Zionism
For at least two thousand years Jews were dispersed all over the world. Some of them inevitably assimilated with other nations. Yet many kept their identity as a nation by staying loyal to their religious faith and by their desire to survive as one people preserving common racial features and cultural traditions. Some European anti-Jewish tendencies and the suspicious attitude to Jews in oriental cultures contributed to their solidarity. For centuries Jews cherished the idea of returning to their native land. But it was only in the 19th century that the idea developed into a political movement called Zionism. At first the movement was not very popular among Jews. There were supporters, but most rabbis considered the concept of restoring Israel possible only after the coming of the Messiah. The movement started in Russia and spread to other countries. The idea was elaborated first in the book by German socialist Hess who tried to prove that the Jews could create a socialistic state in Israel. Much more popular was another book by Z. Pinsker called "Auto-Emancipation" and published in 1882. The book revealed the fact that the lack of Jewish own state accounts for social and psychological discomfort experienced by them. Under t
The basis for mature political Zionism was created by Herzl, who wrote the work "Jews' state" in 1896. He was a recognized author who summarized and explained the ideas of early Zionists to thousands of German-speaking Jews. In 1897 the first international Zionist Congress was held im Switzerland. At the Congress the goal of Zionism was determined as the establishment for the Jewish people of a home in Palestine guaranteed by public law. This statement implied colonization of Palestine, uniting all Jews, encouraging national awareness. The movement progressed after the Russian revolution of 1905, when lots of Jews emmigrated to USA; yet some chose Palestine. Palestine community established schools, newspapers, theaters, factories, owned by workers and collective farms. Hebrew became the spoken and written language. However, the hard reality soon discouraged the pioneers. Because of the bad climate, malaria, sandy dessert soil and, what is most important, due to the opposition of Arabs ruled by the Ottoman Empire the began to leave the country. No European Government dared to offend the Turks by supporting the Zionists movement in Palestine. he influence of this publication clubs and study groups appeared in Russia, Where Jews were mostly persecuted. In fact we can conclude t
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Switzerland Congress, Palestine Palestine, Jewish Statehood, Middle East, Palestine Jewish, Russian Zionists, Russia Jews, Palestine British, United Nations, goal zionism, middle east, jews palestine, palestine jewish, jews emigrate, contributed solidarity,
Approximate Word count = 870
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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