But the opposition on the part of the Jews remained, as was shown by the comments of the Jewish press of America on Mr. Israel Zangwill’s visit to that country with a view to interesting American Jews in the project, by his own “absolute and profound disgust” at their cold irresponsiveness, and even more clearly by the establishment of the London Zionist League. The President of this association, Mr. Herbert Bentwich, in his inaugural address, commenting on the matter, said that the British East Africa scheme had never touched Zionism in the slightest degree; that it was a mere accident in Jewish history to which Zionists could not devote their energies; that the offer of territory had been made as a practical expression of sympathy “by those who would exclude the alien immigrant from Great Britain and as such was gratefully to be received, but it could never be dealt with seriously,” and that the Zionists hoped not to amend but to end the Jewish distress; that being the object for which the league had been formed in London.[329]
The Commission’s report, published in English and German, was partly unfavourable and partly inconclusive; but even if it had been favourable it is doubtful whether it would have met with approval. At all events, when the scheme was definitely submitted to the Zionist Congress at Basel, towards the end of July, 1905, it gave rise to scenes of an unexampled character in the history of Zionism. The Congress was divided into “Palestinians,” who were opposed to any Jewish national settlement outside Palestine, and into “Territorialists,” who maintained that the true aim of Zionism is to obtain an autonomous settlement anywhere. The latter party, led by Mr. Zangwill, was strongly in favour of the British offer; the former was as strongly against it. After a stormy discussion the scheme was rejected, and a resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority, in which the Seventh Zionist Congress reaffirmed the principle of the creation of a legally secured home for the Jewish people in Palestine, repudiating, both as object and as means, all colonising activity outside Palestine, and adjacent lands, and, while thanking the British Government for its kindness, it expressed the hope that the latter will continue to aid the Zionists in their efforts to attain their true aim. Thus this episode in the history of Zionism came to an end.
While the East Africa scheme was the subject of so much discord both among the Jews and elsewhere, the leader of the Zionists passed away. Dr. Herzl died at Edlach, in Austria, on the 3rd of July, 1904, denied the happiness of seeing the mission to which he had consecrated his life fulfilled. Among his adherents he has left the reputation of a fervent apostle of emancipation, an inspired idealist, a Messiah burning with the desire to rescue his people from persecution and to lead them back to the Land of Promise. But even those least inclined to follow his lead, could not but admire in him that single-minded devotion to an ideal and that steadfastness in its pursuit, which, whether success crowns their possessor or not, proclaim the great man. Among the masses of his suffering co-religionists the claims of Dr. Herzl to gratitude are less liable to qualification. His personality produced a deep impression on their imagination, and his efforts to realise the dream of eighteen centuries, aided by the magic of his eloquence and the grace of his manner, stirred their hearts to their inmost depths. Parents named their children after Dr. Herzl, and his death aroused universal grief. Ten thousand mourners, men and women, accompanied the funeral to the Vienna cemetery, where the remains of the leader were laid to rest amid the lamentations of his followers. The latter subsequently gave a tangible proof of their gratitude by providing for their leader’s orphaned family, and by resolving to perpetuate his memory in a manner that would have pleased him. The memorial is to take the form of a forest of ten thousand olive trees planted in some historic spot in Palestine, and to be known as the Herzl Forest.
It would be rash to affirm that Zionism has died with Dr. Herzl. Since his death, however, the movement has suffered a certain transformation. Although his East Africa project has been rejected by the majority of the party, and though both those who favoured it and those who opposed it are now persuaded of the hopelessness of a chartered home in Palestine, yet the plan of a return to the Land of Promise still is enthusiastically adhered to, especially by the sufferers of the Russian Ghetto: with the only difference that repatriation is no longer looked for from the Sultan, or from the European Powers, but from individual effort. Side by side with political and diplomatic activity abroad, the Congress of 1905 resolved upon practical work in Palestine itself. This will take the form of general investigation into the country’s resources and its economic possibilities, and attempts at amelioration of its administrative conditions. In other words, the colonisation of Palestine is to be encouraged and its autonomy postponed until the Jews are established in sufficient numbers to obtain their ultimate object. “Creep into Palestine anyway. Colonise, redeem the land, populate it, establish factories, stimulate trade; in a word, rebuild Palestine and then see what the Sultan will say.” This is the advice given by a prominent Jew to his co-religionists.[330] Whether these endeavours will yield the desired fruit or not is a matter on which it would be more prudent to express an opinion after the event. It is equally difficult to forecast the outcome of Mr. Zangwill’s “Jewish Territorial Organisation,” which, abandoning Zion at all events for the moment, seeks to found a Jewish Colony elsewhere. This variation of the Zionist programme has attracted the sympathy of many of those who stood completely aloof from the Herzl scheme. At the same time it has driven a wedge into Zionism proper.
Meanwhile, it would be idle to deny that, viewed as a whole, the Jewish Question at the present moment stands pretty much where it has been at any time during the last eighteen hundred years. A few Jews have solved the problem for themselves by assimilation to their surroundings. Some more dwell among the Gentiles in a state of benevolent neutrality: one with them on the surface, but at heart distinct; performing all the duties of citizenship conscientiously and sharing in the intellectual and political life of their adopted countries brilliantly; yet, by their avoidance of intermarriage, implying the existence of an insuperable barrier between themselves and those who have not the good fortune to be descended from Abraham. But the bulk of the race still is a people of wanderers; and their hope of restoration little more than a beautiful, melancholy dream. There are at the present hour upwards of ten million Jews, scattered to the four corners of the earth. Nine of these millions live in Europe: two-thirds of them in Russia, Roumania and Poland. In the Middle Ages persecution in the West had driven them Eastwards. Lately persecution in the East has turned the tide Westwards. There is no rest for Israel. If the past and the present are any guides regarding the future, it is safe to predict that for many centuries to come the world will continue to witness the unique and mournful spectacle of a great people roaming to and fro on the highways of the earth in search of a home.
APPROXIMATE DENSITY OF THE JEWISH POPULATION.
London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The oldest Greek author in whose works the term occurs is the orator Isaeus who flourished B.C. 364; the earliest Latin writer is Plautus who died B.C. 184. Of course, the word, though very good Hebrew, may have been imported into Europe by the Phoenicians. But it would be a bold man who would attempt to distinguish between Jewish and Phoenician merchants at this time of day.