Jewish settlement in Mesopotamia would ultimately seek was too remote
an issue to worry about.
Although Schiff did not express romantic notions about a Jewish return
to Mesopotamia, he too understood the pull of sentiment on the eastern
Europeans. He had assured Herzl that he was ready to assist “practical”
proposals, but he thought that the Sinai plan would not work precisely be-
cause it flew in the face of Jewish sentiments. It would be ironic, he wrote,
that, after thousands of years of celebrating the exodus from Egypt, Jews
would settle there again. “I personally believe that the plan would arouse
the antipathies of the [eastern European] Jews, from among whom the set-
tlers after all would come and with whom sentiment plays such a great
part.” Mesopotamia, however, was a different matter. The plan seemed fea-
sible when, in 1903, Turkey granted a German company the right to ex-
tend a railroad through Asia Minor. While the kaiser dreamed of a Berlin
to Baghdad line, Germany invited the participation of English and French
financiers. Kuhn, Loeb, largely through the Cassel-Schiff connection, had
been involved in Turkish railroad investments since the 1890s, and al-
though it sought a share in the new venture, American firms were ex-
cluded. Profit making was no longer a factor, but Schiff’s interest persisted.
He believed that with the help of Cassel, who had invested in the plan, the
territory opened by the new line could be utilized for eastern European
emigrants.^45
Reviving Haupt’s pamphlet, the banker immediately suggested to Cassel
that the ICA seriously consider the Mesopotamian plan. “I know that you
have shown great interest in our people and therefore do not hesitate to try
to interest you,” Schiff stated—words that incidentally contradict Cassel’s
reputation as one who was alienated from Jewish affairs. Meanwhile, using
his nephew, Otto Schiff, as the intermediary, he alerted Lord Rothschild.
As he had in the Mexican episode, he warned against counting on Ameri-
can Jews to supply the funds. (The rumor reported to Herzl that American
financiers [read Schiff] planned heavy investments in the Baghdad line was
unfounded.) A few months later, British opposition to the railroad forced
Cassel to withdraw.^46 Nothing came of a Mesopotamian settlement in
1903, but the idea lived on in Zionist and non-Zionist circles.
A new burst of interest flared in 1909, and for the first time the Mesopo-
tamian plan came to the attention of the Jewish public. In part it was due to
the enthusiasm and magnetic appeal of Israel Zangwill. ITO’s president had
launched an American branch of the organization that attracted non-
Zionist Jewish leaders like Sulzberger and Straus, and Mesopotamia ranked
high on the list of far-flung regions that Zangwill was prepared to explore.
Emboldened by the Young Turk revolt of 1908, which hinted at a shift of in-
fluence over Turkish affairs from Germany to England, he set out to mobi-
lize support from ICA, the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and two promi-
172 Jacob H. Schiff