Even the racist white supremacists father of modern day Zionism admitted that Israel was to be a colonial project to project European supremacy.
“We should form there a part of a wall of defense for Europe in Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism.”
— Der Judenstaat (1896)
“We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border… while denying it any employment in our country.”
— The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, June 12, 1895
“The land is presently occupied by a non-cultured race, who have no appreciation of our work.”
— Herzl, diaries
“The local population will gradually become accustomed to our superior management and orderly ways.”
— Herzl, diaries
“It is their ignorance, not their evil, that makes them resist improvement… the people will learn how much they benefit from our presence.”
— Altneuland (1902)
“In bringing civilization to the Orient, we would be doing a great service to all Europe.”
— Herzl, diplomatic correspondence
“We shall there be the most loyal guardians of the Suez Canal.”
— Herzl, diplomatic correspondence
HERZL’S WRITINGS ARE COMPLEX, OFTEN MISQUOTED AND TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT BY ANTISEMITES.
HE WAS A 19TH-CENTURY ASHKENAZI LIBERAL NATIONALIST, NOT A POST-WW2 COLONIZER.. AND HIS IDEAS REFLECTED BOTH THE PREJUDICES AND THE POLITICAL LANGUAGE OF HIS ERA AS WELL AS GENUINE ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE PEACEFULLY WITH THE LOCAL POPULATION.
SEVERAL OF THE QUOTES YOU LISTED ARE EITHER MISTRANSLATED, TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT, OR NOT ATTESTED IN THE ORIGINAL GERMAN DIARIES.
HERZL’S DIARIES ARE FULLY PUBLISHED AND SEARCHABLE. MANY OF THE LINES CIRCULATING ONLINE, ESPECIALLY THE “NON-CULTURED RACE,” “SUPERIOR MANAGEMENT,” AND “IGNORANCE NOT EVIL” ONES, DO NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE IN THE PUBLISHED DIARIES AND CANNOT BE TRACED TO SPECIFIC PAGES. THEY TEND TO COME FROM ANTI-ZIONIST SECONDARY SOURCES WITHOUT CITATION.
HERZL OFTEN GRAPPLED WITH HOW JEWS COULD COEXIST WITH THE ARAB POPULATION.
IN ALTNEULAND, HERZL EXPLICITLY IMAGINES ARABS AND JEWS LIVING WITH EQUAL POLITICAL RIGHTS, AND THE NOVEL INCLUDES AN ARAB CHARACTER ELECTED TO HIGH OFFICE. HE REPEATEDLY DESCRIBED THE ARAB POPULATION AS “OUR FUTURE COMPATRIOTS” AND INSISTED THAT “NO ONE SHALL LOSE ANYTHING” FROM JEWISH IMMIGRATION. HIS PUBLIC POLITICAL PROGRAM DID NOT ADVOCATE EXPULSION.
THE “DEFENSE FOR EUROPE” QUOTE IS REAL BUT MISUNDERSTOOD.
IT’S HERZL ARGUING TO EUROPEAN POWERS, WHO WERE DEEPLY IMPERIAL AT THE TIME, WHY THEY SHOULD SUPPORT A JEWISH REFUGE. IT’S RHETORIC TAILORED TO HIS AUDIENCE, NOT A BLUEPRINT FOR SUPREMACY. HE WAS TRYING TO SELL THE IDEA OF JEWISH SELF-DETERMINATION TO GOVERNMENTS THAT OTHERWISE HAD NO INTEREST IN HELPING JEWS ESCAPE PERSECUTION.
THE 1895 DIARY ENTRY ABOUT “SPIRITING THE PENNILESS POPULATION ACROSS THE BORDER” NEEDS CONTEXT.
IT REFERS TO A PRIVATE, EARLY, AND REJECTED IDEA DURING A PERIOD WHEN HERZL WAS BRAINSTORMING EVERY POSSIBLE POLITICAL STRATEGY.
HERZL DID NOT ADOPT THIS AS POLICY.
HE LATER EXPRESSED THE OPPOSITE: THAT THE POPULATION WOULD REMAIN, BENEFIT, AND ENJOY EQUAL RIGHTS.
SELECTIVELY QUOTING ONE ABANDONED LINE FROM THOUSANDS OF PAGES IGNORES HIS LATER, MORE DEVELOPED POSITIONS.
CALLING HERZL A “WHITE SUPREMACIST” OVERSIMPLIFIES REALITY..
HERZL SAW JEWS AS A PERSECUTED MINORITY NEEDING SAFETY..NOT AS A SUPERIOR RACE DESTINED TO DOMINATE OTHERS. HIS IDEA OF A JEWISH HOMELAND WAS TIED TO ESCAPING EUROPEAN ANTISEMITISM, NOT SPREADING EUROPEAN POWER.
ATTACHING MODERN TERMS LIKE “WHITE SUPREMACY” TO A 19TH-CENTURY ASSIMILATED VIENNESE JEW DOESN’T ACCURATELY MAP ONTO THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
#ANYQUESTIONS?