Defining Neighbors. Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Encounter - Jonathan Marc Gribetz

IMAGInInG ThE “ISrAElITES” • 175

among the things that assisted the success of this house was the

fact that its members were Jewish, because Jews were known for

their remoteness from political parties that were common in those

days. Because they were neutral, people did not fear that they

would engage in conspiracies or betrayal. they were concerned,

rather, with acquiring money for themselves and the rulers would

compete to obtain their assistance and to earn their confidence

in order to benefit from their service. [The Jews’] neutrality and

wisdom helped them and they benefited from both.^138

For this al-­Hilāl­author, the Jews’ lack of political connection to any
state, their fundamental political neutrality, was a boon for them in the
Diaspora, permitting them to profit simultaneously from warring states
with no suspicions as to their political allegiances. the indignity that
Makaryus associates with this condition of “homelessness” is entirely
absent in this rendering.

“From Barrenness to Fertility”:

Makaryus and Zionism

returning once more to Makaryus’s monograph, let us consider the
way in which he directly addresses the phenomenon of Zionism. In
his chapter on Jewish organizations, he devotes less than two pages
to the Zionist Organization, but in his concise description he seems to
exhibit respect, and even sympathy, for the movement. “among the
large organizations of the Israelites these days,” writes Makaryus, “is
the Zionist Organization, the goal of which is to colonize the land of
palestine and to rule it.” Makaryus writes that theodor herzl, the or-
ganization’s founder, sought to convince the Jews to “transport their
brethren from russia, romania, and the places in which they are op-
pressed to the land of their fathers and grandfathers in palestine.” Ma-
karyus continues with details about herzl and other Zionist leaders,
followed by descriptions of various branches and institutions within
the Zionist movement. at the conclusion of the section, Makaryus in-
dicates that he chose “not to go on at length about the history of this
significant organization [al-­jamʿiyya­al-­ʿaẓīma].”^139 Instead, he hopes
that in a second edition of the book he will “expand the explanation

(^138) al-­Hilāl (October 1906), 9.
(^139) though the adjective ʿaẓīm­typically has positive connotations, I render it here as
“significant,” that is, fairly neutrally, so as not to prejudice the analysis and because the
term occasionally is used in a negative sense.