Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 13th, 2008 No Comments »
At the end of World War I, the nations of the world gave Great Britain responsibility for creating a Jewish state in Palestine. It’s amazing to think of the timing of Herzl’s idea, coming just before the world attempted to right ancient wrongs.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 13th, 2008 No Comments »
A British Expeditionary force entered Jerusalem in December 1917. This was the first time that Jerusalem was controlled by Europeans since the days of the Crusaders. The difference was that the Crusaders killed while the British in 1917 tried to uphold the rights of the inhabitants.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 9th, 2008 No Comments »
Now that Great Britain had agreed to assist the Jews in establishing a Jewish state, the next challenge facing the Zionists was the people who were already living in Palestine. Much of the controversy surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict concerns the perceptions that people have of both people.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 9th, 2008 No Comments »
During World War I, Chaim Weizmann persuaded key figures in the British government to help establish the Jewish state. The result was the Balfour Declaration in November 1917. At the same time, Britain also promised to create an independent Arab state, and “Lawrence of Arabia” helped the Arabs revolt against the Turks.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 9th, 2008 No Comments »
The horrific events of World War I changed the world as people grew more cynical and less optimistic about the future. The war also changed the Middle East as the Ottoman Turks lost control of the region. The fortunes of the Zionists turned as the British- who were sympathetic to establishing a Jewish state- took control.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 5th, 2008 No Comments »
One of the obstacles to establishing the Jewish state was Jewish prosperity. Why bother with an independent state when Jews were making profound changes to the entire world? Examples of Jewish success are the Hollywood movie moguls and Marx, Freud and Einstein- three Jews who made the 20th Century.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Theodor Herzl abandoned assimilation- the idea that Christian society would accept Jews who quit being Jewish- when he saw angry crowds at the Dreyfuss court-martial who wanted to kill the Jews. Herzl wrote Der Judenstaat, “The Jewish State,” and started the Zionist organization that established Israel.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Before Herzl were a handful of Zionists, people who had a vision for Jews living in Israel long before others even thought about it, people who did not get to see the fulfillment of their dreams.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 2nd, 2008 No Comments »
Jews lived among Christians as outsiders and served as moneylenders and financiers. The persecution of Jews in Christian Europe contrasted with Islamic Spain, which produced some of the greatest Jewish philosophers. The Jews veered into bizarre practices with kabbalism and Hassidism, which led many Jews to leave their faith.
Posted in Modern Israel on Nov 2nd, 2008 No Comments »
In the 1500’s, the Ottoman Turks took control of the Moslem Middle East, and kept control until the early 1900’s. Their strong rule contributed to the decline of the Islamic nations.
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