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(1861– 1914).^4 Writing during the tumultuous early years of the First
World War, emile Zaydan observed the mass emigration of Jews from
palestine to egypt and wondered what would become of the Zionist
colonies that had been established there over the previous three de-
cades. though he expected his readers already to know about Zionism,^5
Zaydan reminds them that it is the movement through which “a group
of Jewish leaders set out to assemble their scattered [brethren].” the
Zionists have created “colonies [mustaʿmarāt] in palestine to realize
their hopes.” So successful were the Zionists in their propagandistic
efforts, Zaydan asserts, that by one estimate they raised “at least one
hundred million guineas [pounds].”^6 the current war, however, had
radically altered the situation, such that “no one knows the fate of
the approximately forty colonies that were founded in palestine.” Zay-
dan contends that according to “the Jewish intellectuals,” “the war has
crushed their hopes, especially after the oppression by the rulers in
turkey [i.e., the Ottoman empire] that led to the mass migration [of
Jews] to Egypt.” Despite Zionism’s early accomplishments— whether
in fundraising or in the colonization of Palestine— the movement, in
Zaydan’s view, now had a most uncertain and tenuous future.
What is most important about these comments for our purposes is
what they reveal about how Zaydan perceived and interpreted con-
temporary Jewish history. the Zionists were, for Zaydan (consistent
with the claim of the Zionists themselves), the descendants of the bib-
lical Israelites; indeed, “Israelites” (rather than yahūd, i.e., Jews) is the
term he prefers in this article.^7 the current fortunes, or misfortunes,
of the Jews and especially of Zionism are thus read through the prism
of the Bible.
Not unlike Muhammad ruhi al- Khalidi, who, as we discovered in
chapter 2, attempted to explain— and counter— Zionism through an
understanding of Judaism and Jewish history, Zaydan also interprets
Zionism, and notes the irony of its condition, through the lens of Jew-
ish scripture. While important and influential, al- Khalidi was only
one man, and his “as- Sayūnīzm” never reached the wide audience for
which it was intended. this chapter analyzes many of the themes and
arguments concerning Jews and Zionism that did reach Late Ottoman
palestine’s literate, intellectual arabic- reading public through regional
(^4) See Philipp and Zaydān, ǦurǧīZaidān,HisLifeandThought.
(^5) “the readers know about the Zionist movement,” writes Zaydan. See below for
an analysis of the ways in which Zionism was addressed in al-Hilāl over the preceding
decades.
(^6) On the guinea and the history of egyptian currency, see Goldschmidt and Johnston,
Historical Dictionary of Egypt, 119– 20.
(^7) See below for a discussion of those who insisted on the distinction between the terms.