I do not know where else in history that we have a people disposed from a land for two thousand years, scattered all over the world, who reconvene through an international movement and regain their homeland.I also can not recall any group suffering the violent and irrational hatred of so many nations as the Jews have.Lacqueur's history traces this unique movement.It's success was very fragile; the many decisions from world leaders could have gone much differently if made a few years sooner or later.Jews did not initially support it broadly; many prefered assimilation to their country of birth and some felt that the growing socialist movement provided a better answer to anti-Semitism. Even within the Zionist movement political infighting was strong.
Yet the worst fears of those seeking a refuge from growing European anti-Semitism did not forsee the scope of the Holocaust, exterminating 6 out of 7 Jews in Europe.This emboldened the survivors and motivated just barely enough world sympathy to formulate the creation of the Jewish state.
The reaction of the Arabs was neither surprising or unique in the course of developing nations.Lacqueur has the advantage of hindsight to examine policy mistakes and examine how it could have been different, but concludes the difficulty would have remained regardless.
This examination shows Zionism not as a righteous holy ordained movement,nor is it a an evil racist colonial movement as the modern Arab media prefers to portray it.It was a politically and diplomatically unique solution to a very serious and unique problem.
That the success of the Zionist enterprise has not yet yielded the peace they so desperately seek, makes this work only an introduction, but a valuable source to those seeking to understand the volatile Middle Middle East of the 21st century.There are many more chapters to be written.
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