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Με τη φαντασία γίνεσαι θεός και ρήγας κι’ έχεις την ψυχή μιάς μύγας.
Κ. Βάρναλης
CARROT
Question: Do you support Zionism?
PROLEGOMENON
How boring or how fascinating is Zionism? Based on its related definitions below, Zionism might be a rather boring issue, for a Hellene that is.
According to Ρήγας Βελεστινλής, Hellenes do not dabble in the politics of any other ethnos but our own. And based on our ethos, it is not admissible for any other ethnos to dabble in our own politics.
So, it might me much more practical at this juncture to sharply focus the tribunal efforts of our own ethnos on discerning the differences between Ελληνισμός and Hellenism (or Hellenismus, its Latin transliteration) which, by the way, do not cover the same grounds. Yet, Ελληνισμός, i.e., what we, the living Hellenes, are hanging on to, refuses to die.
It might be useful taking a tour to the headquarters of Ελληνισμός once in a while, but let that temptation pass for now and save that grand plan for another occasion. Let us therefore limit ourselves to whatever has happened and still continues to happen as Ελληνισμός after so many adventures and transformations through the centuries for the last two thousand years.
According to the worldview or Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hobsbawm), Ελληνισμός, Hellenism and Zionism are nothing but aberrations. Simply put they cannot exist.
One of Hobsbawm’s views concerns the development of traditions. His work is a study of their social construction in the context of the nation state. He argues that many traditions are invented by national elites to justify the existence and importance of their respective nation states (‘Nations and Nationalism since 1780’, 1990).
So, if Ελληνισμός, Hellenism and Zionism are just invented by national elites, then how can one respond to the question: «Do you support Zionism?» Unless, of course, the person attempting an answer is a member of a national elite.
I am not. So, I simply cannot answer the question.
And what if Eric Hobsbawm is wrong (Αντίκρουση του Χόμπσμπαουμ στα περί έθνους. Ελευθεροτυπία 6.4.1995: http://contogeorgis.blogspot.com/2008/02/641995.html)? Then let the Jewish ethnos explore its Zionism, while we, the living Hellenes, work hard at discerning the differences between Ελληνισμός and Hellenism, within our own ethnos. Now, would that not result in peace?
DEFINITIONS
Zion – A hill within the city of Jerusalem. God’s temple was built on Zion. Sometimes Zion or Daughter of Zion is used to refer to the whole city of Jerusalem, or to the people of God. The New Testament refers to Mount Zion as the New Jerusalem. It is part of the new heaven and new earth that we will see in the future.
Zionism (Hebrew: ציונות, Tsiyonut) is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state and address threats to its continued existence and security. In a less common usage, the term may also refer to 1) non-political, Cultural Zionism, founded and represented most prominently by Ahad Ha’am; and 2) political support for the State of Israel by non-Jews, as in Christian Zionism.
Sources: Jeffrey S. Gurock, American Zionism: mission and politics (1998) p 289; Moshe Davis, Zionism in transition (1980) p 56; “Zionism: Changed perceptions of,” in Glenda Abramson, ed. Encyclopedia of modern Jewish culture (2005) vol 2 p Page 991. A national liberation movement: Rockaway, Robert. Zionism: The National Liberation Movement of The Jewish People, World Zionist Organization, January 21, 1975, accessed August 17, 2006). Shlomo Avineri: (Zionism as a Movement of National Liberation, Hagshama department of the World Zionist Organization, December 12, 2003, accessed August 17, 2006). Neuberger, Binyamin. Introduction Zionism – an Introduction, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, August 20, 2001. Retrieved August 17, 2006).
Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy. It overlaps with, but is distinct from, the nineteenth century movement for the Restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land, which had both religiously and politically motivated supporters. The term Christian Zionism was popularized in the mid-twentieth century. Prior to that time the common term was Restorationism (http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_jewishlife6.php).
The World Zionist Organization (Hebrew: ההסתדרות הציונית העולמית), or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization (Hebrew: ההסתדרות הציונית), or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland.[1] It changed its name to World Zionist Organization in January 1960.
Source: Chapter 2: The Seven Years of Herzl of Zionism – The First 120 Years by the Jewish Agency.
Δρ. Παναγιώτης Ήφαιστος: Κάποιοι βλέπουν φαντάσματα: Εθνικιστές και … νεοεθνικιστές. Που είναι; Εμείς παντού βλέπουμε μόνο Έλληνες και τους εκφράζει ο Ρήγας Βελεστινλής: «Άμα φύγει ο τύραννος, ο ελληνικός λαός θα είναι φίλος και σύμμαχος με όλα τα ελεύθερα έθνη. Οι Έλληνες δεν ανακατεύονται εις την διοίκηση των άλλων εθνών, αλλά ούτε είναι εις αυτούς αποδεκτό να ανακατωθούν άλλα έθνη εις την δική τους. Δεν κάμνουν ποτέ ειρήνη με ένα εχθρό ο οποίος κατακρατεί ελληνικό τόπο».
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