“A Study of the Aims and the Plans of the Zionist Movement”
Al-Azhar Magazine – November 1968
The Zionist movement started as an organization from the first Zionist congress, held at Basle in 1897, and preached over by the founder of Zionism, Theodore Herzl. He fixed the main ideas, aims and plans of the Zionist movement at this congress. The congress proclaimed that the Jews constituted an ethno-religious unity that they were a single people, and that, in consequence, this people had the right to exist as a nation established on autonomous territory. This territory was to be Palestine. At this first congress were definitely enunciated the main ideas of Zionism, so much so that there emerged a national ideology, with its fixed aims and its strategic plans.
The main aim of Zionism is to establish in Palestine a national Jewish home. This objective to be achieved by the following tactical plans:
- To reinforce and maintain the Jewish national conscience and sentiment among the Jews throughout the world.
- To adopt necessary measure to the realization of Zionist thought and Jewish nationalism.
- To reorganize world Jews with the help of local and international organizations.
- To regroup the Jewish people in conformity with the laws in force in each country.
- To carry out the plans of the colonization of Palestine with the help of agricultural workers, and Jewish industrials, with adequate and well defined plans.
In this brief study we must examine the Zionist geographical definition of Jewish National Home. Theodore Herzl was the first to give a general definition of the nature and geographical extent of Israel and the neighboring territories. The founder of Zionist movement says in his famous “Memoirs” Part I:
“The slogan we must shout should be the Palestine of David and Soloman! We must have access to the sea because of the future of our external trade. We must also have extensive areas of land where we can introduce our modern agriculture on a large scale”. In another passage of his Memoirs, Herzl defines the general idea about the geographical boundaries of the Israel: “…From the river of Egypt to the Euphrates. A transitory period, during which there will be a British governor is indispensable for the consolidation of our institutions. As soon as the proportion of the Jewish population has reached two-thirds of the total population, the Jewish administration will automatically take over command as political authority.”
The founder of Zionism, Theodore Herzl, outlined the Zionist plans with regard to the geographical extensions of the so-called Promised Land (Israel) in the following points:
- – The Zionist state must be sufficiently extensive in area in order to receive all the children of the Jewish nation, as it is the expression and the incarnation of the Jewish Natinalism, preached by Zionist movement.
- – As the Palestine is the promised land of the Jews, it should therefore, include all those territories over which Jews have travelled and all the regions in which, centuries ago, there were settlements of Jewish tribes.
- – The state of Israel must possess all the basic foundations of a state capable of attaining an autonomous economy and acquiring military Supremacy.
- – The state of Israel must be able to render service to any imperialist state which will protect it and assure its existence, in return for the efforts undertaken to allow the Zionists to create their state.
- – The future Zionist state must be strong, of imperial and glorious character in order the better to manifest the superiority of the Chosen people over the other people, especially those of Asia and Africa.
These are the master-ideas dominated the thought of Zionist movement with regard to nature, aims and geographical extent of the Israel and its frontiers. In a letter which the Zionist leader Herzl addressed to the famous Jewish financier Lord Rothscild, dated 12 july, 1902, he outlined the Zionist plan for the settlement of poor Jews at Al-Arish and in the Sinai Peninsula and also in Cyprus. In this letter he termed the Arish and Sinai as Egyptian Palestine.
It is recalled that the first Jewish religious leader to join the Zionist Movement set up by Herzl, Aaron Marcus, had discovered, by a close study of the ‘Talmud’ that Cyprus was part of Palestine. The Zionist writer Oscar gave, in his book ‘The Jewish Project’, the proofs of the Zionist plan to obtain the Island of Cyprus also as part of Promised Land of the Jews in the Holy Books. In his reply, this book added, to Aaron Marcus, Herzl said: “If you say that (Cyprus was part of Palestine) speaking as a man of religion I do oppose it. I also find that it constitutes an important gain.”
The mouth piece Journal of a British Zionist organization ‘Palestine Magazine’ published a series of articles on the Palestinian frontiers, as well as some studies of the relatively little known regions. This magazine published on 15 February, 1917 an article entitled ‘The Frontiers of Palestine’, it says: “Every writer who takes an interest in Palestinian affairs has his own conception as to the frontiers of his country…his own deductions, which are in conformity with the nature of the objective at which he is aiming in the domains of religion, of science, or of politics. Consequently, these deductions vary according to the definition referred to since such definition is based on Biblical or historical, or geographical writings. The frontiers we wish to discuss are those of the future Palestine, the territory must of necessity include the land inherited from Twelve Tribes of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament:
“To this should be added the territories indispensable for safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country. The western frontier is the one formed by the Mediterranean Sea. The eastern frontier is constituted boundaries of the territory which formerly belonged to the tribes of Israel. It runs along a straight line from the Mediterranean coast to north of Saida, and as far as the point at which the river Al-Awaj runs into Lake Al-Haid Jannah to south east of Damascus. This frontier extends eastward to a point at North latitude 32’30’’ from where it runs westward to the River yarmouk, and, still westward, to the Dead Sea.”
“The southern frontier runs from the extremity of the Dead Sea to Wadi Arab from where it runs eastward to Wadi Al-Arish, which it skirts as far as the sea”. This analysis gives a clear picture of the Zionist point of view with regard the frontiers and areas of Israel.
In fact the expansionist acts of Zionists began before the date of the official founding of the Israel. Previous to that Zionist military and Para-military forces had invaded and occupied a certain number of localities such as Jaffa and Akka, which had been allocated to the Arab State in the partition plan recognized by the U.N.O. They also occupied certain parts of the city of Jerusalem. Furthermore the Zionist forces took maximum possible areas of Arab property during cease-fire periods.
During the period between June 1949 and October 1956 Israel took steps to occupy demilitarized zones declaring them as parts of Israeli territory, and assumed sovereign authority over them. The Arab residents were expelled from their homes, and forts and military installations were built in their home lands. During this same period Israel also organized raids into neighboring Arab territories. In fact, the major attack launched by Israel in 1956 with the overt complicity of Britain and France was a total war aimed at occupying the Gaza strip and Sinai to retain them as integral parts of the extended Israel.
An objective study of the dynamic character of Zionism and the expansionist character of the Zionist state of Israel is enough to convince any imperial observer of the threat inherent in the Zionist movement. This threat aimed not only at the neighboring Arab states but the entire Arab world. The danger represented by the existence of Israel in the Middle East is originated fundamentally in the ideological factor, and its military and economic necessaries.