You are on page 1of 2

What is Zionism and who are the

Zionists?
The concept of Zionism holds a vital place in the Israel-Palestine
conflict. Often characterized as Nationalist Zionism, Religious
Zionism and Political Zionism; this is an ideology that supports
the demand of Jews to return to their historical homeland
called Zion which is defined as the Land of Israel. According to
the prominent Jewish figures, Zionism is a movement, both
religious and political, whereby a socialistic model state for Jews
is to be established on the land of Palestine.

The religious roots if Zionism can be found in Judaism while it


was developed in a political movement by Moses Hess, a
mentor of Karl Marx in socialism. In his book, Rome and
Jerusalem, published in 1862, he laid down the foundations for
Zionism. However, Theodor Hertzl is considered the official
founder of this socialist ideology who gave an even more
practical plan for the colonization of Palestine in his book, The
Jewish State published in 1896. He stated Hesss book as a
source for everything one needs to know about Zionism.
According to him race, people and nation all merge in Zionism
to create socialism.
A crucial role in colonization was played by Eastern European
Marxist Jews who were led by Israels founding father, Ben
Gurion. The socialist kibbutzim stated that only Jews could
become the members and so it led to the Nakba cataclysm,
paving way to the theft of the land and ethnically cleansing of
around 750,000 Palestinians off their land. These Palestinians
and their new generations still live in exile and are denied
return by the UN. In the US, Zionism became a major force after
the six-day war mainly through their influence on the media
and film industry, as well as banking and the academic sphere.
The Belfour Declaration, which was signed in 1979 by Lord
Rothschild and Britains foreign minister paved the way for
giving national identity to the Jewish group through a Jewish
state in the land of Palestine. In the beginning, it earned only a
little support among the European Jews as well among the Jews
who were based in German concentration camps during WWII.
The exodus of Jews from Germany served as a major factor in
promoting Zionism. Although the colonization of Palestine had
started since the end of the nineteenth century, Zionism got a
political breakthrough especially after the World War II with the
1948 declaration of a Jewish state in Israel.

While most religious Jewish groups consider Zionism as a


development that have positive impact on their religion, there
are also some groups like Neturei Karta who see Zionism
incompatible with Judaism as they carry the view that creation
of a Jewish state cannot be done by the people as in the case of
Israel and is only the work of God.

At present, Zionism is one of the most dominant ideologies in


the western world. Israelis have been unleashing brutal force on
the innocent Palestinians for many years on the name of
Zionism and the concept has been wrongly used to initiate neo-
colonial wars and to control peoples thoughts by putting
restrictions on the freedom of speech. This concept is misused
by powerful authorities to secure a new world order by bringing
up conflicts and wars with and between various religions,
cultural and ethnic groups. A closer look at the history reveals
that Zionists are the Big Brother of the world who has used this
concept as an excuse to capture the Palestinian land. However,
growing criticism has somewhat convinced them to present
more realistic translation of the Zionist agenda.

You might also like