Exceptional The Cornerstone of Zionism Sea Of Galilee : Sea Of Galilee-#10: Zionism-#2 by Brett Matthew West Artwork by supergold at FanArtReview.com

The cornerstone of Zionism has always been a claim to the land historically known as Palestine (Eretz Israel) as a national homeland for the Jews and a legitimat focus for Jewish national self-determination. In this case, Palestine is part of the ancient Land of Israel that also included Canaan, the Promised Land, and the Holy Land. (Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 24, and Ezekiel 47 mention these areas.) Nine times in the Bible it is referred to as "from Dan (in the north) to Beersheba (in the south). (Judges 20:1, 1 Samuel 3:20, and 2 Chronicles 30:5 are examples.) Three times these lands are referenced in the Bible as "from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt," (1 Kings 8:65, 1 Chronicles 13:5, and 2 Chronicals 7:8). The brook of Egypt was the Nahal Mizraim river that defined the westernmost border of the Land of Israel. Religious traditions linked the Jews to the Land of Israel. In the early decades of Zionism, the belief foresaw the Jewish homeland to extend over historic Palestine, into Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Ashkenazi Jews, who lived in the Holy Roman Empire in Western, Central, and Southern Europe, and antisemitism in Europe, were the grassroots of Zionism. The 1894 to 1906 Dreyfus Affair in France, a political scandal that divided the Third French Republic, became one of the most prime examples of complex antisemitism. In this case, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, (from Alsace, a northeastern region of France on the Rhine River plain that borders Germany and Switzerland), was railroaded into a guilty verdict for passing secret documents to the German Embassy in Paris. Dreyfus received a sentence of life imprisonment though many believed him to be innocent. He was later pardoned and reinstated in the French army. The affair encouraged radicalization in French politics. The sole reason Dreyfus was accused? He was Jewish. When Zionism began, after the publication of Theodor Herzl's book Der Judanstaat (The Jewish State) in 1897, the movement attempted to persuade Jewish migration to Ottoman Palestine in Syria. This area is east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian desert, and south of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Zionism, one of several Jewish political movements that offered alternative responses to Jewish assimilation and antisemitism, especially in Europe, Jewish thoughts of a national state began in earnest after World War Two. Zionists created an alliance with England and secured support from them for several years for Jewish immigration to Palestine (Eretz Israel). Jews from Russia were strongly encouraged to migrate there. After realizing the implications of Zionism, and its affects on Arabs in Palestine, England eventually strained its alliance with the Zionists. Israel was successfully established by the Zionists on May 14, 1948 as the Jewish homeland. The population of Jews now residing in Israel has grown enormous since the Zionist movement began. As of 2021, just under fifty percent of the world's Jews live in Israel. A number close to 8.5 million. Assimilation into the Modern world became another goal of Zionism. Some Jews had been attempting to assimilate into European society. They went as far as downplaying their Jewish identity and abandoning their Jewish traditional views. Others favored cultural synthesis for continuity and moderate evolution with a need to maintain traditional Jewish values and faith, then conform to Modern Day society. On November 10, 1975, Zionism was termed "a form of racism and racial discrimination" by Resolution 3379 of the United Nations General Assembly. This decision was later revoked on December 16, 1991 by Resolution 46/86 of the United Nations General Assembly. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations at the time, warned against Resolution 3379 when he stated, "The United Nations is about to make antisemitism international law. The United States does not acknowledge it, will not abide by it, and will never acquiesce in this infamous act. A great evil has been loosed upon the world." Next Time: Sea Of Galilee-#11-Zionism #3: Beliefs Author Notes the ghost city, by supergold, selected to complement my posting. So thanks supergold, for the use of your picture. It goes so nicely with my posting.

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