Brief History of Zionism
Lets talk a bit about Zionism:
The age of empires was on the decline and the Western (now internationally celebrated) conception of the nation-state was on the rise in the early 1900s. Therefore, Israel's spiritual founder who was a secular (almost atheist) German speaking playwright of Jewish ancestry, Theodor Herzl was likely inspired by this newfound western conception of nationalism.
He saw other nations' celebration the formation of their respective nation-states (a culture that has a land) from the dissolution of empires, and thought to himself, after witnessing racial discrimination in France, that the Jews should similarly have a land for their nation too.
It is interesting to note that the Muslims jumped on board this idea of nationalism right around the time the Jews did; this was responsible for the Western inspired (see Lawrence of Arabia) Arab rebellion against the Ottoman empire, leading to the destruction of the Caliphate (it is worth mentioning that the idea of the nation-state is not only western inspired, but is also un-islamic because you are not allowed to fight for asabiyya i.e. tribalism).
The Muslim version of Zionism in the Middle East is probably Arab nationalism (see Baathism). I don't know if the current Palestinian cause is based more on nationalism or religious fervor. Obviously, our cause, it should be Islamic with the spirit of brotherhood, and not on the same ethnic justification that Zionism is based off of.
Anyways..
The Jews not only have a religion, but an ethnicity as well; the Quran refers to them not only as 'yahood', but also 'bani Israel'. They believed they were a nation without a state. Zionism began as a secular ethnic movement, not a religious one.
Eventually, after his writings (Der Judenstaat in particular) the Zionist conference was developed and the Jewish ethnic homeland, in its spirit was born. Largely secular in its origin, the conference even considered even British controlled Uganda and Argentina (with no religious significance obviously) as a potential homeland!
In Theodor's diary, he writes, "When we occupy the land, we shall bring immediate benefits to the state that receives us (Argentina) (economic benefits)....
It goes without saying that we should respectfully tolerate people of other faiths and protect their property, their honor and their freedom with the harshest means of coercion. This is another area with which we shall set the entire world a wonderful example. Should there be many such immovable owners in individual areas (who would not sell their property to us) we shall simply leave them there and develop our own commerce in the direction of areas that belong to us."
Herzl did then go to the Ottomans and offered a trade; that the Jews should pay off the Ottoman debt for access to Palestine to form a Jewish homeland under Palestinian rule. The Ottomans refused and Herzl returned. However, the Jews did live in Palestine under the rule of the Ottomans in sparse communities and even before the Ottomans.
In Islamic history, the Jews flocked to Islamic lands to live peacefully under the Muslim's protection (see Golden age of Jewish Culture in Spain, Jews under Salahudeen, Jews under the Ottomans (particularly in Thesaloniki, Greece). Although, there were recorded instances of aggression against Jews in Islamic Lands (such as Persia in 1656, 1839, Ottoman Syria 1834).
However the example Muslims should take is that of the Prophet, particularly in the charter of Medina; I'll just quote the two articles relating to the Jews.
(16) To the Jew who follows us belong help and equality. He shall not be wronged nor shall his enemies be aided.
(25) "The Jews of the B. ‘Auf are one community with the believers (the Jews have their religion and the Muslims have theirs), their freedmen and their persons except those who behave unjustly and sinfully, for they hurt but themselves and their families."
Back to contemporary history,
After Herzl's death in 1904, the Zionist conference became more adamant on securing Palestine as a homeland after the fall of the Ottomans and the allocation of Palestine to Britian. The Zionists, over time, became more greedy as they gained more momentum.
David Ben-Gurion, who was the political creator and first prime-minister of Israel, said the following in the 1937: "A transfer of a completely different scope will have to be carried out. In many parts of the country new settlement will not be possible without transferring Arab Fellahin (farmers). It is important that this plan comes from the commission (i.e. the British government: see Peel Commission) and not from us. Jewish power, which increases steadily, will also increase our possibilities to carry out the transfer on a large scale."
In other words, at a political level, "We want to live peacefully with you" in 1900s changed into "We need to relocate you" in the 1930s. And thus Palestine was allocated by the British to create the Jewish ethno-state.
And that's how we got the abomination today. Imagine how history would have turned out if the Ottoman leader allowed the state to exist and the debt that crippled the Ottomans would have been paid off! Or if they moved in to Argentina or the British allowed them to form an ethno-state in Uganda!
All mistakes are my own. If anything is wrong with this piece, comment below!
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