mahatma gandhi and the jewish national home 41
For the very same reasons, expecting the Zionists to give up their
support of British imperialism was also unrealistic. The creation of an
immigration- based national home in Palestine depended upon the Brit-
ish, the Mandate authorities. Despite all the hurdles and restrictions, dur-
ing much of the Mandate years, London was their only hope. This depen-
dence upon the British explains the absence of any serious po liti cal
contacts between the Zionists and the Mahatma or for that matter with
the Indian nationalists. The success of the homeland project depended
entirely upon the ability of the Zionist to project a convergence of inter-
ests with the British. How could they identify with the anti- British
Mahatma and still hope to secure the support of the British? In short,
realization of a Jewish homeland required the Zionists opting for the Man-
date British over the Arabs in Palestine and for imperial Britain over
Gandhi in India.
Fifth, Jewish critics of Gandhi at times have accused him of failing to
understand Judaism. A harsh editorial in The Jewish Advocate, for exam-
ple, admonished him for his lack of understanding of Jewish history. It
accused him of acquiring his knowledge “from Christian missionaries.
There is a strong hint of this in your remark that ‘indeed, it is a strong
stigma against them [the Jews] that their ancestors crucifi ed Jesus’— a
remark, if you will forgive us, worthy of a professional missionary or a
medieval scholastic.”^71 Similarly, the Israeli scholar Shimoni concluded
that Mahatma Gandhi “saw Judaism essentially through Christian spec-
tacles,” resulting in “a distortion of considerable proportions... and
Christian- induced misrepre sen ta tion of Judaism.”^72
As discussed elsewhere, one can extend this further and argue that
Indian nationalists, like their counterparts in many non- Western coun-
tries, were unfamiliar or even immune to the Judeo- Christian heritage
that prevailed in Eu rope. Despite religious and cultural proximity to Is-
lam, in the politico- social realm, Judaism found a common cause with
Christian Eu rope.^73 This Judeo- Christian heritage signifi cantly contrib-
uted to the emergence and growth of Zionism and the eventual formation
of Israel. His student days in Britain and long association with foreigners,
however, did not sway Gandhi to these Judeo- Christian sentiments. The
concept of divine right and biblical promises were foreign to him. Nor was
he consumed by the guilty conscience that dominated mainstream Eu ro-
pe an thinking during his time.
Yet Gandhi was not immune to religious infl uences. Like his col-
leagues in the nationalist struggle, he viewed the Palestinian problem
vip2019
(vip2019)
#1