In ancient times, nationality and state were identical. The destruction
of the state always involved the destruction of the nationality. This
was, in fact, the case with many peoples whose states were destroyed
by conquerors. Only the Jews are an exception to the rule. The
Jewish state was destroyed, the Jewish nationality was not. Even the
dispersion of the Jews all over the globe could not destroy and did
not destroy the Jewish nationality. On the contrary, the diaspora life
of the Jews, with all its evils and troubles, woes and tribulations,
sorrows and pains, only served to intensify the national consciousness
of the Jews and to strengthen their hopes of national redemption. But
the chancellors of the governments, always in the habit of dealing
with concrete facts, did not take the sentiments of Jewish individuals
into consideration. Seeing that the Jews have no homeland, no national
sovereignty and not even an intellectual and spiritual centre, they
pronounced the Jewish nationality dead forever. From the point of
view of this now antiquated conception of nationality, the European
governments could not be blamed for their attitude toward the Jews as a
people, for the orthodox notion of nationality always implies an ethnic
unit that enjoys national sovereignty, or, at least, is living on its
own land, even though it may be dominated by others. The governments,
in their attitude toward the Jews as a people, followed a certain
principle that had to be maintained as long as no substitute could be
found for it. Today it seems that the old principle of nationality has
been replaced by another and that the present notion of nationality
does not necessarily imply that an ethnic group must either enjoy
national sovereignty or live on its own soil. The Jews, who have now
been recognized as a nationality not only by Great Britain but, as we
have been informed, by several other great powers, are still living in
dispersion and have none of the characteristics of the concrete makeup
of other nationalities.
This change was brought about both by the Jews themselves, who for the
past thirty or forty years have begun to assert their nationality and
to claim the right to which every nationality is entitled, namely, a
national homeland, and by the peculiar discrepancy between principle
and life. The European governments, following a certain principle,
refused to consider the Jews a nationality, but in practical life the
Jews were always considered a nationality of their own. While the
modern state emancipated the Jew on the condition that he emancipate
himself from Judaism, modern society, on the other hand, refused to
admit him just because he was a Jew, and thus counteracted and opposed
the emancipation policy of the government. Modern society is intensely
nationalistic and will only recognize those as its true members who
belong to it, not only socially and economically, but also nationally
and racially. Since the Jews are not Slavs or Teutons or Anglo-Saxons
but Jews, they simply were not admitted as full-fledged members in the
society of these races and nations, and whenever they made an attempt
to penetrate into society by force and _en masse_, they were only too
quickly ejected by a wave of anti-Semitism. So that while the states
emancipated the Jews, on the condition that they become full-fledged
Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Austrians, etc., because it considered
the Jewish nationality dead and done for, the nations themselves, being
nearer to life and its movements than the bureaucrats of the government
chancelleries, felt that the Jews do form a national society of their
own and are by no means nationally dead. The official recognition of
the Jews as a nationality on the part of a modern state will, we are
convinced, put an end to this difference in attitude and policy towards
the Jews on the part of the government and of the nation.
Besides the national self-assertion of the Jews during the past thirty
years, we find that their rôle as intellectual and spiritual factors in
history led to the present change of mind of the European governments
in regard to Jewish nationality. It is by no means pure accident that
two mighty Anglo-Saxon nations and governments, Great Britain and the
United States of America, should be the first among the great powers to
recognize the right of the Jews to a national homeland of their own and
thus to recognize publicly the nationality of the Jews. If the ancient
Jewish mind, as it expressed itself in the Bible, ever influenced
a great race and helped to shape its destinies and policies, it was
the Anglo-Saxon race that it influenced. For the past four hundred
years the greatest production of Jewish genius, the Bible, has been a
powerful factor in the life of the Anglo-Saxon race, and as soon as the
Anglo-Saxons freed themselves from medievalism, they began to treat the
Jews living among them with consideration and fairness, even before
they were officially emancipated.
Besides, the American Government is the only government of the Great
Powers that never pursued any hostile policy against the Jews, because
its very establishment was based on emancipation from medievalism. Of
all the powers which have now come to recognize the Jewish nationality
and its right to a homeland, America is, we dare say, the only one that
is inspired solely by motives of pure idealism. For America surely has
no political interests or ambitions in the Near East and is led only by
the unselfish wish that the Jews, after a life of exile of two thousand
years, should return to a normal national life and enter the great
family of nations on equal terms. In saying this, we by no means wish
to imply that the other great powers who have recognized the Jewish
nationality have done so from political motives only, and that politics
only were instrumental in bringing about their decision to help the
Jews establish a homeland in Palestine. We are, moreover, convinced
that England and Italy, Russia, and probably France, which, as we have
been informed, are now taking a very favorable attitude toward the
establishment of the Jewish homeland in Palestine, have done so because
they recognized that the Jews are a people in themselves and that they
are entitled to be given the possibility of living a normal national
life. These powers, inspired by noble motives, now say to the Jews, "Go
and build up a national life of your own and we shall help you. Go and
be Jews as much as you like and we shall not interfere with your Jewish
affairs and your national happiness."
We are, however, afraid that many Jews themselves misunderstand or
misconstrue the meaning of the decision of these powers. If the Jews
go to Palestine, they must live there with the object of building up
in the country of their forefathers a new Jewish life and establishing
a Jewish homeland there; they must do it as Jews only, not as Russians
or Germans, not Britons, Austrians or Italians, but as Jews. They
must consider themselves an object in themselves. They must, first
of all, look after their own affairs and their own happiness. While
always having the welfare of humanity in mind, they must not consider
themselves the protégé of a certain state or race or nation, and they
must not be under the impression that, when given the possibility of
living a national life of their own, they are called upon to defend
interests other than their own.
No British or American statesman believes that the establishment of
the Jewish homeland in Palestine is possible without the consent of
all the great powers, irrespective of their present mutual relations,
and as soon as one power or group of powers finds out that the Jewish
Palestine is not primarily looked upon as the homeland of the Jewish
nation, but the political stronghold of another power or group of
powers, there will be no unanimity in regard to the Jewish Palestine
when peace is discussed; and without unanimity of the powers there will
be no Jewish Palestine, because no belligerent power will continue
the war one day longer, only because it is anxious to establish a
Jewish state in Palestine. But as a matter of fact the powers which,
led by noble motives, have expressed their willingness to favor the
establishment of the Jewish homeland in Palestine, have only uttered a
noble desire. There can be no talk of anxiety on their part, but only
of consent to permit us to rebuild our nation. These powers, because
they are not led by motives of war politics only, but by political
foresight and idealism, do not want us to serve other purposes than our
own, because they know that unless we look only after our own affairs
we will not succeed.
For the time being, the Jewish people are divided into various
groups, each group serving the country in which it lives to the best
of its ability. Today there is not, and cannot be, a supreme Jewish
leadership, a Jewish national assembly or a general Jewish congress.
Each and every Jewish group is entitled to work for the future of the
Jewish people under given conditions only. The English Jews can ask
their government to do something for the Jewish cause and so can the
French, Italian, Russian, German, Austrian and American Jews; every one
of the respective governments can extend its sympathy and help, can
promise its help in establishing the Jewish homeland in Palestine only
to the Jews of their respective lands, but not to the Jewish people at
large, for the Jewish people are today divided into hostile camps, just
as is civilized humanity.
Our assimilationists in every country, here as well as in Germany,
in England as well as in France and Austria, have been telling their
respective governments that those Jews who aspire to establish a
Jewish homeland in Palestine are disloyal citizens and are conspiring
against their own country. In England and in America, where the
governments follow a broad-minded and liberal policy, no attention is
paid to such hypocritical talk. But in Austria, Germany and Turkey,
conditions are different. There the influential assimilationists are
still _personae gratae_ with their governments, and since they are
capable of every crime, if they can only see their way clear to break
Jewish nationalism, they will no doubt lose no time in pointing out
to their governments that Jewish nationalists, though they displayed
heroism on the battle-field, are not loyal to their countries and are
crossing the plans of the Central Powers in the Near East. They will
tell the governments that the Jewish nationalists are conspiring with
the enemies of their governments against the interests of the Central
Powers in the Orient; the result may be that the government of the
Central Powers, listening to this misleading talk, may embark on a
Jewish policy opposing that of the Entente and may start to persecute
Zionists and all who sympathize with Jewish nationalism, thus making
the life of eastern European Jewry, now greatly under the control of
the Teutonic Powers, still more bitter.
Therein lies the danger of our misconstruing the high-minded
declaration of the British Cabinet. The statesmen of the Entente Powers
certainly do not wish to imperil the existence of European Jewry, nor
do they wish to have their policy misconstrued by the Central Powers.
These statesmen want the liberation of small nationalities and not
their oppression. These statesmen also know that if the Jews in the new
Palestine will not be, first of all, pro-Jewish, there will not be the
Jewish Palestine which they wish to see established. By misconstruing
the declaration of the British Government, we are implicitly acting
against the spirit and noble motives of this declaration and, needless
to say, we are acting against our own elemental interests. A Jewish
Palestine is only possible with the consent of all the powers, and
since it is desirable that it should be a product of the consensus of
opinion among all the powers, every act on our part must be avoided
that may create the impression that in the anxiety to build up a
national homeland in Palestine the Jewish people are becoming political
tools of any power or group of powers. This will, in the end, spell
ruin for us and might, besides, endanger the life of millions of our
people in central and in eastern Europe. We have been told on good
Zionist authority in this country, that the American Government,
appreciating the present complicated international situation, is
anxious to remain in the background with regard to the establishment of
the Jewish homeland in Palestine, though it is a noble and unselfish
champion of the cause. We wish that the Jews everywhere would take
an example from the wisdom and forbearance displayed by the American
Government.