The purpose of this unit is to introduce students to Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, which led to the founding of modern Israel in 1948. The Zionist movement has been called one of the most successful national movements of the modern era. To understand this movement and why this unit’s title is the “rebirth” of a nation, it is important to know about the Jews’ ancient origins in the land, their continuous presence in it, and how their 2,000-year longing to return was transformed into an effective, modern political movement that united Jews around the world and was endorsed by the international community.
The unit’s specific goals are:
• To introduce students to Zionism, giving them a brief overview of its origins, its challenges, its achievements, and how it was viewed by the international community.
• To give students an understanding of the ancient and modern roots of Zionism; to emphasize (especially with
the pictures) that the Jews were indigenous to and maintained a continuing presence in and connection to the land; and to explain why the founding of modern Israel was called the “rebirth” of a nation.
• To give students an awareness of how the ideals of the Zionist movement fit into modern notions of nationalism, liberty, and human and civil rights.
• To give students an awareness of the “push and pull” that created modern Zionism. The push was continuing anti-Semitism: the pogroms against Jews in Russia and the continuing prejudice against Jews even in liberal countries like France. The pulls were the rise of nationalism in Europe, the desire to preserve Jewish identity, and the millennia-old longing to return that has been central to Judaism.
• To emphasize that Jews began resettling the land even before the rise of modern Zionism and the international community’s endorsement of Zionism in the 1917 Balfour Declaration. (This is a critical theme throughout the booklet. For example, there was a Jewish majority in Jerusalem by 1864.) In addition, the Zionist movement started, and the land was settled, decades before the Holocaust.
• To give students a sense of the different ideologies, political views, and national backgrounds of those who united to form the Zionist movement.
• To emphasize (especially with the quotes on the left-most column) that non-Jews also understood the Jews’ continuing connection to the land and that Zionists got international recognition and support with the Balfour Declaration (1917) and the League of Nations Mandate (1920-45) and from the United Nations (1945-present). |
The following are some discussion questions for students along with helpuf hints for teachers.
1. What does the name Zionism mean? What were the main goals of Zionism, and how did Zionists hope to achieve them?
2. How unique was the founding of Israel? What other nations were also founded or established independence in the past two-and-a-half centuries? (Teachers: the majority of modern nation-states were founded or established independence just in this period. Some examples students may know: United States (declared 1776; established 1787), Haiti (1791), Mexico (1822), Italy and Germany (1871), modern India, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) were, like Israel, established in 1948. Also see p. 6 of Israel 101 for dates of founding of Middle Eastern countries and north African countries.)
3. Theodore Herzl started modern Zionism because he saw that Jews were not fully accepted even in modern liberal democracies like France, because of the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire and because this persecution had been a central characteristic of Jewish history since the Roman conquest. What other options do you think Jews should have pursued at the time?
4. Why is the founding of modern Israel referred to as the “rebirth of a nation?” (Teachers: students should look at the pictures on the right side of the page to help formulate their answers.)
5. When the word “Zionism” is mentioned, what association, does it raise? What did it mean to previous generations, such as your parents’, grandparents’ or other relatives’? Do you think it has meant different things to different generations?
6. What was new about modern Zionism, and what was ancient about it? (For example, the idea of returning to the land and restoring Jewish national independence was ancient; turning this idea into a modern, pragmatic, political movement and using up-to-date technology to restore the land were modern.)
7. What nations or international leaders endorsed Zionism? Why did they endorse it? (Teachers: the quotes on the left side of the page will help students explore this question.)
8. How was Zionism similar to or different from other nationalist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries? (Teachers: if students are studying world, European or American history, they can bring in what they’ve learned about the rise of cultural and political nationalism, the movements for national independence from imperial or colonial control, and the ideals of self-determination. Two useful entries are on Wikipedia: on nationalism, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_nationalism_in_Europe; on post-colonial national liberation movements, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_liberation_movements.)
9. Zionists came from a wide range of national, political and ideological backgrounds. How were they able to overcome them to form a united movement? From your own personal experience in organizations and student groups, what are the obstacles in forming a united organization with a clear agenda and program for carrying it out?
10. Zionist leader and first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion reportedly once said, “If you do not believe in miracles, you are not a realist.” What do you think he meant? How do you think this applies to the Zionist movement and the establishment of modern Israel?
11. Now that Jews have a state, what is the role of Zionism? |
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 5
Complete PDF |
Internet
History of Zionism – http://www.zionism-israel.com/zionism_history.htm and http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/facts%20about%20israel/history
Theodore Herzl and Zionism – http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Herzl.html
Excerpts from Herzl’s The Jewish State – http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/herzlex.html
The Balfour Declaration – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917
The White Paper – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_White_Paper%2C_1922
Jewish Virtual Library (general source) – http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
Early organizations in Israel
Jewish National Fund – http://www.jnf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=history
Hagganah – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagganah
Books
Nonfiction
Ben-Haim. Ruth (Ed., 2004). Facts About Israel. (Ahva Press: Jerusalem, 2004).
The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader by Arthur Hertzberg
Eban, Abba (1984). Heritage: Civilization and the Jews. (NY: Summit Books).
Collins, Larry and Lapierre, Dominique. O Jerusalem! (Simon and Schuster: 1972).
Kurzman, Dan (1970). Genesis 1948: The First Arab-Israeli (New American Library, Inc.: 1970).
Historical Fiction
Halter, Marek (1990). The Children of Abraham. (Arcade Publishing).
Uris, Leon (1958). Exodus. (NY: Doubleday).
Wouk, Herman (1993). The Hope. (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.).
Michener, James (1965, 2002). The Source. (Random House, Fawcett).
Film
Exodus. Directed by Otto Premminger, 1960. (You can also compare the film version with the documentary on the Exodus available at
http://www.exodus1947.com/synopsis.php.)
Video/DVD
Eban, Abba, et al. Heritage: Civilization and the Jews. (DVD videos of the landmark PBS series and interactive
multimedia DVD-ROM.) http://www.thirteen.org/heritagedvd
Palestine National Appeal Fund film of establishment of Israel and 1948 War, from Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive at
http://w3.castup.net/jfa/filmsscreen.asp?ai=148&ar=CMID23220
Pillar of Fire, Israel Broadcasting Association film of the history of modern Israel from Zionism to 1948, with original footage. In
libraries, or the DVDs can be purchased from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-8534874-0527858?url=searchalias%
3Ddvd&field-keywords=%22Pillar+of+Fire%22&x=16&y=13. |
