“France has long been the acknowledged protector of the Roman Catholic religion, in the same Empire; and the followers of that faith find in her a watchful and efficient patron;... In the members of the Greek Church, still more numerous, ... the Russians have even warmer partisans.... But where are England’s partisans in any part of Turkey? That England, while she has so deep a political interest in all that concerns the Turkish Empire, should remain indifferent to this state of things in Syria, is a matter of surprise.”[¹]
[¹] Biblical Researches in Palestine,... By Edward Robinson, D.D.... Vol. iii. London, MDCCCXLI., pp. 464–465.
Notwithstanding the formal difficulties indicated by Lord Aberdeen the scheme grew, and Sir Moses received very sincere promises, for despite the force of Lord Aberdeen’s reasoning, it was too subtle to commend itself to the common sense of Sir Moses, who was acting not as a diplomatist, but as an ardent protector of his oppressed people. The two points in Sir Moses’ programme were his scheme for the colonization of Palestine and his efforts to obtain British protection.
Sir Moses had started his second voyage to Palestine in 1838. He was then already a friend of Mehemet Ali. Reaching Alexandria on July 13th, he was cordially received by the Pasha, who listened attentively as he unfolded his scheme. Mehemet Ali promised every assistance. “You shall have any portion of land open for sale in Syria,” he said, “and any other land which by application to the Sultan may be procured for you. You may have anyone you would like to appoint as Governor in any of the rural districts of the Holy Land, and I will do everything that lies in my power to support your praiseworthy endeavours.” He further gave instructions to the Minister of Finance, Burghas Bey, to confirm these assurances in writing.
“A new era seemed dawning for the Jews of the Holy Land. Sir Moses returned to England with a light heart, and prepared to put his plans into execution.... He was still conning over the voluminous data he had collected, and was constructing in his mind the foundation of a new commonwealth for Palestine, when he was suddenly called upon to proceed again to the East,—this time, not as a peaceful reformer, but as the champion of his people, charged to vindicate their honour in the face of a foul conspiracy. He cheerfully laid aside his agricultural schemes, and girded up his loins for the new enterprise. When he returned home in the following spring, crowned with laurels, and hailed on all sides as the deliverer of Israel, his triumph was clouded by one sad thought—the projects to which he had devoted the whole of the previous year were no longer possible. Mehemet Ali had ceased to be lord of Syria, and his improving rule had been replaced by the asphyxiating authority of the Stamboul Effendis, under whom questions of social well-being could expect little furtherance.”[¹]
[¹] The Life of Sir Moses Montefiore, by Lucien Wolf. London, 1884, pp. 78–79.
In these words Mr. Lucien Wolf, in his excellent Life, describes the change that took place in the plans of Sir Moses. The change was, however, quite superficial. If we consider all the facts and documents, we cannot doubt that Sir Moses was a great Zionist throughout his whole life. His type stands midway in the evolution of Zionism. He was not unconscious of the exaltedness, the pathos, the revulsion of feeling that the struggle for the revival of a nation awakens in the normal mind of a Jew. His rôle as a “champion of his people” in his Zionist efforts is of far greater importance than his defence of the unfortunate Jewish sufferers in Damascus. The latter was a necessity, and it was indeed a great honour for any man to be entrusted with the perilous mission of defending these innocent martyrs. But unquestionably noble and necessary as it was to struggle against those shamelessly fabricated charges which have unfortunately been brought against the Jews again and again, and to protest against that gross libel upon the honour and humanity of Judaism, a libel that accused the Jews of being murderers and cannibals, can such a struggle be compared for dignity and greatness with the stimulating effort for national regeneration? What was the result of all these pleas of defence? Some individuals were saved from martyrdom; but since then the same terrible accusation has been levelled against the Jews a hundred times over, and it is hurled at them in our own time with still greater malice and wickedness than in 1840. No one would underrate the great value and the imperative necessity of Jewish self-defence; but the efforts undertaken by Sir Moses in 1838 were more than merely defensive—they were an attempt to transform the whole situation.
Reviewing the results of the whole period here surveyed, we see that what Sir Moses attempted was in fact Zionism, political Zionism. It was, however, left to a later generation to take up the work afresh, on lines dictated by sound political reasoning. The new generation had already an organization behind it; Sir Moses acted as an individual. He could not have succeeded even if the political circumstances had been radically different. The first essential to colonization, though one which has been generally overlooked, is a national movement to support it. So many illusions are shattered by the cold touch of reality: the best that the regenerator can do is to close his eyes and to go boldly forward, supported by the strength and the enthusiasm of the masses, for in that way he can overcome the most formidable obstacles. But the practical side has also to be considered. Colonization can never be successfully established without large capital and carefully laid plans. All these conditions were lacking in Sir Moses’ day. It is, therefore, no matter for surprise that the plan on which Sir Moses had so confidently relied slipped out of his hands.
But Zionism was undoubtedly the greatest and noblest of Sir Moses’ aspirations. He made seven journeys to Palestine together with his wife, who shared his devotion and enthusiasm: and many of these journeys were very dangerous. Jerusalem was the watchword of his life. One of his last expressions, as quoted by a biographer, was: “I do not expect that all Israelites will quit their abodes in those territories in which they feel happy, even as there are Englishmen in Hungary, Germany, America and Japan: but Palestine must belong to the Jews, and Jerusalem is destined to become the seat of a Jewish Commonwealth.”