Sejarah Zionisme, 1600-1918/Volume 1/Bab 22

CHAPTER XXII.

SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE

The project “for Cultivation of the Land in Palestine”—Abraham Shoshana and Samuel Aboo—Sir Moses and Lord Palmerston—Great Britain’s protection of the Jews in the East—Lord Aberdeen—Sir Stratford Canning—Dr. Edward Robinson—Burghas Bey—A new journey to the East.

England and English Jews deserve indisputably to be placed in the forefront of Zionism. A great pioneer of Anglo-Jewish Zionism during the Palmerston period was Sir Moses Montefiore (1784‒1885). He was a man of great stability and magnanimity of character, and was much admired by Jew and Gentile alike. There have been few Jews in history who have been able to look back on a life of useful and beneficial activity with so much gratification as he, or who were so entitled to feel proud of the fact that throughout their lives they had done their duty not only to the country in which they lived, but to the ancient land of their fathers, to the English people as English patriots and to the Jewish nation as faithful sons of their race.

Sir Moses was an enthusiastic supporter of “The Fund for the cultivation of the land in Palestine by the Jews.” This was the harmless name given to Zionism at the beginning of his activity. We read in the Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore:—

“Friday, May 24th (1839, Safed)....

“The heads of the Portuguese and German congregations came to pay their respects to Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore (1784‒1862). Two of these gentlemen, the Rev. Abraham Shoshana and Samuel Aboo, were landowners in a neighbouring village, and gave their opinion on the subject of agriculture. Sir Moses, referring in his diary to the conversation, says:—

‘From all information I have been able to gather, the land in this neighbourhood appears to be particularly favourable for agricultural speculation. There are groves of olive trees, I should think, more than five hundred years old, vineyards, much pasture, plenty of wells and abundance of excellent water; also fig-trees, walnuts, almonds, mulberries, etc., and rich fields of wheat, barley, and lentils; in fact it is a land that would produce almost everything in abundance, with very little skill and labour. I am sure if the plan I have in contemplation should succeed, it will be the means of introducing happiness and plenty into the Holy Land. In the first instance, I shall apply to Mohhammad (Mehemet) Ali for a grant of land for fifty years; some one or two hundred villages; giving him an increased rent of from ten to twenty per cent., and paying the whole in money annually in Alexandria, but the land and villages to be free, during the whole term, from every tax or rate either of Pasha or Governor of the several districts; and liberty being accorded to dispose of the produce in any quarter of the globe. The grant obtained, I shall, please Heaven, on my return to England, form a company for the cultivation of the land and the encouragement of our brethren in Europe to return to Palestine. Many Jews now emigrate to New South Wales, Canada, etc., but in the Holy Land they would find a greater certainty of success; here they will find wells already dug, olives and vines already planted, and a land so rich as to require little manure. By degrees I hope to induce the return of thousands of our brethren to the Land of Israel. I am sure they would be happy in the enjoyment of the observance of our holy religion, in a manner which is impossible in Europe.’”

Political steps were undertaken and representations made. Sir Moses spoke to Lord Palmerston about agriculture for the Jews in Palestine:—

“On April 30th (1840) the Committee proceeded to Downing Street, and were most kindly received by Lord Palmerston. He promised to use his influence with Mohhammad Ali and the Turkish Government to put a stop to such atrocities. Sir Moses mentioned on this occasion, when Lord Palmerston was speaking of his visit to Palestine, Mr. Young’s humanity at Jerusalem, and also the fact that the Jews were desirous of being employed in agricultural pursuits.”

Then arose the question of Great Britain’s protection of the Jews in the East:—

“His brethren in the East appealed to Sir Moses to intercede with the English Government to take them under their protection. They complained of being compelled by local governors to pay heavier taxes than any of the non-Israelite inhabitants. Both Lord Palmerston and his successor Lord Aberdeen listened with great kindness to the statements made to them on that subject by Sir Moses. Lord Palmerston, in reply to his representations, said the Christians had suffered more than the Jews from the Governor being a fanatic, and added that he (Sir Moses) had his authority to write to the Jews in the East that if they had any serious complaints to make, the English Consuls would attend to them, and forward them to the Ambassador at Constantinople, who would represent them to the Ministers of the Porte....

“Lord Aberdeen, with whom he subsequently had an interview on the same subject, said that he saw no objection to the British Consul receiving the statements of grievances made by the Jews, and transmitting such statements to the British Ambassador in Constantinople, who would be directed to confer thereon with the Ministers of the Porte, with a view to the redress of the grievances complained of.”

“On Sir Moses pressing the desire of the Jews in the East to be brought under British protection, his Lordship said that he did not see how it could be accomplished. All the European Powers were extremely jealous of any interference on the part of England. His Lordship added, however, that he would consider the best means to afford the Jews protection for the sake of humanity and justice.

“On the 7th November, Sir Stratford Canning (1786‒1880), previous to leaving for Constantinople, called on Sir Moses, and afterwards sent him a note, appointing to see him on the following day at twelve o’clock. Sir Moses accordingly went to him. The purpose of this interview was to solicit protection for the Israelites in the East. Sir Moses informed him of the directions given by Lord Palmerston, and Sir Stratford said he would be happy to do all that his duty permitted, and to hear from Sir Moses whenever he pleased. They had a long and interesting conversation respecting the Jews and the Holy Land, and Sir Moses was exceedingly satisfied by Sir Stratford’s kindness.”=

It may be pointed out here that the extension of Great Britain’s protection to the Jews in the East was at that time regarded in other countries as something to which the Jews were justly entitled, and the granting of this protection was supposed to be necessitated by English policy.

Dr. Edward Robinson (1797‒1863), the eminent American scholar, wrote:—

“France has long been the acknowledged protector of the Roman Catholic religion, in the same Empire; and the followers of that faith find in her a watchful and efficient patron;... In the members of the Greek Church, still more numerous, ... the Russians have even warmer partisans.... But where are England’s partisans in any part of Turkey? That England, while she has so deep a political interest in all that concerns the Turkish Empire, should remain indifferent to this state of things in Syria, is a matter of surprise.”

Notwithstanding the formal difficulties indicated by Lord Aberdeen the scheme grew, and Sir Moses received very sincere promises, for despite the force of Lord Aberdeen’s reasoning, it was too subtle to commend itself to the common sense of Sir Moses, who was acting not as a diplomatist, but as an ardent protector of his oppressed people. The two points in Sir Moses’ programme were his scheme for the colonization of Palestine and his efforts to obtain British protection.

Sir Moses had started his second voyage to Palestine in 1838. He was then already a friend of Mehemet Ali. Reaching Alexandria on July 13th, he was cordially received by the Pasha, who listened attentively as he unfolded his scheme. Mehemet Ali promised every assistance. “You shall have any portion of land open for sale in Syria,” he said, “and any other land which by application to the Sultan may be procured for you. You may have anyone you would like to appoint as Governor in any of the rural districts of the Holy Land, and I will do everything that lies in my power to support your praiseworthy endeavours.” He further gave instructions to the Minister of Finance, Burghas Bey, to confirm these assurances in writing.

“A new era seemed dawning for the Jews of the Holy Land. Sir Moses returned to England with a light heart, and prepared to put his plans into execution.... He was still conning over the voluminous data he had collected, and was constructing in his mind the foundation of a new commonwealth for Palestine, when he was suddenly called upon to proceed again to the East,—this time, not as a peaceful reformer, but as the champion of his people, charged to vindicate their honour in the face of a foul conspiracy. He cheerfully laid aside his agricultural schemes, and girded up his loins for the new enterprise. When he returned home in the following spring, crowned with laurels, and hailed on all sides as the deliverer of Israel, his triumph was clouded by one sad thought—the projects to which he had devoted the whole of the previous year were no longer possible. Mehemet Ali had ceased to be lord of Syria, and his improving rule had been replaced by the asphyxiating authority of the Stamboul Effendis, under whom questions of social well-being could expect little furtherance.”

In these words Mr. Lucien Wolf, in his excellent Life, describes the change that took place in the plans of Sir Moses. The change was, however, quite superficial. If we consider all the facts and documents, we cannot doubt that Sir Moses was a great Zionist throughout his whole life. His type stands midway in the evolution of Zionism. He was not unconscious of the exaltedness, the pathos, the revulsion of feeling that the struggle for the revival of a nation awakens in the normal mind of a Jew. His rôle as a “champion of his people” in his Zionist efforts is of far greater importance than his defence of the unfortunate Jewish sufferers in Damascus. The latter was a necessity, and it was indeed a great honour for any man to be entrusted with the perilous mission of defending these innocent martyrs. But unquestionably noble and necessary as it was to struggle against those shamelessly fabricated charges which have unfortunately been brought against the Jews again and again, and to protest against that gross libel upon the honour and humanity of Judaism, a libel that accused the Jews of being murderers and cannibals, can such a struggle be compared for dignity and greatness with the stimulating effort for national regeneration? What was the result of all these pleas of defence? Some individuals were saved from martyrdom; but since then the same terrible accusation has been levelled against the Jews a hundred times over, and it is hurled at them in our own time with still greater malice and wickedness than in 1840. No one would underrate the great value and the imperative necessity of Jewish self-defence; but the efforts undertaken by Sir Moses in 1838 were more than merely defensive—they were an attempt to transform the whole situation.

Reviewing the results of the whole period here surveyed, we see that what Sir Moses attempted was in fact Zionism, political Zionism. It was, however, left to a later generation to take up the work afresh, on lines dictated by sound political reasoning. The new generation had already an organization behind it; Sir Moses acted as an individual. He could not have succeeded even if the political circumstances had been radically different. The first essential to colonization, though one which has been generally overlooked, is a national movement to support it. So many illusions are shattered by the cold touch of reality: the best that the regenerator can do is to close his eyes and to go boldly forward, supported by the strength and the enthusiasm of the masses, for in that way he can overcome the most formidable obstacles. But the practical side has also to be considered. Colonization can never be successfully established without large capital and carefully laid plans. All these conditions were lacking in Sir Moses’ day. It is, therefore, no matter for surprise that the plan on which Sir Moses had so confidently relied slipped out of his hands.

But Zionism was undoubtedly the greatest and noblest of Sir Moses’ aspirations. He made seven journeys to Palestine together with his wife, who shared his devotion and enthusiasm: and many of these journeys were very dangerous. Jerusalem was the watchword of his life. One of his last expressions, as quoted by a biographer, was: “I do not expect that all Israelites will quit their abodes in those territories in which they feel happy, even as there are Englishmen in Hungary, Germany, America and Japan: but Palestine must belong to the Jews, and Jerusalem is destined to become the seat of a Jewish Commonwealth.”