Between Might and Right
Herzel believed that anti-Semitism was an "incurable gentile pathology." Zionism was developed as an ideology determined to lead its people out of "perpetual enemy territory." The Jews, he posited, should have a nation-state of their own. "Herzel himself would have been ready to contemplate any territory for this purpose, but most Zionists felt that Palestine was the only possible one. Palestine was the land of their ancestors; the idea of the return to Zion, of Next Year in Jerusalem, had been kept alive throughout the long centuries of exile and suffering; only 'the mighty legend' of Palestine had the power to stir the Jewish masses." Herzel said "It is their [the Arabs of Palestine] well-being, their individual wealth, which we will increase by bringing in our own." But we must not forget that Herzel was a man of his times, times in which an ethnocentric European imperialism dominated the backwards lands of the world through conquest and control. The moral dilemmas derived from the force necessary in accomplishing such imposing goals in the service of civilization did not seem as reprehensible as it does in today's day and age. In approaching a dilemma or conflict of sorts one must decide what one wishes to gain in its
However one must not loose sight of the impetus for Herzel's formulation to lead his people "out of perpetual enemy territory," the notorious Dreyfus affair; the rigged trial and conviction of the Jewish officer accused of passing secrets to the Germans. In return, the Arabs would get economic benefits from the neighboring Jewish economy, would be gradually modernized economically and politically, and would on their part not be attacked by the Jews. this would not have the effects of undermining the foundations of the state, as the authorities fear, but the opposite: It would be possible to integrate the Arab citizens a bit more into the state which is so estranged from them. would allow the Arab minority to identify openly with its tragedy [on the Israeli celebration of independence]. "The strongest weapon the Arabs in the occupied territories can deploy against us is not to change. The principle suggested is morally just, but has not been accepted by either of the parties in the conflict. " He asks, "Are there other Jews?" She says "No. Herzel knew "that immigration into an already populated country would soon turn the natives against the newcomers .
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Acceptance Essays
