Herzl, Theodor, 1860-1904; Zionism; Zionists -- Austria -- Biography
Herzl clung to the idea which had come to him when he was thinking of
the Jewish State as a pamphlet, that it might be better for him to
write a novel. The impulse to write such a novel became irresistible
after his visit to Palestine. It was to be called "Altneuland." He
began to write it in 1899. It was completed in April 1902, and
published six months later. It is remarkable that he could write such
a novel while engaged in varied political activities in
Constantinople, in London and in Berlin; and while he had to deal with
the many troublesome internal Zionist problems.
"Altneuland" was a novel with a purpose. It described the Palestine of
the near future as it would develop through the Zionist Movement. It
had the weaknesses of every propaganda novel. The entire work has
something of the state about it and proceeds in the form of scenes
rather than by way of narrative. Each type has a specific outlook.
Most of the characters are portraits of living personalities. It was
his purpose to memorialize his friends and his opponents.
"Altneuland" tells of a Jew who visits Palestine in 1898 and then
comes again in 1923 when he finds the Promised Land developed under
Jewish influence. Its territory lies East and West of the Jordan. The
dead land of 1898 is now thoroughly alive. Its real creators were the
irrigation engineers. Technology had given a new form to labor, a new
social and economic system had been created which is described as
"mutualistic," a huge cooperative, a mediate form between
individualism and collectivism. Haifa had become a world city. Around
the Holy City of Jerusalem, modern suburbs had arisen, shaded
boulevards and parks, institutes of learning, places of amusement,
markets--"a world city in the spirit of the twentieth century." In
this new land, the Arabs live side by side in friendship with the
Jews.
"Altneuland" did not produce the effect Herzl had expected. Within the
Zionist Movement it did more harm than good. Many of Herzl's friends
were disappointed that the novel should have so little of the Jewish
spirit. It ignored the Hebraic renaissance. The novel evoked the
sharpest criticism from Achad Haam.
* * * * *
While Herzl was immersed in political action, visiting European
capitals, carrying on correspondence with leading persons whose
interest in Zionism he had engaged, and submitting reports to the
Zionist Congress or to the Actions Committee, often facing critical
situations in his struggle with growing Zionist parties, the Zionist
Organization was gradually becoming an accepted institution in Jewish
life. It was the international sounding board for the discussion of
the Jewish question. The Jewish National Fund was founded at the
Fourth Congress held in London in 1900. The Jewish Colonial Trust was
finally established with headquarters in London.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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