EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND Rationale and Goals How did the early Zionists settle the land? When did they arrive? How did they acquire the land? What role did the kibbutz have in settling the land? These and other related questions are addressed in this unit, which is divided into pre-world War I and post-world War I sections, to underline that modern Zionist settlement began before the Palestine Mandate. The unit s goals are: To emphasize that the success of this pre-world War I settlement was one important factor influencing Britain s Balfour Declaration and the establishment of the Mandate. (The roots of modern Israel predated the Holocaust. The buildup to the Holocaust increased Jewish immigration; the problem of Jewish Holocaust refugees played a role in the UN s decision to support Partition.) To stress that Zionists bought the land and developed it through their own labor. To convey some sense of what a daring and difficult enterprise it was to be an early Zionist, how undeveloped the land had been, and how idealistic, resourceful, and committed the Zionists were. Discussion Questions Israel 101 Pages 8-11 What do you think it would have been like to be a Zionist pioneer? Describe some of the difficulties that early Zionists faced. What do you think would have motivated you to become one of those pioneers? (See Activity 2.) Discuss the kibbutzim and how they operated. Ask students to imagine they were forming their own kibbutz. How would they structure it? How would they divide responsibilities? Tell them that their group needs to agree on the policies of the kibbutz. What effect did the political and social organization of the Zionist movement have on the early success of the Jewish State in 1948?
Activities Activity 1 Visualizing the Jewish Pioneer Experience Preparation: Estimated Time: One or two class periods, depending on how many films you wish to show. Materials: Internet and projection device. Background: Steven Spielberg s Jewish Film Archive has outstanding old films about the early settlement of Israel. They convey better than words the actual experience of the early Jewish settlers, and they give a sense of what the land looked like and the labor involved in settling it, which resembles what Americans did on the frontiers of this country. Activity: Show students one or both of these films: The definitive film about restoring the land, 1935, 1 hour, at w3.castup.net/spielberg/index.aspx?lang=en&id=217. Agricultural development, 1947, English, Jewish National Fund, at w3.castup.net/spielberg/index. aspx?lang=en&id=32. If you have time and your library has gotten Pillar of Fire, the three-part DVD series on the early settlement of modern Israel, it would also be excellent to show episodes 1 and 2. (It can be ordered at www.sisuent.com/ video_sumr05b.html.) After the film, have a discussion with the students, raising some or all of the following questions: What did you think about this film? What did it remind you of? What kind of work did the early Jewish settlers have to do, and why? What kind of infrastructure did they have to develop (roads, electricity, water delivery systems, industries)? What were the personal qualities that the Zionists most admired and fostered (physical labor, commitment, hard work, resourcefulness, cooperation)? How much did persecution and how much did idealism inspire the early settlers? Would you have supported this effort? Would you have liked to be part of it? How attached to the land would the early Zionists have been after putting in all this effort to restore it? How valid do you think the Zionists claim is that they made the desert bloom? Wrap-Up: These films were meant to inspire people around the world to support the Zionist movement and to demonstrate all that the Zionists had accomplished.
Activities Activity 2 The Kibbutz: Forming a Cooperative Community Preparation: Estimated time: One or two class periods. Materials: Internet access and video equipment. The short film from the Steven Spielberg archive: A Day in the Life of Degania (first kibbutz in Israel) from 1937, w3.castup. net/spielberg/index.aspx?lang=en&id=69 (15 minutes). Background: The Jewish kibbutz movement proved to be one of the world s most successful communitarian movements. It also was necessary for helping the early settlement of Israel when cooperative efforts were so necessary for Jews to restore the land. The kibbutz movement also reveals the ideology that inspired early Zionists and gives students an opportunity to explore European socialism and communism and utopian communities in American history (the Shakers, the Amish, New Harmony, and the 1960s commune movement). Activity: 1. Show the film A Day in the Life of Degania. Have students discuss the film, addressing the following questions: What were the main principles underlying the kibbutz movement? What was a day on the kibbutz like? How did the kibbutz promote education, artistic expression, and intellectual life? What qualities did the kibbutz want to instill in children? In what ways did the kibbutz movement make it possible for the Zionists, who were not well funded, to make the land productive? Why did the early kibbutz members have to develop self-defense? Would you want to live on a kibbutz? Why or why not? 2. Divide students into groups of four or five. Have them choose different topics to research, such as utopian socialism, socialist or communist ideology, or the various utopian/communitarian experiments in the U.S., such as New Harmony, the Shakers, the Oneida Community or the Amish. Have them answer the same five questions above for the communities they chose. Then in general discussion, address the following questions. What are the similarities and differences between the community or movement you studied and the kibbutz? Was the community or movement you studied successful? Why or why not? 3. Tell the groups of students that they can develop a cooperative community of their own. Have them break into their groups and develop ideas for a communitarian community. How would they structure it, what would be its guiding principle, and how would they organize it? Wrap-up: The kibbutz was a defining characteristic of the early settlement of modern Israel and contributed to the Zionists success. It took utopian and socialist ideals of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and turned them into a functioning reality, creating one of the world s few successful communitarian efforts.
Activities Activity 3 Facts and Myths: Jewish Settlement of Israel Preparation: Estimated time: One class period. Materials: Paper and pencils. Either pass out the handout on the following page or post the seven statements listed below on the blackboard. Lesson plan: This activity must be done before students read the text (pp. 8-11). After the activity, students will use the Israel 101 text to find out if the statements are facts or myths. Background: Starting in the 1880s, the early Zionists came to what was then known as the region of Palestine (See Evolution of the Term Palestine on p. 9). There were five distinct waves of immigration between 1882 and 1939 (see p. 11 for details). The following activity challenges students to separate myth from fact about Jewish settlement of the land, first by responding to a series of statements, and then by using the text to provide evidence for or against them. Preparation: Make copies of the handout on the following page or post the following statements on the blackboard: The roots of modern Israel predated World War II and the Holocaust. Modern Israel was established because of the Holocaust. When Zionist pioneers came to Palestine in the mid-1800s, they found a flourishing and developed land. The Zionist pioneers underwent many hardships in their efforts to settle the land. Many of the Zionist pioneers fled from Europe and the Middle East between the years 1880-1939 because of oppression and persecution against Jews in their countries. Most of the Zionist pioneers who came to the land before World War I were wealthy. They came equipped with arms and the support of several nations around the world. The term Palestine was always associated with Arab residents of the land, not Jews. Introduction to Activity: Phase 1. Briefly discuss each question with students, and after each discussion, have them mark on a sheet of paper whether they would answer true or false. Have students pass their answers to you. When the students get into Phase 2, you can tally up the results. Phase 2. Have students work in pairs, reading the entire text (pp. 8-11), to find evidence that supports or contradicts each statement. Students should summarize this evidence next to each statement (with page and paragraph number for each quote) and write down True or False. Phase 3. Lead a discussion on the results, asking for specific evidence from the booklet to support or contradict the statement. (See the evidence listed on the sheet For the Teacher that follows the student handout.) Wrap-Up: Ask the students: Were you surprised with any of the results? Why do you think it s important to learn about early Zionist history?
Facts and Myths: Jewish Settlement of Israel To the Student: Find supporting or contradictory pieces of evidence from the text for each of the statements below. Statement True or False? Evidence (from pages 8-11) The modern Israel predated World War II and the Holocaust. Modern Israel was established because of the Holocaust. When Zionist pioneers came to Palestine in the mid-1800s, they found a flourishing and developed land. The Zionist pioneers underwent many hardships in their efforts to settle the land. Many of the Zionist pioneers fled from Europe and the Middle East between the years 1880-1939 because of oppression and persecution against Jews in their countries. Most of the Zionist pioneers who came to the land before World War I were wealthy. They came equipped with arms and the support of several nations around the world. The term Palestine was always associated with Arab residents of the land, not Jews.
Facts and Myths: Jewish Settlement of Israel For the Teacher Statement True or False? Evidence (from pages 8-11) The roots of modern Israel predated World war II and the Holocaust. Modern Israel was established because of the Holocaust. When Zionist pioneers came to Palestine in the mid-1800s, they found a flourishing and developed land. The Zionist pioneers underwent many hardships in their efforts to settle the land. Many of the Zionist pioneers fled from Europe and the Middle East between the years 1880-1939 because of oppression and persecution against Jews in their countries. Most of the Zionist pioneers who came to the land before World War I were wealthy. They came equipped with arms and the support of several nations around the world. The term Palestine was always associated with Arab residents of the land, not Jews. True False False True True False False Between 1882 and 1914, a new kind of Jewish immigrant arrived who laid the groundwork for the modern Jewish State (p. 8, first column). See above answer. Also see Unit 2 ( Ties that Bind ) and its first activity, which explores the long and strong connection between Jews and Israel. Much of the land was uncultivated swampland or sand dunes (p. 9). As written in the 1937 Peel Commission Report: Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamps and uncultivated when it was bought (p. 9, second column). Early Zionist pioneers worked hard to drain the swamps and cultivate the land. See quotes on p. 9, second column. Between 1881 and 1906, Jews in Russia were slaughtered. See quotes on p. 8, first column. From 1919-1939, in the third to fifth Aliyot, many Jews immigrated to Israel to escape persecution. See table on p. 11. The returning Jews had no powerful nation to help them. They had no weapons. They were often penniless. See p. 8, second column. To the contrary, from the first century when Rome renamed the Jewish state Palestine until 1948, when the reborn Jewish State was named Israel, Palestine was always associated with the Jewish residents of the land. See box on bottom of p. 9.
Activities Activity 4 What s in a Name? The Evolution of the Term Palestine. Preparation: Estimate time: Half a class period Materials: Israel 101, Internet access for research. Background: For centuries, the name Palestine was associated with the Holy Land and with Jews and Christians. In the first half of the 20th century, until 1948, it was associated almost exclusively with Jews. Since 1968, Palestinian has come to refer almost exclusively to Arabs who had lived in the Palestine Mandate. The evolution of the meaning of the term Palestinian has had important political ramifications. In history, the changing of place names has been an indicator of important political changes (for example, the name Constantinople was changed to Istanbul in 1453 (see ask.yahoo.com/20030225.html); and Jordan renamed Judea and Samaria the West Bank after annexing it in 1950 (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/west_bank)). Exploring the evolution of this term will give students insight into the history of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and give them a larger perspective about what changing place names has meant historically. The political and national history of an area is often revealed by what is in a name. Activity: Introduction: Give students the information in the Background above. Have students break into groups of four to research and answer the following questions. (Students can use Israel 101 and/or do their own internet research. The following site has useful information and links: www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_palestine_israel_antiquity.php.) What was the name of the region before it came to be called the land of Israel in Biblical times? What was the name of the Jewish homeland/nation prior to the Roman defeat in 70 and 135 AD? When and how did the homeland of the Jews get renamed Palestine? What names did Jews and Christians use for the Holy Land between 135 AD and 1948? How was Palestine defined between 135 AD and the establishment of the British Mandate in 1920? What were its boundaries, language, history and culture? What evidence is there that Jews identified as Palestinian during the British Mandate? Why did the name Palestine go out of usage between 1948 and 1964? What are the names Palestine and Palestinian associated with today? What other important place name changes have there been in history? Why were they changed? What symbolic or real message did the name changes have?
Activities Activity 4 Discussion: Bring the class together and carry on a discussion answering the questions listed on the previous page. (Teachers: A brief answer sheet is on the next page.) Then expand the discussion to raise the following issues: How important is a name? How important is it in your personal life and to your personal identity? (For example, do you have a nickname you don t like? How was your last name decided? Why did the Women s Movement encourage women to keep their maiden names even after they married?) Why are place names so important in history? What happens to the original name when a place is renamed? What does renaming show about sovereignty? What happens to the history of a place when it is renamed? Is it forgotten? What happens when a national group lays claim to a name originally associated with a different national group? How and why does reviving a name have historical and political implications? What impact do such revivals have on historical associations with a place? Wrap-up: The term Palestine has gone in and out of usage. Originally identified with Jews, today it is associated primarily with Arabs who lived in the Palestine Mandate. This transformation reflects the changing history of the land, of the Jewish national liberation movement, and of the Palestinian movement.
Teacher Brief Answer Sheet What was the name of the region before it came to be called the land of Israel in Biblical times? What was the name of the Jewish homeland/ nation prior to the Roman defeat in 70 and 135 AD? When and how did the homeland of the Jews get renamed Palestine? What names did Jews and Christians use for the Holy Land between 135 AD and 1948? How was Palestine defined between 135 AD and the establishment of the British Mandate in 1920? What were its boundaries, language, history and culture? Canaan. It was known as the land of the Israelites (Israel) from c. 1200 BCE until about 950 BCE when the kingdom divided into two with Israel in the north (Samaria) and Judah in the south (Judea). The Romans put down the first Jewish rebellion in 70 AD. Jews rebelled again in 135 AD. When that rebellion was stamped out, the Romans chose to rename the land so Judea would be erased from history and forgotten. They renamed it after the Jews historical enemy, the Philistines. Subsequently, the land was known as Syria-Palestina. While the generally used name was Palestine, Jews usually used Eretz Yisrael. When modern Zionism was organized, Jews generally used both names Palestine and Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel). No nation-state replaced the Jewish nation after the Roman conquest, so there was no special national history, language or culture that emerged. Muslim rulers never saw Palestine as a discrete political or administrative unit and divided the land into separate administrative districts. (See first map on p. 6 of Israel 101.) Palestine was only known as a vague region that did not have any known boundaries. The British Mandate established boundaries in 1920. What evidence is there that Jews identified as Palestinian during the British Mandate? Palestine was the term used by the Zionists, and countless Jewish organizations, agencies, businesses, newspapers, and cultural organizations used Palestine in their names. (See insert on p. 9 of Israel 101.) Why did the name Palestine go out of general usage between 1948 and 1964? What are the names Palestine and Palestinian associated with today? The British Mandate for Palestine ended, and there was no land called Palestine anymore. The Jewish State took the name Israel (after Eretz Ysrael), and all its Arab and Jewish population were known as Israelis. Jordan occupied and annexed Judea and Samaria, renamed them the West Bank, and identified it as part of Jordan. Egypt occupied Gaza and did not call it Palestine. Today, the names Palestine and Palestinian are associated exclusively with Arabs who lived in the Mandate and in the West Bank and Gaza. What other important place name changes have there been in history? Why were they changed? What symbolic or real message did the name changes have? There are multiple examples of place name changes that students can examine. For example, Constantinople and Istanbul; Babylonia and Iraq; Yugoslavia and Serbia, Bosnia, and Kosovo; USSR (no longer exists); Macedonia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the conflict over the name; U.S.A. (How did it get its name and what did it imply?); and Native American place names in the U.S. What happened to them, and what did the renaming mean? What other important place name changes have there been in history? Why were they changed? What symbolic or real message did the name changes have?
Activities Activity 5 State Building How do you do it? Preparation: Estimated time: One or two class periods. Materials: Israel 101, internet access for research. Background: Often, achieving national independence is romanticized, and the less glamorous, nitty-gritty of actually building a functioning state is overlooked. When the U.S. declared its independence from Britain, it was faced with the challenge of building a functioning, unified nation. Israel s history is an excellent insight into this process. During the Mandate years, Zionists built essentially a proto-state that made the transition to actual independence far easier than it has been for many other countries emerging from colonial control. Yishuv refers to the Jewish population who lived in Palestine before the State of Israel was established. The Yishuv developed political parties, opened employment offices and founded agricultural collectives, soup kitchens, loan funds, newspapers, and schools. The main labor union, the Histadrut, was founded in 1920; it engaged in labor exchanges and sponsored construction companies and an underground army. The Yishuv set up an assembly (Knesset Yisrael), which was elected by people who were more than 20 years old and had at least three months residence in the region. The Jewish Agency (Sochnut) was set up in 1929; among other things, it was responsible for the Yishuv s internal affairs, such as immigration allocating certificates supplied by the Mandate Authority and resettlement of new immigrants, the building of new settlements, economic development, education, culture, hospitals and health services. Thus, by the time the Mandate ended, the Yishuv had developed the infrastructure for a self-governing state. Few emerging states have been able to do this so effectively. Activity: 1. Explain the background described above. 2. Ask students what is necessary for a nation to function, which should range from garbage pickup to tax systems to a system of laws. Discuss some of the elements of state-building with students. 3. Have students pick out evidence of this proto-state building in the text on early settlement in Israel 101. 4. Have students research one or more aspects of this proto-state building in Israel, how they worked and how they could then become the infrastructure for a state. 5. If you wish, have students break into groups, with each group choosing a newly formed nation to see how it addressed these same challenges. Students can pick the U.S. after its founding, any of the Latin American states, India, Pakistan, the new states of Africa, or the newly independent states from the former Soviet Union. This can provide an interesting comparative study for students, and students can discuss why some states were more successful than others and try to evaluate what the most crucial elements for successful state building are. Wrap-up: Israel faced enormous challenges in developing a proto-state that could take over the reins of government once independence was achieved. Other new states face the same challenges, and in comparing their successes and failures with Israel, we can get insights into some of the most critical elements required to build a state.
Resources Internet Timeline of dates. See sections entitled Ottoman Rule and British Rule. www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/history/history+of+israel/facts%20about%20israel-%20history Conditions faced by early Zionist settlers of BILU, 1880s. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/zionism/bilu.html Physical conditions in Israel in the late 1800s, land purchases made by Jewish settlers and benefactors, and living conditions for Arabs from 1880s-1940s www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/history/arabs_in_palestine.html First Aliyah 1882-1903 www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/immigration/first_aliyah.html Second Aliyah 1904-1914 www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/immigration/second_aliyah.html Third Aliyah 1919-1923 www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/immigration/third_aliyah.html Fourth Aliyah 1924-1929 www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/immigration/fourth_aliyah.html Fifth Aliyah 1929-1939 www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/immigration/fifth_aliyah.html Founding of Petah Tikvah, 1878. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/society_&_culture/geo/petahtikvah.html Information about the kibbutz; see especially the first three paragraphs. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/society_&_culture/kibbutz.html Arab riots in Palestine, 1920s, role of Grand Mufti 1. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/history/riots29.html 2. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/history/mufti.html HaShomer, settlers self-defense organization established in lower Galilee in 1909. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/history/ha-shomer.html History of Haganah, an organization formed for self-defense, which later became the IDF. www.zionism-israel.com/haganah.htm Online Videos Short video (approximately two minutes) featuring architectural style of early Tel Aviv; scroll down to The White City. www.israelupclose.org/categories/placesofinterest.html From the Steven Spielberg Jewish Archive A Day in the Life of Degania (first kibbutz in Israel) from 1937 http://w3.castup.net/spielberg/index.aspx?lang=en&id=69 (15 minutes) A silent film about New Immigrants (41 min. with English subtitles) promotional by Jewish Agency w3.castup.net/spielberg/index.aspx?lang=en&id=30 Agricultural development, 1947, English, Jewish National Fund w3.castup.net/spielberg/index.aspx?lang=en&id=32 The definitive film about restoring the land 1935 (1 hour) w3.castup.net/spielberg/index.aspx?lang=en&id=217
Books Factual, in-depth narratives describing creation of state of Israel and War of Independence. Collins, Larry and Lapierre, Dominique (1972). O Jerusalem! (Simon and Schuster). Kurzman, Dan (1970). Genesis 1948: The First Arab-Israeli (New American Library, Inc.). Early settlement and creation of state of Israel (historical fiction). Halter, Marek (1990). Children of Abraham (NY, Arcade Publishing). Michener, James A. (1956). The Source. Uris, Leon (1959). Exodus (Recent paperback version Bantam: 1983). Wouk, Herman (1993). The Hope (Boston: Little Brown & Co.). Film Pillar of Fire. Produced by IBA (Israel Broadcast Association). Parts 1-2. Exodus Video The following video is available at no charge (except shipping) from: www.israelupclose.org/stories.html Volume 6: The White City Spotlights Tel Aviv and its many buildings built in the Bauhaus architectural style.