Zionism was brought to the world agenda in the latter part of the nineteenth century by Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), an Austrian
Jewish journalist. Both Herzl and his comrades were people with very weak
religious beliefs, if any at all. They saw "Jewishness" as the name of a race, not as a community of belief. They suggested that the Jews were a separate race from European
nations, that it was impossible for them to live together, and that it was essential they establish their own homeland. They did not rely on religious thinking when deciding where that homeland should be. Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, once thought of Uganda, and this became known as the "Uganda Plan." The Zionists later decided on Palestine. The reason for this was Palestine was regarded as "the Jews' historical homeland," rather than for any religious significance it had for them. The farmer and the Wailing Wall on this flier, which depict the Zionist leaders Max Nordau, Theodor Herzl, and Prof. Mandelstamm, represent the "Zionist Dream." The Zionists made great efforts to get other Jews to accept these non-religious ideas. The new World Zionist Organization undertook vast propaganda work in almost all countries with Jewish populations, and began to suggest that Jews could not live peacefully with other nations and that they were a separate "race." Therefore, they had to go and settle in Palestine. Most Jewish communities ignored these calls. According to Israeli statesman Amnon Rubinstein: "Zionism (was) a revolt againt their (Jews') fatherland and the synagouge of the Rabbis".15 Thus many Jews criticized the ideology of Zionism. Rabbi Hirsch, one of the foremost religious leaders of the time, said, "Zionism wants to define the Jewish people as a national entity ... which is a heresy."16 The famous French Muslim thinker Roger Garaudy writes this on the subject: The worst enemy of the prophetic Jewish faith is the nationalist, racist and colonialist logic of tribal Zionism, born of the nationalism, racism and colonialism of 19th century Europe. This logic, which inspired all the colonialisms of the West and all its wars of one nationalism against another, is a suicidal logic. There is no future or security for Israel and no peace in the Middle East unless Israel becomes "dezionized" and returns to the faith of Abraham, which is the spiritual, fraternal and common heritage of the three revealed religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.17 In this way, Zionism entered world politics as a racist ideology maintaining that Jews should not live with other nations. First of all, this mistaken idea created grave problems for and pressure on Jews living in the diaspora. Then for Muslims in the Middle East, it brought the Israeli policy of occupation and annexation, together with poverty, terror, bloodshed and death. In short, Zionism was actually a form of secular nationalism that stems from secular philosophies, not from religion. However, as in the case of other versions of nationalism, Zionism also attempted to use religion for its own ends. Misinterpretation of the Torah by Zionists The Torah is a holy book God revealed to Prophet Musa. God says in the Qur'an: "We sent down the Torah containing guidance and light..." (Qur'an, 5:44). The Qur'an also says that the Torah was later distorted by incorporating human words. That is why what we have today is the "Distorted Torah." However, a close examination reveals the existence of many of the religious truths contained in this once-revealed Book, such as faith in God, submission to Him, being grateful to Him, fear of God, love of God, justice, compassion, mercy, opposing cruelty and injustice, all of which prevail throughout the Torah and the other books of the Old Testament. Apart from this, the wars that occurred in history and the resulting carnage are related in the Torah. If people want to find a basis - although by distorting theor the cruelty, massacres, and murders, they can well take these sections as references. Zionism resorts to this very method to legitimize its terrorism, which is actually a fascist terrorism. And, it has become quite succesful. For instance, it has used the sections related to war and massacre to legitimize its massacres of innocent Palestinians. This is a deliberately distorted interpretation, however. Zionism uses religion to legitimize its fascist and racist ideology. The Zionists also base their claims on their own interpretations of verses that deal with the "chosenness" that God had once granted the Jews. Several Qur'anic verses deal with this subject: O Tribe of Israel, remember the blessing I conferred upon you and that I preferred you over all other beings. (Qur'an, 2:47) We gave the Book and Judgment and Prophethood to the tribe of Israel, provided them with good things, and favored them over all other people. (Qur'an, 45:16) The Qur'an explains how at one time God blessed the Jews, and how at another time He made them dominant over other nations. But these verses do not implicate "chosenness" in the sense that radical Jews understand. They point to the fact that many prophets came from this line, and that Jews ruled a large area at that time. The verses explain that, by virtue of their position of authority, they "were favored over all other people." When they rejected Jesus, this characteristic also came to an end. The Qur'an states that chosenness is for prophets and the believers whom God guided to truth. The verses relate that the prophets were chosen, impelled to the right path, and were blessed. Following are some of the verses that deal with this topic: Who would deliberately renounce the religion of Ibrahim except someone who reveals himself to be a fool? We chose him in this world, and in the hereafter he will be one of the righteous. (Qur'an, 2: 130) And some of their forebears, descendants and brothers; We chose them and guided them to a straight path. That is God's guidance, and He guides by it those of His servants whom He wills. If they had associated others with Him, nothing they did would have been of any use. They are the ones to whom We gave the Book, Judgment, and Prophethood. If these people reject it, We have already entrusted it to a people who did not. (Qur'an, 6:87-89) Those are some of the Prophets whom God has blessed, from the descendants of Adam and from those We carried with Nuh, and from the descendants of Ibrahim and Isra'il, and from those We guided and chose. When the Signs of the All-Merciful were recited to them, they fell on their faces, weeping, prostrating. (Qur'an, 19:58) But radical Jews, relying on distorted explanations, saw "chosenness" as a racial characteristic and therefore came to consider every Jew superior by birth and that the Children of Israel are forever considered superior to all other peoples. The second great perversion in this viewpoint is presenting this alleged superiority as "an order to practice brutality on other nations." To this end, Zionists justify their behavior by some of the age-old hatreds that can be found in some aspects of Talmudic Judaism. According to this view, it is ordinary for Jews to deceive non-Jews, to plunder their property and real estate, and, when necessary, even to kill them, women and children included.18 In reality, all of these are crimes that violate true religion, for God commands us to preserve justice, honesty, and the rights of the oppressed, and to live in peace and love. Moreover, such anti-gentile remarks contradict the Torah itself, such as those verse that condemn violence and cruelty. However, Zionism's racist ideology ignores such verses in order to create a belief system based upon resentment and rage. Rather than falling under the influence of Zionist ideology, those Jews who genuinel