Zionism

Flag of Israel, the flag was adopted as the official flag of Zionism in the 1890s.

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Judaism

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Antisemitism • The Holocaust • Israel • Zionism

Zionism is the nationalist movement to create a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.^[1] This movement resulted in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. The word "Zionism" comes from Zion, which means Jerusalem. Theodor Herzl started the Zionist movement. At the time, Palestine was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The British during the First World War made a statement called the Balfour Declaration agreeing to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine, although they opposed an independent Jewish state. After the war Palestine became a British colony and the British allowed a Jewish homeland to be created there. Hitler's regime in Germany gave limited support to Zionism during the 1930s as a means of removing Jews from Germany. Hitler's regime in 1933 negotiated an agreement with the Jewish Zionist Federation of Germany, that supported the emigration of the German Empire's Jews to Palestine and allowed them to keep their wealth. Some German leaders opposed the agreement because they feared it would result in the creation of a Jewish state that would become a center for Jewish agitation against Germany, but Hitler decided in 1937 and in 1938 to renew the agreement because he felt that it was more important to get the Jews out of Germany than to prevent a Jewish state from being created. However, Hitler restricted his support of Zionism to supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine under British political control, and opposed an independent Jewish state, because of the concern it would be a center of Jewish agitation against Germany. Hitler's regime stopped supporting Zionism after World War II began in 1939. ^[2] Zionism is a radical agenda that to this day continues to wield influence. Zionist policies include destabilizing neighboring countries of Israel to secure their foothold in the region. Today Zionism largely works to establish the Greater Israeli State at the expense of big countries like the United States.