Wisniewski 1

Andrea Wisniewski
Professor Braude
Middle Eastern Nationalisms
11/11/2016
The Jewish Territorialist Movement
Though the majority of Jews focused on achieving a Jewish land in Palestine, there was a
minority movement of Jews who looked elsewhere for a Jewish home. The territorialist
movement, which grew out of the Zionist Organizations rejection of the British offer of land in
the East African Protectorate, sought to establish a land for Jews outside of Palestine. For the
first half of the twentieth century, men such as Israel Zangwill and Isaac Nachman Steinberg
negotiated with governments all over the world in the hopes of securing land. Though many of
these attempts to gain land outside of Palestine came close to success, all of them ended up
failing due to resistance from the majority Zionist faction and resistance from the state
apparatuses which controlled the possible territories.
Though territorialism did not coalesce into an organized movement until the early 20th
century, territorialist ideas were espoused by several early Zionist leaders. Leo Pinsker, in his
1882 Zionist tract Auto-Emancipation: An Appeal to His People by a Russian Jew, writes: The
goal of our present endeavors must be not the Holy Land, but a land of our own. We need
nothing but a large piece of land for our poor brothers; a piece of land which shall remain our
property, from which no foreign master can expel us. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Pinsker believed that,
although Palestine should be the first choice for the location of a Jewish homeland, other options
should be considered as well. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Pinsker was not the only Zionist leader to consider
settlement outside of Palestine. In the 1890s, Baron Maurice de Hirschs plan to create a Jewish
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea, 194.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Netanyahu, The Founding Fathers of Zionism, 53.

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settlement in Argentina set off a firestorm of debate amongst the Jews of Eastern
Europe. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Theodor Herzl, considered the Argentina debate in his seminal work The
Jewish State: Is Palestine or Argentina preferable? The Society [of Jews] will take whatever it
is given and whatever Jewish public opinion favors. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Though there were
certainly some who were open to the idea of Jewish settlement elsewhere, much of the discourse
at the turn of the century was focused on efforts to secure Palestine for the Jews. For the Jews,
Palestine was the unforgettable historic homeland, the Promised Land given by God to His
Chosen People. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
The so-called Uganda Plan was broached on April 23, 1903 during a meeting between Theodor
Herzl and the British colonial secretary Joseph Chamberlain. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Though he had
earlier seemed to be open to the idea of Jewish settlement of Argentina, Herzl was hesitant to
accept an offer of territory outside of the Middle East, telling Chamberlain: Our base must be in
or near Palestine. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP However, after other negotiations with the Egyptian
government to acquire El-Arish, a territory on the Sinai Peninsula located next to Palestine,
broke down, Herzl was more receptive to Chamberlains offer. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP In addition, just
days before Herzls meeting with Chamberlain, a series of anti-Semitic riots broke out in the
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 7.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea, 222.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, African Zion, 61.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 54.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, African Zion, 53,59; Alroey, Zionism without Zion,
17.

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town of Kishinev in Russia. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP By the end of the violence, almost fifty lay dead and
another eighty-six were wounded. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Herzl wrote to Max Nordau, a fellow Zionist
leader, of the necessity of setting up a Jewish homeland in the wake of the Kishinev program:
We must give an answer to Kishinev and this [the creation of a Jewish settlement outside of
Palestine] is the only possible one. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Despite his initial misgivings, Herzl was
prepared to accept the offer of East Africa. A draft charter was drawn up by the British
government, providing for a yet to be decided tract of land for Jewish settlement in the East
Africa Protectorate which would be governed by a Jewish governor and be given the power to
create all necessary legislation for the successful administration of the settlement. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
With the initial negotiations for the territory complete, all that was left to do was to present the
idea to the Jewish community and gauge their interest in the plan.
The Sixth Zionist Congress of August 1903 was the setting of Herzls announcement of the
British offer of land in the East African Protectorate. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP In his opening speech,
Herzl asked the members of the Congress to consider whether to create a commission to look
into the matter further. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP This announcement set off several days of debate, with
two distinct factions emerging: those who were in favor of a sending a commission to East Africa
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 29; Heymann et al., The
Uganda Controversy, 6.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 29.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Buber, On Zion, 139.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, African Zion, 7273.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 31.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Friedenwald, Sixth Zionist Congress in Basle ... Report ..., 4.

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and those opposed. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Dr. Harry Friedenwald, the delegate to the conference from
Baltimore, remarked that some delegates feared for harm; others saw in it the opening of a new
era in our history; some looked upon it as full of danger and destruction to the Zionist
movement; to others it appeared as the first stepthe first active stepin the accomplishment of
our ultimate successthe first step on the road to Zion. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP One particular bloc of
opposition was the Russian delegation to the Congress. The Russians were concerned that the
formation of a committee to consider the East Africa offer implied indifference towards the
acquisition of land for the Jews in Palestine. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP After days of debate, the Congress
finally voted on whether to send an exploratory commission to East Africa; the vote was 295 in
favor to 178 against. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Upset by the decision of the Congress, the Russian
contingent left the hall in protest. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Though the Zionist Congress had decided to
send a commission to East Africa to scout land for the territory, the debate over whether to accept
the offer was just beginning.
Not only did the announcement of a Jewish settlement create a fervent debate among the
members of the Sixth Zionist Congress, but it also resulted in a debate among the inhabitants of
the East African Protectorate. The debate in East Africa took on a distinctly anti-Semitic tone.
Anti-Semitic letters were reprinted in the main newspaper The African Standard, and local
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 56.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Friedenwald, Sixth Zionist Congress in Basle ... Report ..., 4.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Vital, Zionism, the Formative Years, 285.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 57.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Bloom, A Concise History of the Zionist Congress from 1897
to 2006.

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journalists quipped that the settlement of Jews would turn the territory into
Jewganda. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP There were concerns that Jewish settlers would not be able to
assimilate into East African culture and society. A.E. Atkinson, a British settler in East Africa,
stated that the Jews made themselves obnoxious to the people of any country they lived in and
would only hinder East Africas success. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Many colonists wondered why the land
was being handed over to the Jews when there were plenty of poor Englishmen who could settle
the land. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Lord Delamere, the leader of a committee formed to oppose the plan,
cabled a message to the London Times, expressing his deep animosity to the plan to settle nonEnglish peoples in the colony:
Flood of people of that class sure to lead to trouble with half-tamed natives jealous of their
rights. Means extra staff to control them. Is British taxpayer, proprietor of East Africa,
content that beautiful and valuable country be handed over to aliens ? Have we no
colonialists of our own race? Country being settled slowly but surely by desirable British
colonial settlers. Englishmen here appeal public opinion, especially those who know this
country, against this arbitrary proceeding and consequent swamping bright future of
country. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
The opposition to the Uganda Plan among the East African colonists was so strong that a mass
meeting was organized by prominent members of white East African society. Taking place on
August 29, 1903 at the Uganda Railway Institute, the meeting was termed the largest meeting of
white men ever held in Nairobi by The African Standard. However, hostility to the plan was not
limited to East Africa itself; there was much opposition to the plan in Great Britain as well. Many
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 61.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Wa-Githumo and Wa-Githumo, CONTROVERSY OVER
JEWISH ANTE-CHAMBER IN KENYA, 92.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, African Zion;, 83.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Wa-Githumo and Wa-Githumo, CONTROVERSY OVER
JEWISH ANTE-CHAMBER IN KENYA, 90-91.

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of the same arguments against the scheme used by those in East Africa were also used by those
in Great Britain, namely that there were many Englishmen that could be settled in the territory
instead of the Jews and that Jews were an urban people and were inherently unable to be
successful in an agricultural economy. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
The commission to be sent to East Africa to scout territory for the proposed Jewish settlement
departed from Basel on December 26, 1904. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The commission consisted of Major
Alfred St. Hill Gibbons, an explorer and scientist who published extensively about his travels to
Africa, Alfred Kaiser, a botanist, and Nahum Wilbush, a mechanical engineer who was the only
one among the commission who identified as a Zionist. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The goal of the
commission was to determine whether Uasin Gishu, the land chosen by Chamberlain and the
Foreign Office, met Herzls conditions for Jewish settlement. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP These conditions
were:
The territory had to be sufficiently extensive to admit of an immigration of such a
character as should be eventually a material relief to the pressure which to-day exists in
Eastern Jewry; it follows that the territory has to be one colonizable by such people as
ours; the Concession has to be invested with such autonomous rights as would ensure the
Jewish character of the settlement; perhaps governing all, the enthusiasm of our own
people in respect to the offer has to be of such a nature as will overcome all the obvious
difficulties which under most favourable conditions will be bound to arise in the creation
of the settlement. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, African Zion;, 133,139.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 47.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 46.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid.; Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 70.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 4647.

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The commission spent almost two months in the East African Protectorate interior, with each
member of the commission eventually coming to different conclusions about the suitability of the
territory. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gibbons believed that the territory was suitable for Jewish settlement,
while Kaiser and Wilbush presented negative assessments of the ability of the territory to support
Jewish settlement. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The members of the Sixth Zionist Congress were not the only
ones divided over the Uganda Plan.
Though the members of the Sixth Zionist Congress had agreed to the dispatching of a
commission to scout potential territory in the East African Protectorate, division within the
Zionist community over the plan continued throughout the next year. Both sides, those in favor
of the East Africa Plan and those opposed, spent the next two years campaigning for public
support for their cause. Proponents of the East Africa Plan, including Israel Zangwill, the future
founder of the Jewish Territorial Organization, published their support in newspapers and
essays. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP One of the most vocal opponents of the East African Plan was Menacham
Ussishkin. In October of 1903, two months after the Sixth Zionist Congress, Ussishkin published
an open letter to the delegates of the Sixth Zionist Congress. In the letter, Ussishkin stated that he
was opposed to the East Africa expedition due to his loyalty to securing Israel for the
Jews. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP This open letter resulted in a response from Herzl and letter in reply from

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, African Zion;, 208.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 50, 52; Weisbord, African
Zion;, 21415.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 6465.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Vital, Zionism, the Formative Years, 313.

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Ussishkin, both of which were published in Die Welt. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Shortly following this
exchange, Zionist leaders in Russia organized a conference in Kharkov to discuss how to combat
the East Africa Plan. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP They demanded that Herzl refuse the East Africa offer and
promise to focus solely on securing Palestine; if Herzl refused these demands, they would pursue
a course of war against Herzl, which included withdrawing funds and the creation of a new
Zionist Organization which excluded Herzl. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The opposition within the Zionist
movement to the East Africa Plan was so strong that the British government seemed to
reconsider its offer. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP A letter from the Engeres Aktions-Comit to the members of
the Zionist General Council dated December 27, 1903 stated:
Mr. L.J. Greenberg, den wir mit der Fhrung der Verhandlungen mit der englishchen
Regierung beauftragt hatten, nach Wien und teilte uns mit, dass die englische Regierung
infolge der aufgetaucthen Schwierigkeiten, insbesondere durch das Fehlen jedes
Enthusiasmus und durch die Anfeindung des Planes auf zionistischer Seite sich veranlasst
sehe, den Ostafrika-Plan fallen zu lassen. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
Hoping to salvage the plan, Greenberg was sent to London with new instructions. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
In latter letter, Greenberg wrote that, although the British government had not formally
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 31315.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 33.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Vital, Zionism, the Formative Years, 318.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Heymann, The Uganda Controversy. Vol 2., 105.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Translation my own: Mr. L.J. Greenberg, to whom we had
given the leadership of the negotiations with the British government, came to
Vienna and told us that the English government, due to the difficulties that have
arisen, particularly through the lack of enthusiasm and the hostility towards the
plan from the Zionists that has been seen, has dropped the East Africa Plan. Ibid.,
199200.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 105.

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withdrawn the offer of land in East Africa, it seemed that, due to the divisions within the Zionist
movement, they seemed likely to provide the Jewish people with less land than they had
previously been disposed to give. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Further division within the Zionist movement
seemed unavoidable after the death of Herzl in June 1904, resulting in the postponement of the
Seventh Zionist Congress, at which the Zionist community would make the decision whether to
accept or refuse the British offer of land in East Africa, until 1905. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
When the Seventh Zionist Congress finally convened in Basel on July 27, 1905, the impending
decision on whether to accept or reject the Uganda Plan loomed over the
delegates. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP At the assembly, those who were in favor of the Uganda Plan sat on
the left of the dais and those delegates who were against the plan were seated on the right-hand
side of the dais, a physical manifestation of the division that had divided the Zionist movement
since the Uganda Plan was first proposed two years earlier. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Debate on the
Uganda proposal was to begin on the second day of the Congress. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP However,
hostilities were evident on the first day, as a resolution was introduced by Ussishkin which
demanded that the Zionist Organization declare that it was only interested in the creation of a
Jewish state in Palestine. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP When debate finally began the next day, both sides
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 109,229.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 44.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 58.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 79.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 58.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 79.

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were ready to defend their own position. Two speakers lists were drawn up, one list for those
who wished to speak in support of the Uganda Plan and the other list containing the names of
those who would speak in opposition. The first speaker was Israel Zangwill. He urged the
delegates to consider what the rejection of the East African territory would mean for the
thousands of Jews facing persecution throughout the world at the time. He even called upon the
memory of Herzl, claiming that Herzl had told him that if no charter for Palestine was concluded
by the time of the Seventh Zionist Congress, he would try to obtain a land grant for a Jewish
settlement outside of Palestine. As the speakers went on, the debate became even fiercer. Leib
Jaffe, who was present at the Congress, described the outburst which erupted at one point: On
the Left benches they are beating with sticks, knocking on chairs, stamping with their feet,
screaming until their throats are hoarse. The Ugandists and the Territorialists are jumping up on
chairsThe pro-Zionists seized control of the podium, which the Left factions wanted to take by
storm. The noise and tumult continue for a long time in the dark hall. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The
debate among the members of the Zionist Congress continued for days. Finally, on the fourth
day, Nordau brought three resolutions in front of the Congress: the first, that the Zionists would
only pursue settlement in Palestine, the second, that the Zionists would thank the British
government for its offer of land in East Africa, and finally, that only Jews who declared their
allegiance to the Basel Program, which stated that the aim of the Zionist movement was to secure
land in Palestine, would be accepted as members of the Zionist Organization.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP

Zangwill protested, but the resolutions passed nonetheless with a majority

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 5960, 62-63,66-67.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 45,80-81.

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vote. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Angered by the rejection of the East African offer and his personal desire to
consider territories for Jewish settlement outside of Palestine despite the Zionist Organizations
resolution against it, Dr. Nachman Syrkin walked out of the Congress, followed by like-minded
delegates. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Despite the departure of these delegates, the congress continued, and
at its conclusion, the remaining delegates joined together to sing the Hatikvah, the song which
would become the rallying cry of Zionism. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The rupture between the two factions
was complete. From this point onwards, the territorialists would continue the search for a Jewish
homeland outside of Palestine, while the Zionists would focus their efforts solely on Palestine.
Since the Zionist Organization refused to consider Jewish settlement outside of Palestine,
Zangwill created an organization that would search for possible territorial solutions to the Jewish
Problem outside of Palestine. Zangwills Jewish Territorial Organization (ITO) was formed in
immediately after the territorialist walkout from the Seventh Zionist Congress, with the first
congress of the ITO taking place from July 30 to August 1, 1905 in a hotel in
Basel. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The goal of the ITO, as stated in its Manifesto, was to procure a territory
upon an autonomous basis for those Jews who cannot or will not remain in the lands in which
they at present live. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The ITO was guided by a unique ideology, an ideology
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 81; Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 68.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 8182.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Bloom, A Concise History of the Zionist Congress from 1897
to 2006.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 73.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Jewish Territorial Organization and Zangwill, Manifesto and
Correspondence., 4.

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which would come under fire from the Zionist majority. The territorialist ideology was based
upon the idea that Palestine was not the only option for Jewish settlement. Despite the best
efforts of the Zionists, Palestine had yet to be attained, and as time passed, Zangwill was
increasingly of the opinion that it would never be attained. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP For the territorialists,
the people were more important than the land. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP While the Zionist movement
went back and forth with Western governments, trying to acquire Palestine, Jews throughout the
world suffered from persecution. From 1905 to 1906, the first two years of the ITO, 657 pogroms
occurred in the Pale of Settlement, the area in Russia in which Jews were allowed to live; over
3,000 Jews were killed during these anti-Semitic riots. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP It was imperative for
these Jews to find a land where they would be free from persecution. As a result of this
persecution, many Jews left their homes and emigrated, mainly to the United States and
England. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP As more and more Jews fled their native countries, the nations to which
they immigrated became increasingly worried about the effects of large-scale Jewish
immigration to their lands. Some Brits complained that the immigration of Jews into urban areas
resulted in overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions and depressed wages for British
workers. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP In response to the huge influx of immigrants, Great Britain passed the
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rochelson, A Jew in the Public Arena, 152.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 9.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 87.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Jewish Territorial Organization and Zangwill, Manifesto and
Correspondence., 1.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ridley, Pauper Alien Immigration; Jewish Territorial
Organization and Zangwill, Manifesto and Correspondence., 2.

Wisniewski 13

Aliens Act in 1905, severely limiting the number of immigrants to Great Britain. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
As Zangwill notes in the manifesto of the ITO, the United States looked to be on the verge of
enacting stricter immigration laws as well. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP With the situation of the Jews in
Europe looking dire, the tightening of immigration laws in countries such as Britain and the
United States, and Palestine still out of reach, the Jewish people needed to look elsewhere for a
land of refuge. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
Though it worked to secure land for the Jews outside of Palestine, the ITO was not
against the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine if it could be achieved. As Israel Zangwill stated in
the pamphlet A Land of Refuge: The ITO has always declared its readiness to co-operate in
developing Palestine if Zionists could guarantee the political safeguards. But, to borrow the
words of a resolution passed in a Russian synagoguethe ITO cannot consent to tie the fate of
the Jewish people to a single territory whose acquisition is uncertain. That, as the Kowno
resolution rightly declared, would be treason to the Jewish people. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Many
territorialists, Zangwill included, believed that the territorialist movement could actually assist in
the procurement of the land of Israel. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Zangwill stated: Any Jewish territory,
over which the Jewish flag will fly, shall serve as a lever, a school for experience in self

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 139.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Jewish Territorial Organization and Zangwill, Manifesto and
Correspondence., 2.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 3.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Zangwill, A Land of Refuge, 5.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Netanyahu, The Founding Fathers of Zionism, 160.

Wisniewski 14

government and a source of political influence for the future obtainment of

Palestine. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP However, not all territorialists shared this sentiment. A small subset of
the territorialist movement, the Socialist-Territorialists as they were known in the United States,
did not believe that the land of Palestine was suitable for Jewish settlement due to the geographic
and political difficulties it presented, namely its scarce natural resources and the general hostility
of the Arab peoples to the Zionist cause. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
Though the Zionist Congress had rejected the British offer of land in East Africa, the ITO
tried to resurrect negotiations for the territory with the British government. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
However, due to the growing population of the land previously offered to the Jews and the
opposition of the larger Jewish community to settlement in East Africa, this second attempt at
securing land in East Africa failed. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The ITO would have to look elsewhere. One
territory considered by the ITO was Angola, which at the time was under Portuguese rule. In
1912, Wolf Terl, a Russian Jew employed by the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, sent a
letter to the ITO, detailing a plan for providing land for Jews in Angola. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP To
discuss the matter further, the ITO sent a delegation to Lisbon, and after the Portuguese offer was
deemed to be sincere, Zangwill himself went to Lisbon. The biggest difficulty realized during
these initial negotiations was the desire of the ITO for an autonomous state in Angola, which the
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Steinberg, Isaac Nachman, Struggle for Tomorrow, 113.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 87.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Weisbord, Israel Zangwills Jewish Territorial Organization
and the East African Zion, 1023.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 94.

Wisniewski 15

Portuguese government was hesitant to give. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP These difficulties were eventually
overcome, and on June 20, 1912, the Portuguese Chamber of Deputies passed a bill which
provided the gift of 250 to 600 acres of land for each Jewish head of household. Contrary to the
wishes of the ITO, however, the bill stated that each Jewish immigrant to the colony would
become a naturalized Portuguese citizen as well as mandated that the language of instruction in
the Jewish schools would be Portuguese. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Zangwill was angry at the restrictions
placed upon the proposed colony by Portuguese government, writing that the Portuguese
government should not interfere with our efforts to set up a land of refuge. This is the minimum
requirement for autonomy without which the plan is without any value. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
Frustrated by the Portuguese governments restrictions, the ITO, despite having already voted to
send a commission to inspect the Angolan territory, respectfully declined the offer of land in
Angola in a July 2nd telegram to the Chamber of Deputies. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Despite the ITOs
official rejection of the plan, support for the Jewish colonization of territory in Angola continued,
and with the Portuguese government stating that they were open to amending the previously
passed bill, the ITO was willing to reconsider the offer. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 232.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 101.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 233.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion?, 235; Rovner, In the
Shadow of Zion, 103.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 103.

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The commission to investigate the Angolan territory set off on July 26,
1912. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The commissioners returned a favorable report. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP At this
point, however, opposition to the plan within Portugal began to arise. Some believed that Jewish
settlement in Angola was the beginning of the end of Portuguese dominion over the colony. They
were fearful that, should the Jews be granted sovereignty within Angola, they would create a
state within a state, thereby undermining the Portuguese government. In addition, the ITO was
unable to garner enough money from Jewish sources to support the scheme, and without the
promise of funding for the project, the Portuguese government was unwilling to move
forward. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The Angola plan was dead.
In the years after the failure of the Angola proposal, Zangwill turned his attentions from the
territorialist movement to the acquisition of Palestine, as signs appeared that Palestine might
finally be within reach. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Zangwills defection signaled the death knell of the ITO,
and in 1925, the ITO was disbanded. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The territorialist movement did not end
with the dissolution of the ITO, however. Created in 1935, the Freeland League for Jewish
Territorial Colonisation was the ideological offspring of the ITO. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Its aim was to
create a Jewish agricultural and industrial settlement in a free territory that will provide a safe
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 235.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Rovner, In the Shadow of Zion, 103.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 241-242.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Netanyahu, The Founding Fathers of Zionism, 165-166.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 33.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 48.

Wisniewski 17

haven for social, economic, and national-cultural development. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Unlike the ITO
which sought to establish an autonomous Jewish territory, the Freeland League wanted every
Jewish settler to be a full citizen of the state in which the territory was located, while maintaining
cultural and religious autonomy. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP This territory had to satisfy four basic
requirements. It had to be relatively unpopulated so as to avoid conflict with the non-Jewish
population, have an ample supply of water and soil suitable for agriculture, be large enough to
accommodate a large number of Jewish immigrants, and the territory had to be located in a
democratic state. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The Freeland League believed that Palestine was not an option
for Jewish immigration because of the opposition which would arise from the Arabs who
currently inhabited the land. As stated in a pamphlet distributed by the Freeland Youth Group, the
Freelanders did not see much point in building Palestine, the home and refuge of the Jews, as a
permanent armed camp against the Arab world. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Therefore, the Jews must look
elsewhere for a safe haven from persecution.
The Freeland Leagues most successful venture was the negotiations with the Australian
government to create a Jewish settlement in the Kimberley region. These negotiations began on
May 25, 1939 with the first meeting between Isaac Nachman Steinberg, the leader of the
Freeland League, and the Premier of Western Australia, J.C. Willcock. Steinberg and the
Freeland League hoped to attain a land area of 7 million acres along the Ord

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 26566.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 48.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 49.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Freeland Youth Group, Objective, Freeland, 6.

Wisniewski 18

River. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP At the meeting, Willcock expressed his support for Jewish settlement in
Western Australia, but told Steinberg that he needed to investigate the Kimberley region further.
Steinberg followed Willcocks advice, and on June 8th, Steinberg, along with three others, set off
for to examine the Kimberley region. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Steinberg and the rest of the commission
found the land to be well-suited for Jewish settlement, with Steinberg remarking: We found a
large country, undeveloped and unpopulated, yet full of the greatest
potentialities. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Three months after Steinbergs first meeting with Willcock, the
plan received approval from the West Australian government, which told the Freeland League to
begin talks with the central Australian government. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
Before talks with the Australian government began, the Freeland League conducted a
systematic campaign of enlightenment, or as Steinberg also termed it, a long-term campaign
of systematic propaganda directed towards every section of the population, to garner public
support for the scheme. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Steinberg began a vigorous canvassing of Perth,

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Melville and Steinberg, Investigation in East Kimberley

Region of Western Australia and in Northern Territory in Respect to Possibilities of
Close Settlement., 4.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 74.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Melville and Steinberg, Investigation in East Kimberley
Region of Western Australia and in Northern Territory in Respect to Possibilities of
Close Settlement., 2.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Steinberg, Australia, the Unpromised Land, 9.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Melville and Steinberg, Investigation in East Kimberley
Region of Western Australia and in Northern Territory in Respect to Possibilities of
Close Settlement., 5; Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 109.

Wisniewski 19

Melbourne and Sydney. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP His campaign proved to be remarkably successful,
resulting in a petition in support of the project with forty six signatories, including the Labor
Party leader John Cain Sr., Lord Mayor A.W. Coles, and Melbourne Herald founder Theodore
Fink. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP This petition read:
The settlement of the empty north of Australia is both a necessity and a duty for our
people. The Jewish communities in Europe, bereft of hope and prospects, are more likely
to provide the determination and optimism requiredand on a democratic basisthan
perhaps any other section of the human race. For them, more than anyone, the need is
combined with the desire to make of these unused areas a homeland which will form,
politically and socially, a worthy and integral part of the Commonwealth. Sooner or later,
the work of settling the north must be begun. We cannot think of a better time, more
promising conditions, more intelligent or valuable settlers, or a greater moral opportunity
than is offered to Australia at this time. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
With the support of the Australian populace, all that was left to do was to present the proposal to
the Australian government.The Freeland Leagues proposal for the creation of a Jewish territory
in the Kimberley region was presented to the Australian government in August
1940. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The proposal was given to the Prime Minister of Australia, Robert
Menzies, who brought it to the Cabinet for discussion. Though the proposal was presented in
August 1940, the government did not respond for several months, owing to the state of the war in
Europe. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Finally, on February 1, 1941, Steinberg received a response from

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 110; Steinberg, Australia, the

Unpromised Land;, 147.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 112.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Steinberg, Australia, the Unpromised Land;, 149.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 154.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid.

Wisniewski 20

Minister of the Interior H.S. Foll. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The letter read: I recently took the opportunity
of placing this matter before the Cabinet. The Government felt, however, that the present was not
an appropriate time to give consideration to the matter. It was decided therefore, to defer
consideration of the proposal. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP While Steinberg waited for the governments
decision, he turned his efforts to another Freeland League venture in Tasmania. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP
Steinbergs wait was long. The Australian government did not come to a decision on the
Kimberley Plan until mid-1944, due to the war. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP In a letter dated July 15, 1944,
Curtin told Steinberg: The Government is unable to see its way to depart from the longestablished policy in regard to alien settlement in Australia, and therefore cannot entertain the
proposal for a group settlement of the exclusive type contemplated by the Freeland
League. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The head of the committee, Carrodus had expressed doubts that a
Jewish settlement in Kimberley would be able to overcome the economic obstacles that would
present themselves in Kimberley. Additionally, there were already concerns about Italian and
German colonies that had sprung up in Australia, and Australia was not ready to allow another
settlement of aliens, which could potentially cause similar problems. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The
Kimberley Plan was over.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 158.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 158.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Gettler, An Unpromised Land, 122.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 129; Steinberg, Australia, the Unpromised Land;, 158
60.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Steinberg, Australia, the Unpromised Land, 16566.
ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Ibid., 129.

Wisniewski 21

The territorialist movement did not end after the failure of the Kimberley scheme, but it did fall
into decline. In 1948, the year of the creation of the state of Israel, few members of the Freeland
League attended the Leagues annual conference. ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP The majority Zionist faction
was able to achieve something that the territorialists were never able to, the creation of a Jewish
territory which would provide a safe haven for Jews, where they could practice their religion and
culture freely. Why were the territorialists never able to achieve this? First of all, territorialism
was always a minority movement; it never achieved the numbers of the Zionist Organization or
the widespread support that Zionism did. In addition, whether their concerns were economic,
political, or born from anti-Semitism, many governments simply were not willing to allow a
Jewish settlement to be built on their land. The Zionists, through their large base of Jewish
support and the support of nations such as Britain, who played a leading role in the acquisition of
Palestine for the Jews, succeeded in attaining a Jewish land, a goal in which the territorialists
failed.

ADDIN ZOTERO_TEMP Alroey, Zionism without Zion, 287.

Wisniewski 22

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