Gem,
I would have to concur with Nadine. From my readings of Zionism it was a secular (socialist) national movement, not one directly aimed at fulfilling biblical prophecy.
Those folks you might be referring to would be the Christian Zionists, for they support Israel on the basis of fulfilling prophecy. In fact, many CZ's devote considerable time trying to convert Jews to Christianity, something the Rabbbis have taken great umbrage to.
csmonitor.com
Early Zionists
The modern formulation of Zionism was divorced from religious aspirations. The 19th century enlightenment allowed the Jews to leave the ghettos of Europe for the first time. Some converted to Christianity and assimilated to surrounding society. Others, exposed to a general education, dropped their religious beliefs, but considered themselves Jews, and understood that others still considered them to be Jews. This suggested a conundrum. If one could be a non-believer and still be a Jew, then "Jew" must be more than just the name of a religion. German racists solved this conundrum by inventing a racial theory, which lacked any real scientific basis. Socialists cited the aberrant class structure of Jewish society and labeled Jews a "caste." Zionists solved the conundrum by declaring that Jews are a people, a fact implicit and explicit in the Jewish biblical and cultural concept of "am Yisrael." The Jews were a people without a country however, and would remain politically powerless as long as they did not have a national home. They would be guests everywhere and at home nowhere, according to Zionist ideology. This homelessness was the cause of the "Jewish Problem," and it could not fail to be exacerbated by the rise of nationalism and nations in the 19th century. This explained why, paradoxically, anti-Jewish sentiment might become more pronounced in "enlightened" Europe than it had been in previous centuries, when nationalism had been less pronounced.
mideastweb.org
In sum, Zionism was a nationist movement, much the same as the Palestinians and Kurds assert. That the people were unique and would constantly be discriminated against so long as they lacked a "homeland".
Unfortunately, some Jews, just as some Palestinians and Kurds, have added a religious spin to their nationalistic aspirations. And this is certainly the case with the Christian Zionists, who perceive the foundation of Israel as absolutely essential in order to usher in the Apocalypse and return of Jesus Christ.
Hawk |
