Zionfor All?

To Christians, "Zion" means a holy city not of this world. To Jews, Zion connotes a temporal though still only potential refuge. Political Zionism, begun by Theodor Herzl in 1896, not only roused the Jewish national consciousness but made the world increasingly aware that Jews, citizens of every country, had no homeland of their own. After Allenby's last crusade had wrested Palestine from the Turk, the Balfour Declaration (1917) seemed to recognize Jewish rights to at least a share in the modern Canaan. But under the rule of the British mandate both Jew and Arab were irked. Growing bad feeling culminated in August with the Arab anti-Jewish riots in Palestine. Last week Dr. Judah Leon Magnes, Chancellor of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, sought to pour more oil on the subsiding waters of Palestine. Said he: ''Palestine can never be a Jewish national home. It will always be an international home for Jews, Christians and Arabs alike." Added Dr. Magnes: Jews must renounce the idea of political domination, should be willing to make Palestine a binational State, a holy land for all nations. Not kindly did Zionists take to these suggestions. Doar Hayom, Jerusalem Hebrew daily, immediately demanded Dr. Magnes's resignation from the University. Said The New Palestine, U. S. official Zionist weekly: "Does Dr. Magnes imagine that he imbues the Arab leaders . . . with a sense of peace and responsibility when, as the fruit of their blood-thirsty lawlessness, he makes offers and con- cessions?" The Day, Manhattan Yiddish daily, decried Dr. Magnes's suggestions as "futile . . . engendered by hysteria." Replying, Chancellor Magnes warned: "It is impossible to continue as heretofore. . . . Without this realization the Jewish public the world over is bound to suffer disappointment and disillusionment in its hopes with regard to the Jewish national homeland in Palestine. "I consider the Jewish Palestine worth while only if made possible on the highest ethical plane. The bayonets such as now support the Jewish settlement in Palestine are repugnant to the spirit of Judaism." Upholding Chancellor Magnes were Dr. Hugo Bergmann, fellow-faculty-member, and Felestin, an Arab publication. Said Felestin: "Had the Zionists attempted to work out a plan similar to this and in the same spirit, Palestine would have been a different country from what it is today." Great in Israel has been Judah Leon Magnes. U. S.-born (San Francisco, 1877), he took his Ph.D. in Germany (Heidelberg). Onetime (1905-08) secretary of the Federation of American Zionists, onetime (1912-20) Leader of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, since 1925 he has been Chancellor of the Hebrew University at Jerusalem.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.