Zionism

In the 19^th century a relatively few Jews decided to move to their ancient homeland, Eretz Yisrael.

Zionism is Jewish nationalism. A relatively small number of Jews who decided to control their own futures by seeking, making, and keeping a state is the story of modern Israel. How did Jews take destiny into their hands by going from powerless to power? How did they acquire land, link people to it through immigration, and build a small infrastructure for a state? The Jewish Question, The Balfour Declaration, and Israel’s Declaration of Independence are three basic documents that chronicle the half-century effort to reestablish a Jewish territory in their ancestral homeland.

Documents

Biblical Covenants
Liturgical References to Zion and Jerusalem
1893 Andrew D. White on the wretched Jewish Situation in Russia
1896 Herzl – The Jewish Question and the Plan for the Jewish State
1897 Max Nordau, Addresses the First Zionist Congress, Basel, Switzerland
1906 “Zionism.” In The Jewish Encyclopedia
1917 The Balfour Declaration
1922 League of Nations – International Legitimacy granted for creating a Jewish National Home
1938 Chaim Weizmann Rallying World Jewry to Partition of Palestine – two states
1941 David Ben-Gurion – Outlines a Jewish state at end of current war
1942 David Ben-Gurion, The Biltmore Address – a Jewish state is at hand
1944 British High Commissioner Stanley suggests division of Palestine into two states is a viable solution to communal unrest
1948 Israel Declaration of Independence
1949 Admission of Israel to the United Nations
1950 Israel’s Law of Return