History disproves myth that founding Zionists were naive

Zev Jabotinsky

The greater majority and main structures of the Muslim Falahin in Western Erez Israel present to us one racial strand and a whole ethnic unit, and there is no doubt that much Jewish blood flows in their veins -- the blood of those Jewish farmers, "lay persons," who chose in the travesty of times to abandon their faith in order to remain on their land.

Eretz Israel is not an empty country ... west of Jordan alone houses three quarter of a million people. On no account must we injure the rights of the inhabitants. Only "Ghetto Dreamers" like Zangwill can imagine that Eretz Israel will be given to the Jews with the added right of dispossessing the current inhabitants of the country. This is not the mission of Zionism. Had Zionism to aspire to inherit the place of these inhabitants -- it would be nothing but a dangerous utopia and an empty, damaging and reactionary dream....

"Not to take from others -- but to build the ruins. No rights on our past -- but on our future. Not the preservation of historic inheritance -- but the creation of new national assets -- this is the core claim and right of the Hebrew nation in its country.

(Reprinted in "Anachnu U'Shcheneinu," 1931, p. 31.)

With heartfelt admiration and great interest, we are viewing today the current war of liberation conducted by the ancient Arabic nation.

We see how the scattered Arab forces are being united under the good will of Western governments and other peace-loving nations, and how, from the mist of war there emerge new and immense political possibilities. We see again the formation of a strong and united Arab political body, freshly renovated and aiming to renovate the great tradition of Arab science and literature that are so close to our heart.

This kinship found its glorious expression particularly in the Spanish period of the Hebrew-Arabic development, when our greatest authors wrote and thought in the Arabic language, as well as in Hebrew.

(Translated from Weizmann's book "Dvarim," vol. 1 Tel Aviv, 1936, p. 99.)

If indeed there is among the Arabs a national movement, we must relate to it with the utmost seriousness.... The Arabs are concerned about two issues:

1. The Jews will soon come in their millions and conquer the country and chase out the Arabs... Responsible Zionists never said and never wished such things.

2. There is no place in Eretz Israel for a large number of inhabitants. This is total ignorance. It is enough to notice what is happening now in Tunis, Tangier and California to realize that there is a vast space here for a great work of many Jews, without touching even one Arab.

(Haaretz, Dec. 15, 1919, Reprinted in Dvarim, vol 1 1936, p. 129.)

There is in the world a principle called "the right for self-determination." We have always and everywhere been its worshipers and champions. We have defended that right for every nation, every part of a nation, and every collective of people.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the Arab people in Eretz Israel have this right. And this right is not limited by or conditional upon the result of its influence on us and our interests. We ought not to diminish the Arabs' freedom for self-determination for fear that it would present difficulties to our own mission.

The entire moral core encapsulated in the Zionist idea is the notion that a nation -- every nation -- is its own purpose and not a tool for the purposes of other nations. And in the same way that we want the Jewish people to be master of its own affairs, capable of determining its historical destiny without being dependent on the will -- even good will -- of other nations, so too we must seek for the Arabs.

There is no point talking about the possibility that the Arabs in Eretz Israel would consent to the Zionist plan while we are a minority here. I express it with such confidence not because I enjoy disappointing decent people but, simply, to save them disappointments: All these decent people, except those blind from birth, have understood already that this is something that is utterly illogical -- to obtain the Arabs' consent and goodwill to turn Eretz Israel from an Arabic country to a country with Jewish minority.

Every indigenous people, regardless of whether it is primitive or advanced, views its country as a national home and aspires to be and remain its sole and eternal landlord; it does not voluntarily agree to accommodate, not only new landlords, but even new partners or new participants. And our most misleading argument would be to rely on the fact that our agricultural settlements bring them economical advantages. Though this is an undisputed truth, there is no nation in the world that sold its national aspirations for bread and butter

(pps. 73-74)

Many of us still think in full honesty that a terrible misunderstanding has occurred, that the Arabs did not understand us, and that this is the reason why they oppose us; but if only we could explain to them how benevolent our intentions, they would stretch their hands back to us. This is a mistake that has been proven so again and again. I will bring one such incident.

Several years ago, when the late N. Sokolov visited Eretz Israel, and he was one of the most moderate and diplomatic Zionists at that time, he delivered an elaborate speech on this misunderstanding. He explained clearly how mistaken Arabs are in thinking that we wish to steal their property or dispossess them or oppress them.

"We do not even want to have a Jewish government, we want merely a government representing the League of Nations." Sokolov's speech received an immediate response in the main editorial of the Arab newspaper, Carmel, the content of which I convey here from memory:

"The Zionists" -- so wrote the Arab editor -- "are tormenting their nerves unnecessarily."

There is no misunderstanding here whatsoever.

The Arabs never doubted that the potential absorption capacity of Eretz Israel is enormous and, therefore, that it is possible to settle here enough Jews without dispossessing or constraining even a single Arab. It is obvious that "this is all" the Zionists want. But it is also obvious that this is precisely what the Arabs do not want; for, then, the Jews will turn into a majority and, from the nature of things, a Jewish government will be established, and the fate of the Arab minority will depend on Jewish good will; Jews know perfectly well what minority existence is like.

There is no misunderstanding here whatsoever.

Whoever thinks that our arguments [for Jewish immigration] are immoral, I would beg him to address the following question: If this [Jewish immigration] is immoral, what should the Jewish people do?.... Our planet is no longer blessed with uninhabited islands. Take any oasis in any desert, it is already taken by the native who inhabits that place from time immemorial and rejects the coming of new settlers that will become a majority, or just come in great numbers.

In short -- if there is a homeless nation in the world, its very yearning for a homeland is immoral.

The homeless must forever remain homeless; all the land in the universe has already been dividedâ??that's it. These are the conclusions of 'morality'.... This sort of morality has a place among cannibals, not in the civilized world. The land belongs not to those who have too much land, but to those who have none. If we appropriate one parcel of land from the owners of mega-estates and give it to an exiled nation -- it is a just deed.