09-23-2024, 11:01 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-23-2024, 11:02 AM by COmentator.)
Jabotinsky vs Ben-Gurion
The Ethics of the Iron Wall,” Jabotinsky cited a Talmudic story to illustrate his view. Two men find a piece of cloth on the road. “A” says “I found it. It’s mine.” But “B” says: “No, I found it, and it’s mine.” They take their dispute to a judge and A—hoping to impress the judge with his magnanimity—says: “We both found the cloth, and therefore I ask only half of it, because the second half belongs to B.” Jabotinsky noted the Talmudic teaching is “very disappointing to our magnanimous gentleman”:
The judge says: “There is agreement about one half of the cloth. ‘A’ admits that it belongs to B. So it is only the second half that is in dispute. We shall, therefore divide this into two halves.” And the obstinate claimant gets three-quarters of the cloth, while the “gentleman” has only one quarter, and it serves him right. It is a very fine thing to be a gentleman, but it is no reason for being an idiot. Our ancestors knew that. But we have forgotten it. We should bear it in mind. … It is incredible what political simpletons Jews are. They shut their eyes to one of the most elementary rules of life, that you must not “meet halfway” those who do not want to meet you.[1]
1938
Later that month, Jabotinsky testified in London before the Palestine Royal Commission (colloquially named the “Peel Commission” after its chairman, Lord Peel), which had been charged with making recommendations for Palestine. For years, Jabotinsky had been calling for a Jewish exodus from Eastern Europe, and the formation of a Jewish majority in Palestine as the basis of a Jewish state. He was savaged by other Jewish leaders for what they called his “evacuationism.” In his testimony before the Commission, Jabotinsky said:
I am very much afraid that what I am going to say will not be popular with many among my co-religionists, and I regret that, but the truth is the truth. We are facing an elemental calamity … We have got to save millions, many millions. I do not know whether it is a question of re-housing one-third of the Jewish race, half of the Jewish race, or a quarter of the Jewish race; I do not know; but it is a question of millions … [I]t is quite understandable that the Arabs of Palestine would also prefer Palestine to be the Arab State No. 4, No. 5, or No. 6—that I quite understand. But when the Arab claim is confronted with our Jewish demand to be saved, it is like the claims of appetite versus the claims of starvation.
August 5, an unsigned note from talks with Vladimir Jabotinsky regarding Jewish emigration to Palestine Secret Note from conversations with Mr. Jabotinsky on August 5, 1938. At the breakfast attended by: Z. Jabotinsky, S. Schechtmann, Col. Wenda, Director Żyborski, Director M.B. Lepecki, Col. Banach, Director Z. Lepecki, Dr. Dylinger, Chief Zarychta, Dr. Wagner.
In his very extensive speech, Mr. Jabotinsky touched on the following interesting moments from this speech: 1) Palestine, of course, "Great Palestine" on both sides of the Jordan, is a country which, despite its external appearances, can accommodate the entire Jewish diaspora, i.e., 15,000,000 Jews. Mr. Jabotinsky is sure that in 60 years, we will see the implementation of this process. There will be funds for sufficiently deep drilling to reach the water. The existing difficulties are well known, but they can be conquered, and since they are possible, they will be fought.
2) Palestine does not play a significant role for the Arabs. Although diverse, this tribe occupies the area from Morocco to the Persian Gulf, so it has enough space to accommodate its population, which currently lives in Palestine.
3) Can Jews be accommodated outside Palestine? Mr. J. claims that it is possible, "but I don't believe in it; I only believe in Palestine, and I vote only for it." [...] 7) Mr. Jabotinsky believes that in our situation, we can afford, and even the development of events requires it, to raise the slogan towards the Jewish group: "We want you to have it with us as they have today in England ... that the percentage ratio of Jews to Poles is 1/2%, i.e., it corresponded to the percentage of Jews to English people in Great Britain." In relation to Polish anti-Semites, the slogan would be: "Only in a calm atmosphere will we achieve the liquidation of the Jewish minority in Poland."
8) These two slogans are a consequence of Mr. J. reasoning, which states that panic does not help solve the problem; only in an atmosphere of calm and certainty can such a complex and complicated problem as the Jewish issue be effectively solved. He cited the example of pre-war Germany, where Herzl's Zionist idea was created thanks to the peace and favorable atmosphere. Mr. J. further says, calling himself a cynic, that if panic could lead to a great exodus, he would be the one to incite it.
9) Mr. Jabotinsky recalled that he declared the need for a great Jewish emigration from Poland regardless of our emigration desiderata and much earlier than the beginning of the great anti-emigration campaign on the part of Jews in Poland. He was fully aware that this slogan would be unpopular. Yet, believing in it and seeing it as the only solution to the Polish and global situation, he decided to announce it. He further promised that he was ready to tell the Jewish masses in the same conditions that, while maintaining his position on the great emigration, he also drew attention to the fact that world Jewry would have to help Poland in the sense that this great Jewish emigration should not take place at the expense of economic losses. Polish, i.e., that Poles must oppose the export of Polish capital and that such opposition is right from Poland's position. In this situation, the Jews will have to develop a plan that will respect Poland's interests.
10) Even though both the first, already accomplished declaration and the promised one are very unpopular, Mr. J. is sure of the final victory, especially in the current changing situation, which will provide him with the support of the majority of the Jewish masses. Jews already seem to understand his ideas. Mr. J. declared that if he obtained the "recognition" of the Polish Government, he would bury his opponents with "hats."
11) The difference between Zionism and Mr. J.'s ideology is roughly that Zionism wants to take the Jewish elite out of Poland and leave - as Mr. J. expressed - "Jewish cattle," Mr. J., and above all, wants to deport the impoverished Jewish masses, in accordance with his central thesis about the liquidation of the entire diaspora. [...] Mr. J's requests boil down to support and official recognition of his organization in Poland, breaking the monopoly that the Jewish Agency has created for itself, exerting a decisive influence on England, and allowing Poland to take an unambiguous position according to the abovementioned motives. [...] Polskie Dokumenty Dyplomatyczne 1939 (google translated)[2]
In August 1938, Jabotinsky was in Warsaw, delivering an address on Tisha b’Av, the day set aside to remember the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. To the Jews of Poland, he set forth both a warning and a vision:
It is for three years that I have been calling on you, Jews of Poland, the glory of world Jewry, with an appeal. I have been ceaselessly warning you that the catastrophe is coming closer. My hair has turned white and I have aged in these years, because my heart is bleeding, for you, dear brothers and sisters, do not see the volcano which will soon begin to spurt out the fire of destruction. I see a terrifying sight. The time is short in which one can still be saved. I know: you do not see, because you are bothered and rushing about with everyday worries … Listen to my remarks at the twelfth hour. For God’s sake: may each one save his life while there is still time. And time is short. I want to say one more thing to you on this day of the Ninth of Av: Those who will succeed to escape from the catastrophe will merit a moment of great Jewish joy — the rebirth and rise of a Jewish State. I do not know if I will earn that. My son, yes! I believe in this just as I am sure that tomorrow morning the sun will shine once again. I believe in this with total faith.[3]
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In contrast After the Kristallnight Pogram of November 1938: If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I would choose the latter, for before us lies not only the numbers of these children but the historical reckoning of the people of Israel. [David Ben-Gurion]
why Jabotinsky still matters
Jewish revenistist
Jabotinsky lost moment
This page was last edited on 23 September 2024, at 10:59.
