Summary
The quasi-state apparatus established at Basel in 1897, in Sayegh’s account, to mastermind and supervise Zionist colonisation of Palestine in the absence of a Zionist state of its own, and later recognised by Britain as a representative Jewish Agency.
Details
- Lacking a state-structure in a home-base of its own, the Zionist Movement required a quasi-state apparatus; the World Zionist Organization, with its Federations of local societies, its Congress, its General Council, and its Central Executive, was established at Basel at the First Zionist Congress to play that role, and organisational efforts were given supreme priority (Zionist Colonialism in Palestine, PDF p.5 / printed p.210).
- The first colonisation institutions Sayegh lists were established by the Zionist Organisation: the Jewish Colonial Trust (1898), the Colonization Commission (1898), the Jewish National Fund (1901) and the Palestine Office (1908), to plan, finance and supervise colonisation (Zionist Colonialism in Palestine, PDF p.5 / printed p.210).
- Early Zionist diplomacy urged European powers to persuade the Sultan to grant the Organisation a Charter for an autonomous Zionist settlement in Palestine (Zionist Colonialism in Palestine, PDF p.6 / printed p.211).
- Under the alliance with British imperialism, Britain recognised the World Zionist Organisation as a representative Jewish Agency (Zionist Colonialism in Palestine, PDF p.7 / printed p.212; see Jewish Agency).
Related pages
Zionist Colonialism in Palestine, First Zionist Congress, Jewish National Fund, Jewish Agency, Zionism