Herzl – Political Zionism

Der Judenstaat (The Jew state)  The Jews are a separate Nation  Anti-Semitism causes instability and riots in European countries  The solution is to have a Jewish state  The Nations of the world will help the Jews, for their own benefit, to create an independent state  The Jews should organize as a Nation, elect a government and have financial resources.

Herzl’s activities and contribution  Shocked by the Dreyfus affair  Publishing “The Jewish State” – 1896  The first Zionist congress – Basel 1897: “A Jewish homeland, openly recognized, legally secured”  Negotiation and meeting with the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, in Jerusalem – 1898  Meeting with the Ottoman Sultan – 1901  The British option: Sinai and Cyprus – the Al-Arish commission  The Uganda Crisis – 1903  At the age of 44, the death of Herzl

Herzl’s opponents and critics in the Zionist movement  Achad Haam – “It’s not the Jews problem but the Judaism problem” Spiritual and cultural Zionism  The democratic fraction – Zionism should focus more on educational mission and actual Jewish existence  “One person movement”  “Altneuland”, a Novel by Herzl, describing future Jewish society in Palestine, – suffered from lack of Jewish spirit