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In Defense of Zionism
Wall St Journal ^ | Michael B. Oren

Posted on 08/03/2014 9:40:52 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

But not all of Zionism's critics are bigoted, and not a few of them are Jewish. For a growing number of progressive Jews, Zionism is too militantly nationalist, while for many ultra-Orthodox Jews, the movement is insufficiently pious—even heretical. How can an idea so universally reviled retain its legitimacy, much less lay claim to success?

The answer is simple: Zionism worked. The chances were infinitesimal that a scattered national group could be assembled from some 70 countries into a sliver-sized territory shorn of resources and rich in adversaries and somehow survive, much less prosper. The odds that those immigrants would forge a national identity capable of producing a vibrant literature, pace-setting arts and six of the world's leading universities approximated zero.

Elsewhere in the world, indigenous languages are dying out, forests are being decimated, and the populations of industrialized nations are plummeting. Yet Zionism revived the Hebrew language, which is now more widely spoken than Danish and Finnish and will soon surpass Swedish. Zionist organizations planted hundreds of forests, enabling the land of Israel to enter the 21st century with more trees than it had at the end of the 19th. And the family values that Zionism fostered have produced the fastest natural growth rate in the modernized world and history's largest Jewish community. The average secular couple in Israel has at least three children, each a reaffirmation of confidence in Zionism's future.

Indeed, by just about any international criteria, Israel is not only successful but flourishing. The population is annually rated among the happiest, healthiest and most educated in the world.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/03/2014 9:40:52 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

And, of course, it is hated because it worked. That’s why people have always hated America!


2 posted on 08/03/2014 9:56:41 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard Lives Yet!)
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"We moved our base camp last night and we’re now positioned literally
within feet of the river. Have been sitting here watching the border
patrol patrolling in their riverboats all night and all morning..."

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3 posted on 08/03/2014 9:57:25 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: miss marmelstein

Plus, anti-Semitism is Satanic.


4 posted on 08/03/2014 10:03:23 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (Obama: Race is his cover...jihad is his game.)
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To: miss marmelstein

Israel is forever!


5 posted on 08/03/2014 10:11:32 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: RoosterRedux

Genesis 12:3 (I will bless those that bless thee and curse those that curse thee)


6 posted on 08/03/2014 10:33:38 AM PDT by Finalapproach29er (luke 6:38)
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