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Zionism, terminology

Zionism - Wikipedia

Terminology

The term "Zionism" is derived from the word Zion (Hebrew: ציון, Tzi-yon), a hill in Jerusalem, widely symbolizing the Land of Israel.[30]

Throughout eastern Europe in the late 19th century, numerous grassroots groups promoted the national resettlement of the Jews in their homeland,[31] as well as the revitalization and cultivation of the Hebrew language.

These groups were collectively called the "Lovers of Zion" and were seen as countering a growing Jewish movement toward assimilation.

The first use of the term is attributed to the Austrian Nathan Birnbaum, founder of the Kadimah nationalist Jewish students' movement; he used the term in 1890 in his journal Selbst-Emancipation (Self-Emancipation),[32][33] itself named almost identically to Leon Pinsker's 1882 book Auto-Emancipation.

Zionism (Hebrew: צִיּוֹנוּת Tsiyyonut [tsijoˈnut] after Zion) is a nationalist[fn ^1] movement that emerged in the 19th century to espouse support for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine,[3][4][5][6] a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition.[7][8][9][10]

Following the establishment of Israel, Zionism became an ideology that supports "the development and protection of the State of Israel".[11]

Zionism initially emerged in Central and Eastern Europe as a national revival movement in the late 19th century, both in reaction to newer waves of antisemitism and as a response to Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment.[12][13][14]

Soon after this, most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired homeland in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire.[15][16][17]

This process was seen by the Zionist Movement as an "ingathering of exiles" (kibbutz galuyot), an effort to put a stop to the exoduses and persecutions that have marked Jewish history by bringing the Jewish people back to their historic homeland.[18]

From 1897 to 1948, the primary goal of the Zionist Movement was to establish the basis for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and thereafter to consolidate it.

In a unique variation of the principle of self-determination,[19] The Lovers of Zion united in 1884 and in 1897 the first Zionist congress was organized. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of Jews immigrated to first Ottoman and later Mandatory Palestine, and at the same time, diplomatic attempts were made to gain worldwide recognition and support.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has continued primarily to advocate on behalf of Israel and to address threats to its continued existence and security.

Zionism has never been a uniform movement.

Its leaders, parties, and ideologies frequently diverged from one another.

Compromises and concessions were made in order to achieve a shared cultural and political objective as a result of the growing antisemitism and yearning to return to the "ancestral" country.

A variety of types of Zionism have emerged, including

political Zionism,

liberal Zionism,

labor Zionism,

revisionist Zionism,

cultural Zionism, and

religious Zionism.

Advocates of Zionism view it as a national liberation movement for the repatriation of a persecuted people to its ancestral homeland.[20][21][22]

Critics of Zionism view it as a

colonialist,[23]

racist,[24] or

exceptionalist ideology or movement.[25][26][27][28][29]

Zi·on·ist

/ˈzīənəst/

noun

adjective