April 24, 1903
Theodor Herzl first met with British Secretary of State for the Colonies Joseph Chamberlain in October 1902. At that meeting, Herzl proposed Jewish settlement in either Cyprus or El Arish in the Sinai as a temporary measure. Both territories are close to Palestine and are under British control, unlike Palestine, which is still part of the Ottoman Empire. Chamberlain rejected Herzl’s proposals because of opposition in Egypt and among British residents in Cyprus.
On April 24, 1903, Chamberlain and Herzl meet again, and Chamberlain offers a counterproposal. Instead of Cyprus or El Arish, he proposes that a Jewish state be created in British-held East Africa. Despite being referred to as the “Uganda Proposal,” the territory offered by Chamberlain is actually the Guas Ngishu plateau in Kenya.
The Sixth Zionist Congress later in 1903 adopts the Uganda Proposal on a vote of 295-178. Herzl sees the proposal as an interim plan to foster immigration of suffering Eastern European Jews to a haven without abandoning the ultimate aim of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
The proposal threatens to divide the Zionist Organization and becomes a major point of debate during the Seventh Zionist Congress in 1905, the first Congress after Herzl’s death. Ultimately, after two days of debate, the Congress adopts a resolution that both rejects the Uganda Proposal and reaffirms the commitment to a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
