What is Zionism?
Zionism is the movement for Jewish national self-determination in the Land of Israel, which Jews have long regarded as their ancestral homeland. It arose in the late 1800s, when Jews faced persecution in Europe and when nationalism was rising across the continent. Supporters see it as a movement of liberation for a people with a long history of exile and persecution. Critics, especially Palestinians, see it as a movement that led to their displacement. Both views are held with deep feeling, and any account has to note them. The word covers many strands with different politics.
Core beliefs
- Jews are a people with a right to national self-determination.
- A Jewish homeland is needed as a refuge from persecution.
- Hebrew language and culture should be revived and kept alive.
- Jews from around the world should be able to settle in the homeland.
- The Land of Israel has a central place in Jewish history and identity.
- A state should be able to defend itself and its citizens.
History
Antisemitism and pogroms in Eastern Europe led to early settlement efforts in the 1880s. Leon Pinsker called for Jewish self-emancipation in 1882. Theodor Herzl wrote The Jewish State in 1896, and in 1897 he convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel. Britain's Balfour Declaration of 1917 backed a national home for Jews in Palestine, which Britain then ruled under a League of Nations mandate. Jewish immigration and Arab opposition led to growing conflict. The Holocaust killed about six million Jews and strengthened support. After a UN partition plan in 1947, Israel declared independence in May 1948. A war followed. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out, which they call the Nakba, and many Jews also left or fled Arab countries.
Variants
Political Zionism, led by Herzl, sought international backing for a state. Cultural Zionism, led by Ahad Ha'am, wanted a spiritual and cultural center. Labor Zionism, led by David Ben-Gurion, built kibbutzim and unions on socialist lines. Revisionist Zionism, led by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, favored a stronger military stance and private enterprise. Religious Zionism, shaped by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, saw the return as part of a religious story. Some Christians also back the cause, which is a separate movement. Some Jewish groups, religious and secular, opposed Zionism.
Criticisms
Palestinians and many others argue that the creation of Israel meant the loss of their homes and land and that the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza since 1967, and the building of settlements, deny them self-determination. Some critics say that a state defined as Jewish makes non-Jewish citizens unequal. Early Jewish critics included the socialist Bund and many ultra-Orthodox rabbis. Supporters respond that Zionism is a normal national movement, that Israel is a democracy with Arab citizens who vote, and that singling out the Jewish national movement for rejection is unfair. Many people, on both sides, separate criticism of Israeli policy from hostility to Jews.
In practice
Israel has a parliamentary system, and it grants citizenship to Arab residents, who make up about a fifth of the population. It has signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, but the conflict with the Palestinians remains unresolved, with sharp disagreement over borders, settlements, security and Jerusalem. On the 12 axes, Zionism scores toward National identity on Culture, Strength on Foreign policy and Order on Security. Ownership sits at the midpoint, since it covers both collectivist and market currents.