The Religions Book

196

IF YOU WILL IT,

IT IS NO DREAM

THE ORIGINS OF MODERN POLITICAL ZIONISM

E

ver since their expulsion

from their homeland by

the Babylonians and the

Romans, many among the Jewish

diaspora had dreamed of a return to

Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, also

known as Zion after Mount Zion in

Jerusalem. It was not until the late

19th century, however, that their

hopes were consolidated into a

political movement, Zionism, which

aimed to establish a nation state in

Palestine for the Jewish people.

During the Haskalah, or

Jewish Enlightenment, Jewish

thinkers inspired by Moses

Mendelssohn (p.189) had urged

Jews to assimilate themselves

IN CONTEXT

KEY FIGURE

Theodor Herzl

WHEN AND WHERE

1896, Austria-Hungary

BEFORE

586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar

of Babylon destroys the Temple

in Jerusalem and drives the

Jews into exile. From 538 BCE

the Jews start to return to the

Land of Israel, in accordance

with a decree from Persian

emperor Cyrus the Great.

70 CE The Romans destroy the

second Temple; the Jews are

exiled again.

635 The Islamic Caliphate

conquers Palestine; in 1516 the

Ottoman Empire takes control

of the region.

AFTER

1882–1948 Jews from the

diaspora immigrate to the

Land of Israel in waves.

1948 The State of Israel

is founded.

The solution to the

“Jewish question” is not

assimilation, but the

establishment of a

Jewish nation state.

This requires

lobbying of the

international community...

Since being driven into

exile, Jews have dreamed

of returning to Zion,

the Land of Israel.

... and if there are

sufficient numbers of

Jewish people who want it,

it can be achieved.

If you will it, it is no dream.