JUDAIZING PALESTINE

 In spite of the political and diplomatic events of the two months preceding the Baltimore Zionist Convention, not one of the responsible Zionist leaders uttered a word with regard to the political situation pertaining¹ to Palestine. The various rumors² concerning a Jewish republic in Palestine have been answered by the representatives of American Zionism with—silence. This attitude on the part of the responsible Zionist leaders testifies to their political ability and tact³, for nothing would be more dangerous today than to discuss Palestine at a Zionist assembly in as careless a manner as persons have done for the last few months. The situation is still fraught⁴ with difficulties, dangers and uncertainty⁵; and the less it is spoken of the better for all parties concerned. The question on the lips of every delegate to the convention: What have we to expect? has been well answered by the representative of the Provisional Committee for General Zionist Affairs—We expect to be able to create after the war such conditions in Palestine as to enable us to carry out our program. To those delegates who are not able to think in terms of statesmanship the answer of the official representatives of the Provisional Committee must have appeared to be unsatisfactory, but the better politically trained Zionists appreciated the answer as the only one possible under the present circumstances and it convinced them that the leaders in this country are politically on the right track.

 

All the talk about a speedy establishment of a Jewish republic in Palestine in which even a part of the general press indulged is pure fancy if we consider things in the light of reality. A republic or any form of state cannot be made—it must grow naturally from certain given conditions, it must develop organically. So long as the people and the people's land are separated physically⁶ from one another, how can the synthesis of the state be won? It is, therefore, clear that the very first condition for the realization⁷ of the Zionist program is a settlement of Jews in Palestine en masse, which settlement is not possible unless certain economic conditions are created to enable the settlers to organize their life speedily and acclimatize themselves as quickly as possible. But this creating of conditions is not as easy a task as many persons imagine. It not only presumes a favorable political situation, but also a display of organizing genius, important financial transactions and almost heroic deeds. If Palestine were an industrial country where new industries could be created or the old ones so developed as to give sustenance⁸ to masses of new settlers, the task would not be difficult. Palestine, however, is at present not an industrial country, there are no mines and consequently no factories of importance; it is altogether an agricultural country, the soil of which, though potentially very productive, has been neglected for centuries and must be regenerated⁹ before it can produce enough to feed a large population. But even if Palestine were an industrial country it would be an unwise policy to make industry the economic basis of the future population. If the Jewish people are going to be reborn not only politically but also physically, mentally and morally, the masses of the Jewish people must return to agriculture and to country life. For the last two thousand years we have been a city-population and we have acquired all the habits and qualities of one. City life has wrought¹⁰ havoc¹¹ among us. If Zionism has a philosophy then the return of large numbers of the Jews to country-life is part and parcel of that philosophy by which we must abide¹² if we do not mean to deceive ourselves. Besides, agriculture is a much sounder basis for a state than industry. The agricultural country is peaceful, conservative, moderate, while the industrial country is always restless, upset, radical¹³ and bellicose¹⁴. If an individualistic—and because of a long life in the dispersion—nervous people like the Jews should build its entire future on industry, it would be built on sand. For this and many other good reasons, we must make agriculture the main economic basis of Jewish life in Palestine. But to create favorable agricultural conditions to enable an immigration en masse to Palestine is much more difficult than to create favorable industrial conditions, especially in view of the fact that the Palestinian soil has been neglected.

 

The economic future of Palestine rests to our present knowledge on agriculture and trade. For the past ten years Palestinian trade has been increasing from year to year,especially that of commerce in fruit and wine. Palestine can, if its soil is properly tilled and modern agricultural methods used, produce such quantities of fruits and grain as not only to feed the native population but also to supply other countries. The same holds true of wine and tobacco and probably cotton. Industries can be established which have the home products as a main basis, such as canning and packing industries, manufacture of soap, perfumes, etc. The possibilities of pastoral industry in Palestine are enormous, and industrious¹⁵ Jewish ranchers may turn Eastern Palestine into a second Texas.

 

There are altogether vast possibilities and should a favorable political situation enable us to revive and to create the necessary economic conditions for a Jewish settlement en masse in the land, Jewish industry and Jewish financial strength combined with Jewish idealism would within a few years of hard work prepare the ground for a realization of the Zionist program. This is what the Zionist leaders have in mind when they speak of creating such conditions in Palestine. It is further understood that next to the preparing of economic conditions, something must be done in the field of social and cultural preparation. When a group of Jews is sent to Palestine, it must find there such social and cultural preparations as to make civilized¹⁶ life possible. One cannot, of course, build communities, schools, social and charitable institutions in Palestine before large masses of our people have settled in the country. The ground for the establishment of such institutions must be prepared before the actual immigration takes place for we will not send our people to a wilderness¹⁷. The Jewish groups that will emigrate to Palestine may not find actually erected¹⁸ all the schools and hospitals they need, but they must find everything that is necessary for re-establishment of such institutions and the men needed to conduct them. This is not an easy task but it can be accomplished¹⁹ if we centre our organizing genius on it. In this way we can Judaize Palestine in a relatively²⁰ short time and when this is done the geographic²¹ and economic position will be used for a strengthening of all the sociological factors which are necessary for the creation of a Jewish homeland. Palestine, on account of its geographic condition can again be developed to a mighty²² trade centre and it can become the great commercial roadway between Europe, Africa and Western Asia. This, together with its solid economic and social organization, will give Palestine political strength and position among the civilized countries in the world.

 

It can thus be seen that it is futile²³ at present to talk of the immediate²⁴ establishment of a Jewish republic in Palestine. The very best that can be done and will be done is to prepare the ground economically, socially and culturally for the settlement of great masses of our people in the Holy Land. And it will be for the settlers to shape the future and to strive to realize the Zionist Ideal: A permanently²⁵ secured homeland for the Jewish people in the land of its ancestors. Unless this big work is done, no power on earth can help us carry out our national political program, because states cannot be made but must develop organically.

 

1 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

2 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

4 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

5 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

8 sustenance   

n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• The urban homeless are often in desperate need of sustenance.城市里无家可归的人极其需要食物来维持生命。

9 regenerated   

v.新生，再生( regenerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are regarded as being enveloped in regenerated gneisses. 它们被认为包围在再生的片麻岩之中。 来自辞典例句
• The party soon regenerated under her leadership. 该党在她的领导下很快焕然一新。 来自辞典例句

10 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

11 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

12 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

13 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

14 bellicose   

adj.好战的；好争吵的

参考例句：

• He expressed alarm about the government's increasingly bellicose statements.他对政府越来越具挑衅性的声明表示担忧。
• Some irresponsible politicians made a bellicose remarks.一些不负责任的政客说出一些好战的话语。

15 industrious   

adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的

参考例句：

• If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
• She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。

16 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

17 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

18 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

19 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

20 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

21 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

22 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

23 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

24 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

25 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。