Who is behind zionism

British soldiers patrol the streets of Jerusalem during a visit by Arthur James Balfour, a British Conservative politician, on April 2, The city's Arab residents were on strike as a protest against the Balfour Declaration, which supported plans for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Balfour, while serving as foreign secretary, authored the Balfour Declaration in Here, he speaks at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Arab protesters travel to the Jordanian capital Amman for a demonstration against the Balfour Declaration in The banners read: ''Palestine for the Arabs'' and ''Our homeland is our faith and complete freedom is our life''.

Lionel Walter Rothschild, a figurehead of the British Jewish community to whom the Balfour Declaration was addressed, is pictured in July Arthur Balfour The author of the Declaration. Lionel Walter Rothschild Rothschild was the figurehead of the British Jewish community and is the man to whom the Declaration was addressed.

He played a central role in lobbying the government to issue the Declaration. Herbert Samuel Said to be the first Jewish Cabinet minister in England in , Samuel, an ardent Zionist, introduced the idea of a Jewish state to the British government as early as He was highly involved in the negotiations that led to the Declaration and convincing the other Allied powers to support it. Nahum Sokolow A Polish writer and diplomat, Nahum Sokolow traveled widely to rally support from world powers to back the Declaration.

Key photos from the era of the Balfour Declaration Arthur Balfour Birth: Scotland, Death: England, Arthur Balfour, who first served as prime minister of the United Kingdom, and more importantly, later as foreign secretary during the government of David Lloyd George, is the author of the declaration.

Getty Images Balfour, an English aristocrat, is credited with convincing the War Cabinet to issue the statement and with asking Chaim Weizmann and Lord Rothschild to draft it.

Getty Images Though he retired from parliament by , he remained active as a figurehead of the British Jewish community and served as the president of the English Zionist Federation.

In a letter to the Manchester Guardian, now known as The Guardian newspaper, Weizmann wrote: "Should Palestine fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish settlement there, as a British dependency, we could have in 20 to 30 years a million Jews out there - perhaps more; they would develop the country, bring back civilization to it and form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal. Getty Images He created the War Cabinet to make major strategic decisions and made sure that the Zionist project was on the agenda.

Getty Images While his support for the Zionist project came late, Sykes served as a key channel between Chaim Weizmann and his fellow Zionist activists, and the British government. Sykes was highly involved in the negotiations that led to the Declaration. Getty Images A close aide of Chaim Weizmann, he travelled widely to rally support for the Declaration. Sokolow later became the president of the World Zionist Organization for a short period of time.

Key photos from the era of the Balfour Declaration Chaim Weizmann, the former president of the World Zionist Organization, and his wife, Vera, are pictured outside of St James's Palace in London, where a conference was being held to discuss the creation of an Israeli state out of British-controlled Palestine. Some followers of Zionism are devoutly religious while others are more secular.

Advocates of the Zionist movement see it as an important effort to offer refuge to persecuted minorities and reestablish settlements in Israel. Arabs and Palestinians living in and around Israel typically oppose Zionism. What is Zionism? History of Zionism: ReformJudiasm. Is a Left Zionism Possible? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The nation of Israel—with a population of more than 9 million people, most of them Jewish—has many Palestine is a small region of land that has played a prominent role in the ancient and modern history of the Middle East. The history of Palestine has been marked by frequent political conflict and violent land seizures because of its importance to several major world On October 6, , hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, in , Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Taking the Israeli Defense Forces by The long-term effects of the Balfour Declaration, and the British The Oslo Accords were a landmark moment in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. Actually a set of two separate agreements signed by the government of Israel and the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO —the militant organization established in to Over time, the PLO has embraced a broader role, claiming to Following years of diplomatic friction and skirmishes between Israel and its neighbors, Israel Defense Forces launched preemptive air strikes that Syria is home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with a rich artistic and cultural heritage.

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