Z
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish IDEOLOGYdedicated to the forma-
tion of a Jewish homeland. Although Zionism for
many focused on Palestine, there were numerous dis-
cussions about alternative locations for the Jewish
STATE. Early Zionists considered land in Africa because
it was perceived to be a faster route to the realization
of Zionist goals. Britain, for example, offered the Zion-
ists 15,500 kilometers in Uganda to form their state.
However, with its central motivation coming from the
Diaspora, which started with the Jewish exile to Baby-
lon in the sixth century B.C., modern Zionists shared a
feeling of being in exile from their true homeland near
Jerusalem. The term Zionism comes from the hill,
Zion, on which the temple of Jerusalem was situated.
Ultimately, the realization of Zionist efforts centered
around the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
Within Zionism, there have been several divisions.
Among these are secular and orthodox interpretations
of the formation of a Jewish state. The division sur-
rounds the argument made by orthodox Jewry that
Israel could not be established without the return of
the Messiah. More secular Jews rebutted this argument
by claiming that the modern state of Israel was a nec-
essary preparatory step for the coming of Messiah.
Political Zionism stressed the importance of politi-
cal action and deemed the attainment of political
RIGHTSin Palestine a prerequisite for the fulfillment of
the Zionist enterprise. Political Zionism is linked to
Theodore Herzl, the father of modern Zionism. Herzl
considered the Jewish problem to be a political one
that should be solved by overt political action in the
international arena. His goal was to obtain an interna-
tionally accepted charter, granting the Jews SOVER-
EIGNTY over some portion of territory. In 1898, the
Basle Program, as it came to be known, was formed,
articulating Zionist aims to establish a secure haven,
under public LAW, for the Jewish people in the land of
Israel. Institutions such as the Zionist Organization,
the Jewish National Fund, and the Jewish Colonial
Trust were charged with carrying out the program.
Zionists efforts to reach Palestine were significantly
encouraged by the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
According to the document, the British government
supported Jewish settlement in Palestine so long as the
existing Arab population was not displaced. In the
succeeding years, Jewish immigration to Palestine was
modest. However, as the political climate deteriorated
in Europe during the interwar years, increased num-
bers of Jews began to arrive in Palestine. Disturbances
between Jews and Arabs in Palestine grew with the315