Blackwell Reference Online

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Zionism is an international movement comprising political, cultural, and social ideologies which calls for the return of Jewish people to a homeland. The term “Zion” is derived from ancient biblical sources and embodies a yearning for a return to a lost place of origin: “Weeping, we sat by the rivers of Babylon, thinking of Zion” (Psalms 137:1). With that said, the actual term “Zionism” was not coined until 1890, when Nathan Birnbaum began to formulate ideas concerning “political” Zionism which he felt were the direct result of anti-Semitism. Political Zionism was emancipated western Jewry's response to the mass diffusion of anti-Semitism, but was also a reaction to the failure of the Enlightenment, which did not always improve the status of the Jew on a par with others. Initially, the objective for political Zionists concerned the establishment of a Jewish homeland. However, the property did not necessarily have to hail from the Holy Land, nor did it have to be in Palestine. From the outset, the political Zionists were searching for any available territory to fit their requirements. Many political Zionists viewed the so-called “Jewish problem” through an Enlightenment rationalistic approach, hoping that European countries would support the establishment of a Jewish state outside Europe to help solve the “Jewish problem” and secure for Jews equal rights and protections as others ... log in or subscribe to read full text