Overview
The common denominator among all Zionists is the claim to Eretz Israel as the national homeland of the Jews and as the legitimate focus for the Jewish national self-determination (as shown, among others, by Gideon Shimoni). It is based on historical ties and religious traditions linking the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. Zionism does not have a uniform ideology, but has evolved in a dialogue among a plethora of ideologies: General Zionism, Religious Zionism, Labor Zionism, Revisionist Zionism, Green Zionism, etc.
After almost two millennia of existence of the Jewish diaspora without a national state, the Zionist movement was founded in the late 19th century by secular Jews, largely as a response by Ashkenazi Jews to rising antisemitism in Europe, exemplified by the Dreyfus affair in France and the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire. The political movement was formally established by the Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl in 1897 following the publication of his book Der Judenstaat. At that time, the movement sought to encourage Jewish migration to the Ottoman Palestine.
Although initially one of several Jewish political movements offering alternative responses to assimilation and antisemitism, Zionism grew rapidly and became the dominant force in Jewish politics with the destruction of Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe where these alternative movements were rooted.
The movement was eventually successful in establishing Israel on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyyar 5708 in the Hebrew calendar), as the homeland for the Jewish people. The proportion of the world's Jews living in Israel has also steadily grown since the movement came into existence and over 40% of the world's Jews now live in Israel, more than in any other country. These two outcomes represent the historical success of Zionism, unmatched by any other Jewish political movement in the past 2,000 years.
In some academic studies, Zionism has been analyzed both within the larger context of diaspora politics and as an example of modern national liberation movements.
Zionism was also directed at assimilation into the modern world. As a result of the Diaspora, many of the Jewish people were outcasts and had no knowledge of the modern era. There were Jews who desired complete assimilation and were willing to neglect their faith in an attempt at modernization. The assimilationists, who are depicted as truly messianic, were a radical group in Jewish history. They desired a pure revolution: a complete integration of Jews into European society. This would dispel any dissimilarity between Jews and non-Jews. They are described as messianic in their anticipation and desire of a new era. Assimilationists were not concerned with keeping their own identity but wanted homogeneity. They would disband their traditional views and opinions as long as it insured complete assimilation into the modern world. Another less radical form of assimilation was called cultural synthesis. Those in favor of cultural synthesis emphasized an obligation to maintain traditional Jewish values but also a need to conform to a modernist society. They are described as defensive and sought to reject the pure revolution that the assimilationists promoted. They aimed to eradicate any disparity between Jewish and modern life. However (in contrast with assimilationists), they also wanted to preserve their own faith and many of their traditional values. They were concerned that if Jews lost their identification, the result would be detrimental. Those in favor of cultural synthesis desired a balance between change and continuity as opposed to the assimilationists who only wanted change.
In 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that designated Zionism as "a form of racism and racial discrimination". The resolution was repealed in 1991 by replacing Resolution 3379 with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86. Within the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict, Zionism is viewed by critics as a system that fosters apartheid and racism.
Read more about this topic: Zionism