Birth of a Jewish Homeland
In the late 19th century, Zionism, which advocated the return of Jews to Israel and the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, grew popular under the leadership of Theodor Herzl.
"We are a people — one people.
We have sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the national communities in which we live, seeking only to preserve the faith of our fathers. It is not permitted us. In vain are we loyal patriots, sometimes superloyal; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow citizens; in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native lands in the arts and sciences, or her wealth by trade and commerce. In our native lands where we have lived for centuries we are still decried as aliens, often by men whose ancestors had not yet come at a time when Jewish sighs had long been heard in the country...Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who will it shall achieve their State. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and in our own homes peacefully die. The world will be liberated by our freedom, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind."
-Theodor Herzl, Der Judenstaat
Zionism and support for a Jewish homeland "continued with increased fervor after the Holocaust."
While Arab and Jewish militant groups violently struggled for control over Palestine, "in 1948, Israel came into being when the UN, [against intense Arab opposition], divided what had been the British protectorate of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Fighting broke out immediately, and by 1949 there was no Arab Palestinian state at all." |
"Ben Gurion's Independence Speech"
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Hatikvah, Israel's National Anthem
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As long as in the heart, within, A Jewish soul still yearns, And onward, towards the end of the east, An eye still gazes toward Zion; Our hope is not yet lost, The hope of two thousand years, To be a free people in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem. |