Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: in occasione di Yom haAtzmaut

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10211
1917: British Jews and Zionism
by Larry Domnitch
            When a small but influential Jewish group sought to
obstruct official British recognition of the right of Jewish Statehood
in the Land of Israel, at a very critical moment in history, British
Jewry raised their voices in support of Zionism.
            By the spring of 1917, the third year of the First World
War, the issue of Jewish statehood loomed large as British and other
allied forces were engaging Ottoman Turkish troops in Gaza as part of
a Mideast campaign that would soon drive through the Land of Israel.
In Great Britain, Zionists were pressing for a statement from the
allied forces supporting a post-war Jewish State. Decades of support
in Great British for the restoration of the land to the Jews were at a
critical juncture.
            At that time, two small, but very influential groups of
British Jews were attempting to impede British intentions to endorse
such a statement. The two groups were the Board of Deputies of British
Jews, led by Claude Montifoire, and the Anglo Jewish Association, led
by Edwin Montique, also a member of the British Cabinet.
             The two Jewish organizations published a manifesto in the
Times of London declaring their position.
            Published on May 24, the letter dated from May 17, 1917,
opposed Jewish Statehood in Palestine, calling it “an anachronism.”
The letter denied there was a national character to the Jewish people,
“The Jewish religion being the only test of a Jew, a Jewish
nationalism can not be founded on, and limited by, the religion”.  The
letter also expressed concern that Jews would be given special rights
and considerations in such a state to the exclusion of others. It was
signed by David L Alexander, and President of the Board of Deputies
and Claude G. Montifoire, President of the Anglo Anglo-Jewish
Association.
             The members of the two groups, comfortable and affluent
in Great Britain, feared that Zionism, which emphasized Jewish
nationalism, would raise charges against the Jews of disloyalty and
challenge the status quo.
             Although Great Britain’s Prime Minister Lloyd George, and
Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, supported Jewish statehood, the
letter posed a challenge to British Jewry. An ample response was
important to prove that the Jewish community of Great Britain did
indeed wholeheartedly support Jewish statehood.
            Three days later, a letter appeared in the Times of London
by Lionel Walter Rothschild, Jewish leader, and former member of
Parliament, who responded by emphasizing that the views of the anti-
Zionists did not represent Jewry, “Our opponents though a mere
fraction of the Jewish opinion of the world, seek to interfere in the
wishes and aspirations of the larger mass of the Jewish people.”
Rothschild denied the charges that Zionism impeded upon the rights of
non-Jews, “I can only again emphasize that we Zionists have no wish
for privileges at the expense of other nations’ laities, but only
desire to work out our destinies side by side with other nationalities
in an autonomous state.”
            A letter by the Great Britain’s Chief Rabbi J.H. Hertz
appeared, on the same page, also emphasizing that the expressed views
belonged to a very small minority, stating, “I can not allow your
readers to remain under the misconception that the said statements in
the least the views held by Anglo-Jewry as a whole, or by the Jewries
of the Overseas Dominions. “
            Rabbi Hertz’s letter was followed with one by Chaim
Weizmann as chairman of the English Zionist Federation, which
concluded by expressing regret “that there should be even two Jews who
think it their duty to exert such influence as they may command
against the realization of a hope which has sustained the Jewish
nation through 2,000 years of exile, persecution, and temptation.”
            When the First World War broke out, Rav Abraham Isaac
Kook, the chief Rabbi of the city of Jaffa, was in Europe, and unable
to return to his home. Rav Kook who eventually accepted a post at the
London congregation Machzeke HaDas, authored a vociferous letter
addressing the Jewish community of Great Britain. The letter’s very
title, “Manifesto on National Treachery,” suggests his unequivocal
condemnation of the opponents of the Balfour Declaration.
            The opening lines read, “We protest against those who seek
to crush the wonderful completeness of Jews and Judaism. We only know
a whole Judaism.” Rav Kook cited from the afternoon Shabbat Minchah
prayer the sentence, which contains the words of the prophet Samuel,
“You are One and Your name is One, and who is like Your one nation
Israel on Earth.”
              Rav Kook warned, “The entirety of our original soul,
cannot, under any circumstance, be divided into such parts as
"nationalism" and "religion."  “The pettiness of those who want to
split the completeness of our shining force of life into pieces,
tearing off a part here and there, is not only a treachery to Jews but
also to all of mankind.”
            Rav Kook did not request but demanded that the world
return “that which was stolen from us,” and then followed by
millennium of oppression. “The sin cries up to the heavens, it must be
completely corrected….Without compromise, without flattery--
completely.”
            Rav Kook called upon his fellow Jews at that very crucial
hour to “actively and forcibly demand that which is ours.”
            The letter requested that all Synagogue leaders read it
aloud on the Sabbath of the reading of the Torah portion of Bahalotcha
on June 15 of that year.
            The pro-Zionist London Jewish Chronicle, was bombarded by
letters and statements from Rabbis, readers, community leaders,
Synagogues, and Jewish organizations. The Council of United Jewish
Friendly Societies, representing dozens of organizations, released a
statement, “expressing profound disapproval of such views, and
dissatisfaction at the publication thereof and requests its
representatives on the said Conjoint Committee to resign their
membership thereof forthwith.”
            The Jewish Chronicle also carried a letter of resignation
from the Board of Jewish Deputies by Orthodox Rabbi E.N. Adler, a
letter of protest from the prominent leader of the Spanish Portuguese
Synagogue, Rabbi Moses Gaster, and a reprinted article by Zionist
leader and author Harry Sacher, which appeared in Daily News.
            Statements and letters by grassroots individuals and
groups also appeared throughout the British press, in favor of a
Jewish state.
             The opponents managed to have the original suggested text
of the Declaration in support of Zionism, by Rothschild, which made
references to unlimited Jewish immigration and Jewish autonomy over
the land, replaced with a vague text calling for a “Jewish Homeland in
Palestine.” That text, soon known as the Balfour Declaration, was
publicized on November 2, 1917. The watered down version was
nevertheless published. Their opposition also galvanized British Jewry
to vocally support Jewish Statehood.
            Today, the Board of Deputies and the Anglo Jewish
Association are strong voices in support of Israel and have been for
many decades.
             The voices of British Jewry spoke and were heard. They
helped bring about a policy statement backed by the British
Government, which had the support of the United States and many other
nations, calling for Jewish Statehood in the Land of Israel.

 nations, calling for Jewish Statehood in the Land of Israel.
"sono sionista, io"
“Ma voi dovete creare uno Stato Ebraico. Sono sionista, io. L’ho già
detto al dottor Weizmann. Voi dovete avere un vero Stato e non il
ridicolo Focolare Nazionale che vi hanno offerto gli inglesi. Io vi
aiuterò a creare uno Stato Ebraico”
L'idolo del Ciarra

 "sono sionista, io"
no tu no.


Benny sì, finchè poteva scegliere da solo.


con gran vantaggio di tutti.