Zionism (redirected from Political Zionism)

Zionism, modern political movement for reconstituting a Jewish national state in Palestine.

Early Years

The rise of the Zionist movement in the late 19th cent. was influenced by nationalist currents in Europe, as well as by the secularization of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, which led many assimilated Jewish intellectuals to seek a new basis for a Jewish national life. One such individual was Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist who wrote The Jewish State (1896), calling for the formation of a Jewish nation state as a solution to the Diaspora and to anti-Semitism. In 1897 Herzl called the first World Zionist Congress at Basel, which brought together diverse proto-Zionist groups into one movement. The meeting helped found Zionist organizations in most countries with large Jewish populations.

The first issue to split the Zionist movement was whether Palestine was essential to a Jewish state. A majority of the delegates to the 1903 congress felt that it was essential and rejected the British offer of a homeland in Uganda. The opposition, the Territorialists led by Israel Zangwill, withdrew on the grounds that an immediate refuge for persecuted Jews was needed. Within the Zionist movement a broad range of perspectives developed, ranging from a synthesis of nationalism with traditional Jewish Orthodoxy (in the Mizrahi movement, founded 1902) to various combinations of Zionism with utopian and Marxist socialism.

The Balfour Declaration and Settlement in Palestine

After Herzl's death, the Zionist movement came under the leadership of Chaim Weizmann, who sought to reconcile the "practical" wing of the movement, which sought to further Jewish settlement in Palestine, and its "political" wing, which stressed the establishment of a Jewish state. Weizmann obtained few concessions from the Turkish sultan, who ruled Palestine; however, in 1917, Great Britain, then at war with Turkey, issued the Balfour Declaration (see Balfour, Arthur James), which promised to help establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. Great Britain was given a mandate of Palestine in 1920 by the League of Nations, in part to implement the Balfour Declaration.

Jewish colonization vastly increased in the early years of the mandate (see Palestine for the period up to 1948), but soon the British limited their interpretation of the declaration in the face of Arab pressure. There were disputes in the Zionist movement on how to counter the British position. The right-wing Revisionists, led by Vladimir Jabotinsky, favored large-scale immigration to Palestine to force the creation of a Jewish state. The most conciliatory faction was the General Zionists (representing the original national organizations), who generally remained friendly to Great Britain.

Since the Holocaust and Founding of Israel

After World War II the Zionist movement intensified its activities. The sufferings of the European Jews at the hands of the Germans demanded the opening of a refuge; the stiffening opposition of the Arabs increased the urgency. At this time the World Zionist Congress was divided, the Revisionists demanding all Palestine and the General Zionists reluctantly accepting the United Nations plan to partition Palestine (see Israel). After the Jewish state was proclaimed (May 14, 1948), the Zionist movement was forced to reevaluate its goals.

Against those who argued that the simple expression of support for Israel was sufficient for affiliation, the movement's 1968 Jerusalem Program defined the goal of personal migration to Israel as a requirement for membership. However, most Jews in the United States and other Western democracies seemed content to support the Zionist movement as a means of supporting Israel, without any personal commitment to living there. The Zionist movement today facilitates migration to Israel and supports Jewish cultural and educational activities in the diaspora.

Bibliography

See C. Weizmann, Trial and Error (1949, repr. 1972); I. Cohen, A Short History of Zionism (1951); B. Halpern, The Idea of the Jewish State (2d ed. 1969); W. Laqueur, A History of Zionism (1972); S. Avineri, The Making of Modern Zionism (1984); D. Vital, The Origins of Zionism (1980), Zionism: The Formative Years (1982), and Zionism: The Crucial Phase (1987); B. Morris, Righteous Victims (rev. ed. 2001).

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Zionism

Jewish nationalism movement with the goal of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. In the 16th–17th century, a number of “messiahs” tried to persuade the Jews to return to Palestine, but by the late 18th century interest had largely faded. Pogroms in Eastern Europe led to formation of the “Lovers of Zion,” which promoted the settlement of Jewish farmers and artisans in Palestine. In the face of persistent anti-Semitism, Theodor Herzl advocated a Jewish state in Palestine. He held the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897. After World War I the movement picked up momentum with the issuing of the Balfour Declaration. The Jewish population in Palestine increased from 90,000 in 1914 to 238,000 in 1933. The Arab population resisted Zionism, and the British tried unsuccessfully to reconcile Jewish and Arab demands. Zionism achieved its goal with the creation of Israel in 1948. See also Alliance Israélite Universelle, David Ben-Gurion, Hagana, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Irgun Zvai Leumi.

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Zionism

1. a political movement for the establishment and support of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, now concerned chiefly with the development of the modern state of Israel

2. a policy or movement for Jews to return to Palestine from the Diaspora

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Zionism 

the most reactionary variety of Jewish bourgeois nationalism. Zionism became widespread during the 20th century among the Jews in the capitalist countries. Today it is a nationalistic ideology, represented by a ramified system of organizations and a policy expressing the interests of the Jewish big bourgeoisie, which is closely linked with the monopolistic bourgeoisie of the imperialist states. Modern Zionism is militantly chauvinist, racist, anticommunist, and anti-Soviet.

Zionism emerged as a political trend in the late 19th century. Its function was to distract the Jewish toiling masses from the revolutionary struggle and to maintain bourgeois dominance over them. To attain these aims, the Zionist ideologists advanced plans for solving the “Jewish question” by creating a “Jew state” with the aid of the great powers. This idea was set forth in Der Judenstaat (The Jew State; 1896), published by the Austrian journalist Theodor Herzl, a Zionist ideologist. At the first Zionist Congress, held in Basel in 1897, the World Zionist Organization (WZO) was founded. It proclaimed that the official goal of Zionism was to “create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law.”

The ideology of Zionism is highly eclectic. It utilizes many dogmas of Judaism but also includes theories of bourgeois nationalism and social chauvinism, transformed by Zionist ideologists. Zionist ideology maintains that the Jews in various countries constitute an extraterritorial “single worldwide Jewish nation.” The Jews are a “distinctive,” “unique” people, a people “chosen by god.” All peoples among whom the Jews live are in one way or another anti-Semites. Anti-Semitism is a “permanent” phenomenon, and assimilation, or the merging of Jews with the surrounding population, is “unnatural and sinful.” The Jews have “historical rights” to the “lands of their Biblical ancestors” (Palestine and its adjoining regions, where they must gather and build a “purely Jewish” and “egalitarian state.”

Zionist ideologists seek to prove the “unbreakable bond of Jews throughout the world” with Zionism, to which they must subordinate their own interests, wherever they may be. The politicized dogmas of Judaism state that the Jews are “chosen by god” and have a messianic task to fulfill. These dogmas, and Judaism’s mythical thesis of the Jews’ “uniqueness,” are constituents of the extreme nationalism, chauvinism, and racism inherent in Zionist ideology and practice.

The ideologists of Zionism maintain that the “Jewish question” is “eternal,” “unique,” and beyond class considerations. Zionists utilize every means to propagandize the false idea of class peace between toiling Jews and the Jewish bourgeoisie (“all Jews are brothers”). All forms of class struggle among Jews are proclaimed to be national treason. The Zionists have always made use of demagogy and tactical maneuvers in their efforts to conceal the antipopular, reactionary essence of Zionism, alleging that Zionism is the “national liberation movement of Jews throughout the world.”

After the state of Israel was formed in 1948 on part of Palestine’s territory by a resolution of the United Nations, Zionism became Israel’s official ideology. Its main goals are to secure the unconditional support of Israel by the world’s Jews, to gather the world’s Jews in Israel, and to inculcate a Zionist spirit among Jews in various countries. Zionism seeks to expand Israel to the boundaries of the “Greater Land of Israel.” To this end, Zionists evoke the thesis of “eternal anti-Semitism,” a situation which they often deliberately instigate.

Zionism is the basis of Israel’s government policy. Zionists have proclaimed the state of Israel to be the homeland of all Jews, wherever they live and whatever their attitude toward Zionism. The Twenty-eighth World Zionist Congress, held in Jerusalem in 1972, adopted, in violation of international law, a resolution on the collective obligation of all national [Zionist and pro-Zionist] organizations to aid the Jewish state under any circumstances and conditions, even if this means opposing the respective authorities of the countries with a Jewish population.

Zionism’s main policy has always been one of struggle, both open and covert, against socialism, the international communist and national liberation movements, and the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Immediately after the victory of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, Zionism unleashed an active struggle against the new Soviet state. After World War II (1939–45), amid a further intensification of the overall crisis of capitalism, the anticommunism and anti-Sovietism of international Zionism assumed still broader dimensions. The shift in the alignment of forces in the world in favor of socialism, the successful resolution of the national question (including the Jewish question) in the USSR, and the Soviet Union’s consistent support of the national liberation struggle of the Arab peoples have given rise to intensified anti-Soviet and anti-communist Zionist propaganda and activity.

International Zionism strives to undermine the moral and political unity of the peoples of the socialist countries and to prevent citizens of Jewish nationality from participation in building socialism and communism. Zionism seeks to subvert the relaxation of international tension and in particular the incipient normalization of Soviet-American relations. As a shock detachment of imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism, international Zionism opposes the national liberation movement of the peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

In the Near East, the Zionist ruling circles of Israel conduct a policy of aggression and of continuous territorial expansion at the expense of the Arab peoples, particularly the Arab people of Palestine. This policy made Israel an imperialist gendarme in the Near East and was the main cause of the Arab-Israeli military conflicts of 1948–49, 1956, 1967, and 1973. Zionism became one of imperialism’s chief allies in its global struggle against the world liberation movement.

Zionism’s ideological concepts and political plans are implemented by a far-flung, highly centralized system of Zionist and pro-Zionist organizations, directed by centers in the USA and Israel. The administrating and coordinating center of international Zionism—the WZO system—is the Jewish Agency for Israel. The Jewish Agency deals mainly with the immigration of Jews into Israel and acts as the representative of the WZO to the Israeli government. The World Zionist Congress is the de jure highest body of the WZO, which is directed by a group of leaders with close ties to certain imperialist circles in the USA. The executive committee of the WZO has two branches, one in New York and one in Jerusalem.

The WZO directs and controls Zionist organizations in more than 60 capitalist countries. The largest are the Women’s International Zionist Organization, the World Confederation of United Zionists, the World Labor Zionist Movement, and the Zionist Organization of America. The formally non-Zionist World Jewish Congress (founded 1936), with organizations in 67 capitalist countries, is under the de facto control of the WZO. Directly or indirectly affiliated with these major organizations is a multitude of local Zionist and pro-Zionist organizations, societies, and committees, which constitute a unified system of international Zionism. The WZO possesses large financial resources, mainly contributed by Jewish monopolists; some funds are collected by levying substantial dues, which are sometimes compulsory, on the Jewish population.

Many means of mass information are controlled or influenced by Zionist organizations, including many publishing houses and radio, television, and film companies in the USA, Western Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Australia. International Zionism has always included a variety of ideological currents, political factions, and groups: Zionist socialists, political Zionists, spiritual Zionists, religious Zionists, general Zionists, and revisionist Zionists (today’s fascist Herut Party and kindred groups). This variety merely reflects the interests of different strata of the Jewish bourgeoisie and does not alter but only masks Zionism’s basically imperialist nature.

Essentially, the differences among the various orientations of Zionism do not go beyond disputes over tactics and often reflect the struggle within the Zionist elite for positions of influence.

Marxists have always repudiated the theory and practice of Zionism. V. I. Lenin revealed the reactionary essence of Zionism, emphasizing that its dogmas are reactionary, false, and contrary to the interests of the Jewish proletariat. He criticized the Zionists’ theses concerning the unique nature of the Jewish people, the alleged absence of class differences among the Jews, and the imaginary communality of their interests, explaining that such assertions aimed to distract the Jewish toiling masses from the proletariat’s common class struggle.

The international communist movement denounces the anti-popular, reactionary character of Zionism and Zionist activity in all countries. The document adopted by the International Conference of Communist and Workers’ Parties in 1969 appealed for “the launching of the broadest movement of protest … against racial and national discrimination, Zionism, and anti-Semitism, which are incited by capitalist reactionary forces and exploited by them to disorient the masses politically.”

A consistent struggle against Zionism is waged in particular by the Communist Party of Israel (CPI). The CPI proves convincingly that Zionism has always been exploited by the forces of extreme reaction and imperialism and that the ideology and practices of Zionism are contrary to the interests of Jewish toilers throughout the world and the national interests of the people of Israel. The CPI has shown that the struggle against Zionism is a vital necessity for the people of Israel and for all progressive forces. Denouncing the allegedly classless approach of the Zionists to the “Jewish question” the CPI proves that this question can be resolved only with the victory of democracy and socialism, as evidenced by the experience of the USSR and the other socialist countries. The CPI advocates the brotherhood and friendship of the toilers of all countries and opposes the anti-Soviet slanderous propaganda and subversive activity of the Zionist leaders and rulers of Israel.

As the overall crisis of capitalism intensifies, the crisis of Zionist ideology and the untenability of all its concepts become increasingly obvious: the overwhelming majority of Jews reject Zionist dogmas. With rare exceptions, the Jewish population of the USSR, like all the peoples of the Soviet Union and the world’s progressive forces, resolutely condemns the aggressive political course of the Zionist ruling clique of Israel. The 30th session of the UN General Assembly (November 1975) classified Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination.

The natural and objective process of the assimilation of the Jews is gaining strength throughout the world. In the Jewish communities of the countries of the West and among the population of Israel there is an increasing comprehension that the Zionist policies of Israel’s ruling circles may lead the population oflsrael to a real national catastrophe.

REFERENCES

Lenin, V. I. Poln. sobr. sock, 5th ed., vol. 7, p. 121; vol. 8, p. 72.
V. I. Lenin, KPSS o proletarskom internatsionalizme: Sb. dokumentov i materialov, vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1974.
Mezhdunarodnoe Soveshchanie kommunisticheskikh i rabochikh partii: Dokumenty i malerialy. Moscow, 1969.
XVII s”ezd Kommunisticheskoi partii Izrailia. [Materials.] Moscow, 1973.
Ivanov, Iu. Ostorozhno: sionizm! Moscow, 1972.
Sionizm: teoriia i praktika. Moscow, 1973.
Braginskii, I. “Klassovaia sushchnost’ sionizma.” Kommunist, 1970, no. 9.
Erlich, W. “Bankrotstvo reaktsionnoi idei.” Problemy mira i sotsializma, 1973, no. 3.
Dadiani, L. “Protiv ideologii i politiki sionizma.” Kommunist, 1975, no. 18.
Vilner, Meir. “Bor’ba protiv sionizma—bor’ba klassovaia.” Problemy mira i sotsializma, 1976, no. 1.

L. DROZDOV