homeland. Jewish immigrants settled on unoccupied land and land that they purchased. The Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations made a Jewish Homeland legal under international law. Originally, the British set aside the entire Palestinian Mandate as a Jewish Homeland. Later, they used Transjordan, 80% of the designated Jewish Homeland, to form the Arab country of Jordan. 3

Activity (5 minutes) Give Handout I The Balfour Declaration to the students. ASK a student volunteer to stand in front of the class and read the Declaration aloud. DISCUSS the importance of British recognition of the right to a Jewish State and the impact this Declaration had on the founding and history of the State of Israel. After reading the Balfour Declaration, brainstorm responses to these two points: A. What were the British motivations for issuing the Balfour Declaration? The British needed to secure post-war control of Palestine, which was strategically important as a buffer to Egypt and the Suez Canal. They wanted to win support for Britain among American and Russian Jews, whom they saw as influential in their own governments. The British government and its people had general sympathies for the plight of European Jews. Possible Answers B.What were the problematic elements for the Jews in the Balfour Declaration? Answer: The British didn t have control of Palestine yet; the Turks were still in control. No timetable for implementation of the promise. Pre-existing non-jewish communities (presumably Arab) were living on-site. 4

Activity (11 minutes) Today we will be reading an article about the trial of Alfred Dreyfus in France in the late 1800 s. Question: Does anyone know anything about the Dreyfus Affair? Answer: It was a scandal that began in 1894 when a French-Jewish soldier named Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused of treason, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. When new evidence surfaced identifying the real culprit, military officials suppressed it and fabricated false documents. Dreyfus underwent a very public court case with much anti-semitism expressed by the attending crowds. Discussion: Can anyone think of why the Dreyfus trial is relevant to the founding of a Jewish State? GIVE HANDOUT II THE DREYFUS AFFAIR to the students. ASK student volunteers to read the article and then DISCUSS. While Dreyfus was eventually released, a Jewish-Hungarian reporter named Theodore Herzl noted the anti-semitism and injustice revealed during the court case. Soon afterward, Herzl wrote the book Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State, 1896) and founded the World Zionist Organization. 5

Discussion: What is the connection between the Dreyfus Affair and Herzl s dream of a Jewish State? Herzl wanted to create a country where Jews would always be safe and welcome, and that would serve as a haven from antisemitism. (This became especially important with the events of the Holocaust during WWII.) Herzl s vision was that, with the creation of a separate State for Jews, the world would recognize the Jewish people as akin to any other nation, and world anti-semitism would end. Is that what happened? A Jewish State would have the power to influence world opinion about the Jews and to champion the Jewish cause internationally. Possible Answers Quiz (10 minutes) Give Handout III The State is Born to the students. Allow them 5 minutes to write the answers, and then go over each question one by one, asking students to show hands for the answers they chose. APPENDIX I contains the answers to the student handout. The Answer Key should not be given to the students, but it can be used by the teacher to assist the students. Explain why the answers are incorrect or correct. It is important to review each possible answer, as students can learn as much from an incorrect answer as from a correct one. 6

Activity: A. Divide the class into groups, and give each group one of the following sets of primary sources: The Balfour Declaration (November 1917) The League of Nations British Mandate for Palestine (June 1922) The United Nations Partition Resolution (November 1947) B. After students read the documents, have them pay particular attention to the following issues: Who issued each of these documents, and why did they have the authority to do so? What goals did each of the documents endorse? What land was promised or recommended in each of the documents? How and why were they different? Resources: 1) Arab - Israel Conflict: Primary Source Documents - http://www.historyteacher.net/arab-israeli_conflict.htm 2) Why I Am a Zionist - http://giltroyzionism.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/why-i-am-a-zionist-2008/ 3) A Line in the Sand - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9279ad20-cd6c-11e0-b267-00144feabdc0. html#axzz2yyreroxx 4) The History of Israel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5fct53p7ni 5) Mandate for Palestine: Legal Aspects of Jewish Rights - http://www.mythsandfacts.org/conflict/mandate_for_ palestine/mandate_for_palestine.htm 7

Handout I ISRAEL INSIDE/OUT CLASS 6 The Balfour Declaration 8

Handout II The Dreyfus Affair In September 1894, a cleaning lady at the German Embassy in Paris handed French intelligence some papers she had retrieved from the wastebasket of the German military attaché. Among them was a... bordereau, or memorandum, addressed to the attaché by an unnamed French officer, who offered to hand over five secret documents, including information about the new 120 mm gun and a copy of the artillery firing manual. When the French spymasters in the section of statistics read the bordereau, they quickly assumed that it must have been written by an artillery officer on the general staff. Of the possible suspects, only Captain Alfred Dreyfus was seriously considered because, one of his accusers later testified, he was the only one we could think of who had not made a good impression. When they compared the handwriting of the bordereau to Dreyfus s, they were immediately convinced of his guilt, and secured a report by a handwriting expert to back up their conclusion. (Another expert, who denied that the handwriting was Dreyfus s, was ignored.) The section of statistics had its man a man whose guilt was all the easier to believe because he was a Jew. I should have realized, exclaimed the head of the section when Dreyfus s name was mentioned, as though a Jewish officer would naturally be a traitor. Once the accusation was made, Dreyfus s trial by court martial was a mere formality. Just to make sure there was no slip-up, however, Colonel Henry of the section of statistics forged several incriminating documents, which were secretly passed to Dreyfus s judges as confirmation of his guilt. He was duly convicted and sentenced to exile on Devil s Island, where he would spend the next five years in a brutal, miserable captivity. Before leaving France, he was stripped of his rank in a humiliating ceremony, where mobs of onlookers shouted Death to the Jews and Death to Judas. Among the journalists covering the event, as fate would have it, was the young Viennese reporter Theodor Herzl, whose experience of the Dreyfus Affair helped to convince him of the urgent need for a Jewish state The pardon [he eventually received] was an official acknowledgment that Dreyfus was not the German spy the army had accused him of being, nor the Judas the right-wing press and anti-semitic mobs had called him. But the very fact that Dreyfus had to be conveniently pardoned, rather than fairly acquitted, showed how deeply the Dreyfus Affair had corrupted French justice and society. Excerpts from The Most Shameful of Stains by Adam Kirsch, The New York Sun, 2006 9

Handout III the state is born 1) Why was 1896 an important year for Zionism? a) Jews were kicked out of Russia and needed a homeland. b) Theodore Herzl published The Jewish State. c) The World Zionist Organization celebrated its 100th anniversary. d) The State of Israel was internationally recognized. 2) From the outset, Zionists wanted Israel to be: a) A light unto the nations. b) A country built on ethics and values. c) More than just another national state with national identity and orders. d) All of the above. 3) In what year was the Balfour declaration signed? a) 1904 b) 1896 c) 1917 d) 1932 4) The word aliyah refers to Jewish immigration. What does aliyah literally mean? a) Being absorbed into a new community. b) Building a Jewish homeland. c) Ascending or rising up. d) Pioneering the land. 5) In 1922, the British Mandate of Palestine was split into which separate areas? a) Palestine and Transjordan b) Palestine and Syria c) Palestine and Egypt d) Israel and Jordan 10

ISRAEL INSIDE/OUT CLASS 6 Appendix I the state is born 1) Why was 1896 an important year for Zionism? a) Jews were kicked out of Russia and needed a homeland. b) Theodore Herzl published The Jewish State. c) The World Zionist Organization celebrated its 100th anniversary. d) The State of Israel was internationally recognized. 2) From the outset, Zionists wanted Israel to be: a) A light unto the nations. b) A country built on ethics and values. c) More than just another national state with national identity and orders. d) All of the above. 3) In what year was the Balfour declaration signed? a) 1904 b) 1896 c) 1917 d) 1932 4) The word aliyah refers to Jewish immigration. What does aliyah literally mean? a) Being absorbed into a new community. b) Building a Jewish homeland. c) Ascending or rising up. d) Pioneering the land. 5) In 1922, the British Mandate of Palestine was split into which separate areas? a) Palestine and Transjordan b) Palestine and Syria c) Palestine and Egypt d) Israel and Jordan 11