The Requiem for a Dream: Israel's Untaken Paths
Exploring the historical 'what-ifs' of the Zionist movement and the shaping of modern Israel
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A strong idea emerged amongst the European Jewish diaspora towards the end of the nineteenth century: Jews had to have their own state to avoid persecution. One of the first and most succinct articulations of this idea was "Der Judenstaat" (The Jewish State), a pamphlet written by Theodor Herzl in 1896.
An English translation of "Der Judenstaat" is available on Kindle for $0.99. Reading it reminded me of "Üç Tarz-ı Siyaset" (Three Types of Politics) by Yusuf Akçura. Although the two authors came from totally different backgrounds, they shared a context: the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. Herzl was concerned about the future for Jews in a post-empire world, while Akçura sought a solution for preserving the core of Ottoman imperial land. Herzl's solution was to create a land for the Jewish nation, whereas Akçura’s was to invent a nation for the Ottoman land.
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Herzl argued that Jews could never fully integrate into the societies they lived in. As he famously stated, "The Jewish Question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers. Where it does not exist, it is carried by Jews in the course of their migrations." (Herzl, Kindle location 52) The Dreyfus affair in France solidified his belief that even assimilated Jews were not immune to anti-Semitism. His proposed solution was straightforward yet monumental:
"Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves." (Herzl, Kindle location 260)
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Herzl considered two locations: Palestine and Argentina. He rejected the idea of gradual infiltration, fearing it would eventually provoke opposition from existing residents. Instead, he advocated for a transparent, negotiated purchase of land.
Contrary to popular belief, Herzl did not express a definitive preference for Palestine in "Der Judenstaat." He was pragmatic, willing to accept what the Jewish public and circumstances would allow: "Shall we choose Palestine or Argentine? We shall take what is given us, and what is selected by Jewish public opinion. The Society will determine both these points..." (Herzl, Kindle location 292)
About Palestine, Herzl proposed a bold exchange to the Ottoman Sultan: financial stabilization of Turkey in return for Palestinian land.
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This is a Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New year) greeting card printed in 1901, copied from the archives of the National Library of Israel. It is evidence that the European Jewry knew about this proposal at that time and was excited about it.
Herzl initially received a favorable reception from Sultan Abdulhamid II, but the negotiations ultimately failed. Turkish historians offer various explanations: Abdulhamid II was preoccupied with restructuring debts with Western creditors (Engin, 2022), or he doubted Herzl's financial backing (Gücüm, 2017). Western sources, including the preface of Herzl's book on Kindle, suggest that influential figures like Baron Rothschild opposed Herzl's plan, fearing it would disrupt the lives of assimilated Jews.
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This brings us to the crux of our alternate history: What if Baron Rothschild had supported Herzl? In the 1930s, the Rothschilds’ Austrian holdings were seized by the Nazis, and their wealth was further eroded during World War II. Had the Baron anticipated these events, he might have fully backed Herzl, even sending a representative to demonstrate his commitment to the Sultan.
The Ottoman Empire, desperate for financial relief, might have found the promise of Rothschild support irresistible. While Palestine could still be off-limits due to religious sensitivities, other territories under Ottoman control, like lower Mesopotamia, might have been viable alternatives. In this alternate universe, a Jewish state could have been established in Basra before the Great War and Ottoman Treasury could reach financial stability, dramatically altering the course of history.
Unfortunately, this was not to be. The Sultan's and Rothschild's choices led to a different path. Jewish immigration to Palestine continued, both before and after World War I, culminating in the Balfour Declaration and subsequent events under the British Mandate.
In my next post, I'll explore what could have still happened post-Balfour and under British governance, continuing this journey into the fascinating realm of historical 'what-ifs.'
References
Engin, V. (2022). Pazarlık. Referred to on the web page Sultan II. Abdülhamit ve Theodor Herzl
Gücüm, K. (2017). II. Abdülhamit Döneminde Filistin ve Siyonizm. Teori Dergisi, 72-85.
Herzl, Theodor. A Jewish State: Theodor Herzl Proposes a Solution to the ‘Jewish Question’ . Now & Then Reader. Kindle Edition.
Judt, Tony,Snyder, Timothy. Thinking the Twentieth Century. Kindle Edition.
Dr. Mim Kemal Öke, Siyonizm ve Filistin Sorunu (1880-1914), Üçdal Neşriyat, İstanbul, 1982, s. 55-57.
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Short Takes
Electric Excavator in Fortescue Mine, Western Australia
Australian Mining Review, 15 December 2023
Fortescue’s (ASX:FMG) Cloudbreak mine in WA bought three R 9400 E electric excavators from Liebherr. The first one has already been commissioned:
The R 9400 E excavator is connected to a 6.6kV substation by a 2km cable. Fortescue is planning to run all excavators on solar power.
Metalliferous miners used hydraulic excavators because they needed the flexibility. Today’s geologists probably have better tools to define the orebody and mining engineers have better planning software so that the need for flexibility is not as important as it used to be. The principal motivation for transition to electrical equipment is of course to reduce the carbon foot print of the mine.
HPDI (High Pressure Direct Injection) hydrogen diesel engines are also becoming available, already powering on-road truck transport in North America. It is worth comparing excavators running on solar-generated hydrogen against the cable excavators Liebherr sold Fortescue. One advantage of hydrogen is that it can be stored so that renewable power is available 24/7.
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The You Tube video
Sabina Hossenfelder describes the recent paper by Professor Kerr as “the maybe most surprising development in theoretical physics” she’s seen for some time.
Professor Roy Kerr is a Professor of Physics at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. In his paper he published on 1 December 2023, Kerr denies that black holes are singularities: “Roger Penrose claimed sixty years ago that trapped surfaces inevitably lead to light rays of finite affine length (FALL’s). Penrose and Stephen Hawking then asserted that these must end in actual singularities. When they could not prove this they decreed it to be self evident. It is shown that there are counterexamples through every point in the Kerr metric. These are asymptotic to at least one event horizon and do not end in singularities.“
At this stage there does not appear to be any practical utility to this discovery. But there is always a flow-on when our fundamental understanding of the physics of the universe improves. I believe this is a harbinger of the scientific discoveries to come in the ROGUE era that is just starting.
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Diary
Rain or Sunshine, the Lawn must be Mowed
The day started very hot yesterday. Usually, such starts lead to an afternoon thunderstorm when it is summer in Brisbane. I thought that I had better mow the lawn before rain with the new lawnmower I bought. Here is me with my wide hat to protect my face from cancer-causing rays of Brisbane summer sun:
The blue cloudless sky you saw in the photo turned dark grey in the late afternoon and we had drenching rain for several hours and winds exceeding 150 km/h in parts of the city. The power was cut off at Taylans’ home in Mooroka and they stayed with us last night. Their power has not been reconnected yet. The Weather Bureau expects more thunderstorms. They are probably here tonight too. We are very happy top have them with us especially Eleanor.
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A sunken Food Court being built at Sunny Park?
Last month I posted a photo of a hole they were digging in the car park area of the Sunny Park shopping centre. At that time, I could not figure out what the aim was. Now it looks that they are going to build into a new shopping area, possibly a food court:
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UQ Lakes open again
The rebuilding of the lakes area on our university campus is finally finished. It looks pretty but it is difficult to understand why it took two years and possibly tens of millions of dollars to get here:
Birds, fish and turtles are not back yet but I expect them brought back pretty soon. At least insects are back, apparently:
They say the insect population will naturally increase and will attract other animals.
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Pascal Hagi
Evening time at the end of another hot day. I called the birds in. Pascal wanted to chat:
Usually this chat continues but I found it difficult to record the video on my phone while maintaining a conversation. I cut it short.
What I read
I finished reading Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton. This is about a 17-year old girl and her mother living in a broken car in a parkland area along the river in West End. Trent Dalton is a very talented journalist and he describes the homeless floater community of Brisbane very well. The book is not however about the wretched of the earth. All of the floaters have their own reasons to be homeless each has interesting stories. But the main plot is about the girl and her mother and an event in their past that put them on the run.
Lola is a character painted on a cracked mirror that this girl talks when she needs companionship. The girl is an artist and every chapter starts with one of her drawings. This sketch below is how she depicts her mother. Behind is the city silhouette from West End. Something evil seems to be coming out of the river.
You may remember West End from one of my previous blog posts. There, I was telling about its Bohemian and working-class past and how shiny it looked now. From Trent Dalton’s book I understand that packets of old West End are still alive today behind all the new modern buildings. I would have loved to discuss this book with my dear friend late Peter Jolly. He spent his last few years in West End and his wife said that he would spend his days walking around the streets and chatting up people. I am sure he would be aware of the homeless communities Trent Dalton wrote about in this book.
One of the characters in this book lived in Torbreck, the building that was our first home when we got married.
Incidentally, Trent Dalton’s first book Boy Swallows Universe has become a Netflix series. It starts screening in January 2024.
Zika Statistics
Mr Zika sold his bakery to a Japanese baker. The buyer said that he would continue making Zika’s breads and add Japanese pastries to the menu. I could see the difference from the sourdough rye statistics. The new sourdough rye bread is doughier and heavier. The original purpose of keeping these statistics is no longer valid but I will continue this section to see how a change of the baker would change them.
Here you will see how the height and weight of the rye sourdough bread changes from week to week:
The date for Day 0 is 4 October 2023. If you are curious why I am plotting this, click here.