Zionism

Identification:   

The Online Etymology Dictionary explains Zionism as a movement whose goal is to form a Jewish national state in Palestine, founded in late nineteenth-century Eastern Europe. Originally, the founding father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, wanted to create an independent state for the Jewish people by trying to force the government to grant Jews theirown Charter and land, and in turn, establish their own country. This goal had been a product of the spread of nationalism throughout Europe and had been the Jewish peoples’ way of forming their own nationalist, secular state. This being said, as it may often be confused, Zionism was not originally a movement to create a state based off of the Jewish religion, but rather a state for the Jewish as a people, to provide national security. Zionism is now an ideological movement supporting the development of this Jewish national state reflecting Jewish culture.

Historical Significance:

From a historical standpoint, this “-ism” is significant due to the fact that it illuminates the adoption of nationalist views due to feelings of oppression and segregation within society caused by the Enlightenment’s creation of a modern, secular, and capitalist state. Because the Jews felt pressured in their community due to social circumstances, they felt the need to separate themselves from the rest of society and strengthen themselves as a national unit. It is noted that, during the beginning of the Enlightenment Era, when much, if not all, of Europe, had begun to completely change their way of life, many upper-class intellectuals had begun to progress in society. However, wanting to integrate their culture into this new, modern, society, Jewish intellectuals tried to create a secular Hebrew literature and revive the Hebrew language. This did not work out due to the fact that upper-class intellectuals in their community did not see Jews as equals and refused to allow this integration. As Shapiro claims, “When this was recognized by the Jewish intellectuals, many of them, in their disappointment and frustration, turned to nationalism for solace.” (Shapiro, 1966) . Clearly, the Jews’ turn to nationalism in order to dismiss inequalities within society illuminates the tendency to seek comfort in the practice of nationalist ideologies due to social alienation, an idea formerly brought forward by Rousseau.

Furthermore, Zionism has influenced the contemporary moment due to the fact that it plays a role in some of the Anti-Semitic and Anti-Zionist violence seen today. Anti-Zionists and Anti-Semitics continue to perform racial violence due to hatred and anger toward Jews, as a result of their desire to separate themselves from the state. Ironically enough, the desire to separate from the state is due to these racial acts. Finally, the meaning of Zionism and its practices have changed over the years and have caused a lot of debate. The principles of the Jewish religion have begun to seep their way into Zionist practices, causing both national and international conflict. This illuminates an ongoing battle between secular and non-secular thinkers.  Some problems never go away and, although we may think they are two separate issues, the development of Zionism in the nineteenth century and the conflict that had led up to and followed it, between Zionists and all opposed to a Jewish national state, is still present today.

Key Historical Proponents:

The key proponents, that being the most famously known people to be associated with the term, had been the Jewish Intellectuals during the nineteenth century. However, the individual most heavily associated with Zionism would be its acclaimed founder, Theodor Herzl. Herzl’s goals in establishing the movement are outlined in some of the previous paragraphs; however, he laid the basic foundation for the practice of Zionism as it is today. However, another proponent of Zionism was Albert Einstein, who believed that the Jews should be given their own state in order to progress culturally and religiously. This being said, Einstein supported cultural Zionism, meaning that he believed the state should reflect the Jewish religion and culture, unlike what Herzl had intended. The most likely reason for his opinion on Zionism may have been that he believed that internationalism was asserted through the connecting and acceptance of various nations and their own individual cultural identities, rather than one, singular and combined identity.

Breann McKinney

 

Bibliography

Jikeli, G. (2017, June 9). Explaining the Discrepancy of Antisemitic Acts and Attitudes in 21st Century France. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://link-springer-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs12397-017-9221-x.pdf

Pyenson, L. (2008, June). Review [Review of the book Einstein on Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism, Zionism, War, Peace, and the Bomb]. Isis, 99(2), 432-434. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/pdf/10.1086/591372.pdf?refreqid=excelsior:68a8490e82f5947b8db2d97d6fa1409f

Shapiro, Y. (1966). The Zionist Faith . Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/journal/PDF/1966_18_02_00_shapiro.pdf

Wharton, L. (2015). Zionism, Judaism and the State of the Jews. Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, 20/21(4/1), 75-82. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://www.pij.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/

Harper, D. (2001-2017). Zionism (n.). Retrieved October 06, 2017, from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Zionism&allowed_in_frame=0