Zionism and Arab Nationalism - Essay Example

? Zionism and Arab Nationalism Zionism and Arab Nationalism The formations of the nationalist movement have been informed by the need to agitate for the welfare and protection of the beliefs that is considered fundamental in the prosperity of a group of individuals. All these movements hinges on the need to provide and protect the interest of their members, some are confined within a country while others are crosscutting amongst countries connecting either a group of individuals based on ethnicity or religion. For instance the Arab nationalist movements based on the religion than any other factor, contrary to this Zionism was more of ethnic based than any other factor. Some of the nationalist movement have also actively participated in the political arena by agitating for the rights and fairness of their people to whom they share political ideology. It is interesting to note that both Arab nationalism and Zionism were founded to champion for the interest of certain specific groups of people. Arab nationalism in this case was founded to recognize the Arab world in terms of uniting al the Arabs from all over the world and celebrating their glories, culture and literal work (Goldschmidt Arthur and Lawrence, 2009). Though this is the official claim for the formation of the Arab nationalism, other sources indicate that the rapid growing of the western civilization necessitated its formation and uncontrolled spread of the western culture in most parts of the world. To give a counter check on the same, Arab nationalism was formed to make the Arab culture more salient and recognizable in the world equally, so it can be argued to be a retaliatory action. Zionism on the other hand was formed to recognize the Jews, in their core beliefs; the nationalist movement recognized Jews population anywhere in the world without boundary restriction (Esposito, 2011). Looking at the two nationalist movements, one will recognize that both were not bi-ethnical but purely mono-ethnical movements that were put into place to champion for the respective ethnic groups. The formation period of the nationalistic movements differs; the Arab nationalism was formed in the 1920 s, the Zionism was formed in the 1940 s (Bosworth, 2007). Questions as to whether both Zionism and Arab nationalism met the threshold of nationalism before World War I is quite clear. It is important to recognize the definition of what nationalism is; it is a show of extreme patriotism and belonging to a particular nation. In this light, only the Arab nationalism met the threshold at the time. The Arab nationalism was already formed in a clear territorial entity since it was unequivocal in its area of influences. This was is not the case with Zionism that were operating ubiquitously and meant for any Jews in any part of the world (Bosworth, 2007). Zionism was labeled a racist organization that seemed to be busybody championing for the rights of the Jews as if they were to be considered blue-eyed boys by the rest of the world (Esposito, 2011). The acts demonstrated by Zionism are believed to have led to the massacre persecution of the Jews by Germans leader Adolf Hitler during his dictatorial regime then. Hitler ordered the persecution of the Germans in an attempt to wipe them out of Germany regarding them as evil people (Goldschmidt Arthur and Lawrence, 2009). In contrast, Zionism during its initial formation was rather amorphous unlike the Arab nationalism. Zionism in the early days did not have any territorial concentration of its people and were just operating widely in any part of the world. They claimed no nation of their own this is significantly contrasting with the way Arab nationalism was organized. The Arab movement recognized their territorial areas as well as their religious orientation. It was more defined and clear on its quest; to counter the unprecedented spread of the western power and civilization. They aimed at recognizing the achievement of the Arab community, the cultural affairs of the Arabs as well as the political direction. Zionism was also based only on issues skewed to ethnicity and not political, in this reference, they purported to be speaking on behalf of the Jews and this led to realization of the minority groups of the Jews that vehemently opposed to the idea of the Zionism being the mouthpiece of the Jews in all matters affecting them (Esposito, 2011). The Arab movement captured both political ethnic and religious issues affecting their interests (Goldschmidt Arthur and Lawrence, 2009). Zionism unlike Arab nationalism has been considered a very unusual nationalism in the sense that it has come forth as a creation of single person to that which is embraced by a wide group of people. It was initially proposed by an Austria-Hungarian, Theodor Herzl before being jointly propelled by a consortium of individual who believed in it. The Arab nationalism was formed on the basis of agreement form the great Arab leaders. It can be said then that the Arab nationalism had more structural composition as at the time of formation compared to the all-amorphous Zionism. Zionism is bordering exclusivism of those individuals who are not Jews by birth; Zionism is thus more of individual than Arab nationalism that tends to look into Arabs community interest. Zionism is known to exclude about 99% of other world races on the loose grounds of not being a Jew (Goldschmidt Arthur and Lawrence, 2009). Again, it can be seen that Arab nationalism just like Zionism were propelled by the specific ethnic composition. In conclusion, the Arab nationalism qualifies much than the Zionism given its systematic spread to all of the perceived Arab countries. Moreover, the formation of the movement brought together strong Arab leaders who keenly outlined there grievances and then positioned this movement in a way that it could help address all the pertinent issues relating to their problems and quests. The regional exactness of the Arab nationalism also gives them much more credit than the irregularly formed Zionism that did not claim any territorial ground as the epicenter of their operations. Arab nationalism also had a clear reason during its formation; to check on the influx of the western influence in the Arabic nations and counter the trend by consolidating the entire Arab world. The latter has made Arab nationalism be more considered than the Zionism. References Goldschmidt Jr., Arthur and Davidson, Lawrence, (2009) A Concise History of the Middle East. 9th Edition. Westview Press, ISBN: 9780813343884 John Esposito, (2011) What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, ISBN: 9780199794133 Bosworth, R. J. (2007). Nationalism. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. Read More