CHAPTER LIII.
THE PRINCIPLES OF ZIONISM
Palestine as the Homeland—The rebirth of Jewish civilization—The security of public law—The aims of Political Zionism—A modern Commonwealth for the Jewish people.
We are afraid that some readers may feel a certain disappointment at the absence in this book of any formulation of what they would call “definite demands” in respect to Palestine. They may have expected a detailed scheme, showing what political conditions are proposed, whether “autonomy” is demanded or certain “privileges,” and so forth.
These details are of course very important, and will have to be considered in the near future. But we do not enter into them here for several reasons. In the first place, our aim has been mainly historical. We have been concerned with the past, and to some extent with the present, and any predictions with regard to the future would be out of place. Secondly, the precise nature of the measures that will be taken to realize Zionist aims must necessarily depend upon the future political position of Palestine. An arrangement that would suit one set of circumstances would be quite impossible in another. It is, therefore, useless to conjecture anything in advance. And, thirdly—and this is the most important consideration—the form of the scheme is, to our mind, a secondary matter. When once the principle of Zionism is [♦]accepted—the principle of a Homeland for the Jewish people—the adoption of the best means for carrying out its object will follow.
[♦] “acepted” replaced with “accepted”
We do, however, derive from history and experience certain conclusions as to the way in which the aim of Zionism can be achieved. These conclusions may be summarized as follows:—
I. The Homeland of the Jewish people must be in Palestine.
II. Palestine can and must be made capable of fulfilling its function by the method of patient colonization.
III. The security of public law—that is, of the recognition of the rightful claim of the Jewish people to regenerate Palestine and itself through Palestine—is a necessary condition of success.
As to the first point, experience has sufficiently shown that the Jew as colonist and as pioneer is at home only in Palestine. More or less successful attempts at settling Jews on the land have been made in the Argentine and elsewhere; but none of these settlements has any vital significance for Jewry at large. Their value begins and ends with the individuals who take part in them. With the Palestinian settlement it is quite otherwise. The heart of the Jewish people responds to the efforts of the Palestinian settlers: it recognizes in them not merely a number of individuals, but its own representatives, the vanguard of its struggle towards a new life. That is a natural consequence of the place which Palestine has held for centuries in the Jewish scheme of things. Opponents of Zionism have sometimes tried to reconcile conflicting points of view by admitting that “Palestine is not worse than any other country,” and that, therefore, “Jews should not be oppressed there,” and that “if there is a chance for colonization it should be taken.” But this is like telling a man that his mother is no worse than any other woman, or that his language is no worse than any other language. Such compromises cannot be seriously discussed. If Palestine is anything to Jews, it is the Land of Israel. But is Palestine capable of being the Land of Israel in anything but an ideal sense? and if so, how is this to be brought about?