ZIONIST Movement ... Religion? Politics?

[Ritafee]

What is Zionism and what part does it play in the 'divide and conquer' world stage narrative?

Mission Statement

• The World Zionist Organization is committed to promoting Zionism & the Zionist idea and the Zionist enterprise through Israel Education as vital and positive elements of contemporary Jewish life, in accordance with the principles articulated in the Jerusalem Program. This manifesto is dedicated to instilling the centrality of Israel and Jerusalem its capital deep within Jewish consciousness, encouraging the return to Zion, fashioning an exemplary society in the Jewish state, expanding Zionist education including Hebrew language instruction, settling the land, and combating Anti-Semitism.
• The WZO strives to enhance the impact of Zionist ideology and activity in Jewish communities around the world, including Israel, both by working through shlichim of the Zionist Federations and their constituent bodies, and by influencing the agenda of the organized Jewish community, particularly through its involvement with the Jewish Agency for Israel.

World Zionist Organization | WZO

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www.wzo.org.il

• Canadian Jewry has spoken: "Zionism is a core part of our identity, we believe Canadian support for Israel must continue and grow, and the Zionist tent is strong and broad enough to include diverse opinions on Israeli policies. Now more than ever, we must emphasize unity over uniformity.”

Survey of Canadian Jewry to have 'real implications'

Canadian city leaders and community leaders address the recent survey of the behaviours and attitudes of Canadian Jews.

www.cjnews.com

Be forewarned ... this thread will no doubt (pun intended) lead to my jumping into 'rabbit holes'.

Jump with me or help me out - as you will.

 

[Ritafee]

Jumping in ...

Don Isaac Abravanel: Statesman and Philosopher 5th Edition
by Benzion Netanyahu (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars 8 customer reviews

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508) was a major historical figure during the waning of the Middle Ages. Statesman, diplomat, courtier, and financier, he was, at the same time, a scholar of encyclopedic learning, a philosopher, an exegete, a prolific author, a mystic, and an apocalyptist.

Benzion Netanyahu is the late father of the current PM of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu.

World Outlook, View of History, Political Concepts, and finally Messianism, Abravenel's world, as well as his beliefs.

Abravenel predicts that the coming of the Messiah would be immediately preceded by a war between Christians and Muslems.

 

[Mendalla]

Bit of both, really, is it not? It's political in its advocacy for a Jewish homeland but that desire is rooted in the Torah and the prophets. And I don't have a problem with it per second, until we get to the issue of what to do with the people who occupied the land after the Romans removed most of the Jews in the Diaspora. That's where the problems begin...

 

[Ritafee]

Thanks @Mendalla ...

Diaspora - a condition of spiritual anguish accompanying the dispersal of the Jews by an angry God.

• “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.”

Almost every diaspora involves the idea of return.

Sometimes return is literal and physical, as in the case of the Zionist movement.

That's where the problems begin...

A movement for (originally) the re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. It was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzl, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.

 

[GordW]

Bit of both, really, is it not? It's political in its advocacy for a Jewish homeland but that desire is rooted in the Torah and the prophets. And I don't have a problem with it per second, until we get to the issue of what to do with the people who occupied the land after the Romans removed most of the Jews in the Diaspora. That's where the problems begin...

It is rooted in a particular understanding of the Divine promise of a land. The Priestly strand in the Torah suggests taht the land is promised in perpetuity, despite what ever else happens. The Deuteronomic thread in Torah (which basically is in Deuteronomy) suggests that the land may be revoked if the people do not live up to the covenant. Later JEremiah will pick up on the promise of perpetual ownership with his act of political/religious theater of buying a parcel of land just before Jerusalem falls.

The Land has always ben problematic. The book of Joshua suggests that the people tried to live into the promise through genocidal warfare or ethnic cleansing (even as later parts of the story make it clear that not all the inhabitants of the land were ever destroyed). Zionism is, imo, a political movement that makes use of a paticular religious point of view. IIRC the earliest roots of Zionism were more within the secular Jewish population than the religious population since it was God who was to bring about the rebirth of Israel, not humanity.