The origins and the development of Zionism and its impact on the world
Though Zionists would very much like to assert the opposite to be the case, Zionism and Judaism are not one and the same.
The context in which Zionism developed
In the nineteenth century Europe was undergoing radical changes. For much of central and eastern Europe, many different ethnic groups were subsumed within broader empires. But, as the century progressed, there were increasing demands for democracy and for these different ethnic groups to have their own territory and to be able to determine their own future. Nationalism was not the only idea gaining adherents. Socialism and communism were also competing for the hearts and minds of people throughout Europe.
This was a nationalism that had some very ugly undertones. It was heavily influenced by the work of Charles Darwin on natural selection. Ethnic groups became seen as acting like different species. To survive they needed to compete with other groups and to be able to get the better of these other groups or face extinction. Added to this potent mixture were pseudo-scientific theories which developed the notion of there being a hierarchy of races, some racial groups were seen as being "better" than others.
The full horror of these views became all too clear with the rise of Nazi Germany. For Germany to be able to survive and to compete with other nations, it was believed that the German people needed to have control over the resources they needed to thrive in the modern world. Most of all, they needed to have more living space, "lebensraum", and they saw the best way of doing this as being eastward expansion. After all, to the east were Slavic peoples who were seen to be inferior to the Aryan Germans. These were people who were dehumanised by Nazi propaganda to justify slaughtering them in large numbers in order to attain more land for the German race.
The Zionist project in Palestine has always been about removing the people who were already inhabiting the land, where they were not Jews. The word "transfer" is used to refer to this removal although the Zionists over the years have proven to be very flexible in how they interpret this word. Non Jews are seen as inferior and to be treated accordingly. What we are now seeing in Gaza and the West Bank is the culmination of the Zionist project as it seeks to "cleanse" the land of all non Jews. There is even talk of revisionist Zionists who seek a greater Israel expanding well beyond its existing borders.
The manipulation of the west
From the very outset the Zionists knew that they would need the support of others to achieve their objectives. Initially the creation of a Jewish homeland was portrayed as being the creation of a European friendly bulwark against the east. Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, described it as being "a portion of a rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilisation as opposed to Barbarism." If you appeal to the most basic prejudices and fears of somebody, as many unscrupulous political leaders have known for a long time, this is a great way of garnering support.
The betrayal of the Arabs, who had helped open up a southern front against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for the promise of a future independent Arab state, is not one of Britain's finest moments. Not only did Britain fail to deliver on this promise but Britain also supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland which would be populated by people who were clear at the outset that their ultimate objective was the very ethnic cleansing of Palestine which we see to this day. The militias formed to carve out this objective carried out a number of terrorist attacks against the British throughout the period of the mandate, including the hanging of two British soldiers. The bodies were booby trapped by these early battlers for this outpost of civilisation.
As the Cold War developed the new state of Israel was presented as being a friend of the West - this time acting as a bulwark against Soviet influence in the region. The 6 day war of 1967 was an opportunity for the West to see its military equipment tested against that of the Soviet Union.