The Foundations of Zionism

A witness to the 1948 Nakba in the village of Fassouta in the Galilee at the age of 10, and one of 160,000 Palestinians who remained, Palestinian author and researcher Sabri Jiryis later became involved al-Ard which sought the return of Palestinians and their land. Expelled to Safad after attempting to run for the 1965 Knesset elections, Jiryis started reading about the Zionist movement. It was while working in Lebanon at the Palestinian Research Centre that Jiryis turned his attention to researching the Zionist movement; this time with the realisation that Palestinians with no knowledge of Hebrew had no way of learning about the colonial ideology that dispossessed them.

The Foundations of Zionism (Ebb Books, 2025), translated to English by the author’s daughter Fida Jiryis, constructs the history of Zionism from within the Zionist ideology itself, drawing upon Hebrew sources, some which are quoted in detail throughout the book, to illustrate how a European colonial movement gained traction and ultimately British support for the concept, later implemented, of the Jewish National Home. The book discusses the history of Zionism from the mid-19th century up to 1923, stopping well before the events that led up to the 1947 Partition Plan and the 1948 Nakba. However, to contextualise, the book also gives brief detail on what led to Zionism in earlier centuries, notably the political persecution of Jews prior to the discussed period, and a conclusion which analyses what came after the Nakba up to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, showing that throughout its trajectory, Zionism was always in need of colonial powers and imperialism to sustain itself. 

In seven chapters, Jiryis gives incredibly detailed descriptions of how Jews were treated in several European countries and in Russia and notes that Zionist political motives were a secondary factor during the first stages of Jewish immigration to Palestine, “although these immigrants laid the foundations of the Zionist project in Palestine.” 

Zionism, Jiryis notes, exploited the conditions of Jews in Europe at a time when some countries were gaining independence while others were colonised by Europe. Through comparative thinking, Jiryis notes, Zionists believed they could emulate European colonialism by also creating their own state, which in 1897, was decided should be in Palestine. Antisemitism in Europe also contributed to the rise of Zionism, as support for Jewish immigration to Palestine rose out of opposition to integrate Jews in the countries where they resided. 

Contrary to what some Jewish historians claimed, Jiryis writes, “there was no clear objective relationship between the Zionist idea – with its concept of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine – and attempts made by some Jewish groups or individuals to return to Palestine and to live near its Jewish holy sites.” In theory, Jiryis notes, Zionism as a political and social concept started in the late 1830s.

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Notably, Jiryis details how European countries were involved in facilitating the buying of Palestinian land for Jewish settlements in the late 1880s when the weakening Ottoman Empire made it easier to purchase territory. The British intervened to purchase land in Jaffa to transfer for Jewish settlement, while Romanian authorities said they would facilitate emigration of Jewish people and help to establish a “kingdom in Palestine”. The German consulate in Jaffa, meanwhile, was helping Zionists to establish settlements in Yehud village.   

In addition to early European intervention on behalf of Zionism, land registration in the second half of the 19th century did not favour Palestinian peasants. High levies forced onto peasants forced land sale in return, much of which was later sold to wealthy families who in turn eventually sold to Jewish people, thus facilitating early settlement expansion. 

Jiryis also details the establishment of the Zionist Organisation and the influence of Theodor Herzl on Zionism, noting that the First Zionist Congress was influential for the Zionist movement. The author quotes Herzl, writing after the conference: “At Basel I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today I would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly in 50 years, everyone will perceive it.” It was 50 years later that the UN endorsed the Partition Plan in 1947. To strengthen Zionist colonial plans, several organisations were established which would later play a major role in establishing colonial settlement expansion in Palestine. 

After World War I, Zionism’s careful alliance with the British government eventually resulted in the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which, although supporting the Zionist call for a Jewish National Home, failed to take into consideration of all Zionism’s demands, notably to establish a Jewish National home in the entirety of Palestine. Jiryis writes, “it just also be noted that the Balfour Declaration was issued at a time when Britain had no authority, practically or legally, over Palestine, and thus did not have the right to speak on behalf of its Arab population nor to take any decision regarding their fate.” Jiryis also quotes Hungarian Jewish writer Arthur Koestler writing about the Balfour Declaration: “one nation solemnly promised to a second nation the country of a third.”

Jiryis constructs the historical narrative from within Zionist and imperialist sources, making the book speak for itself about colonialism and its violence in Palestine. It is not an easy book to delve into and the detail is at times overwhelming. However, the detail itself is what makes this book stand out. History is replete with details, many of which are overlooked for various reasons. Jiryis’s book, however, cannot afford to omit detail. At 614 pages, this meticulous research serves as a perpetual reference, especially at a time when, after the genocide in Gaza, Zionism is becoming overtly vocal about completely erasing Palestinians from their land. 

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