13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An amazing story, October 29, 2007
In this well written and perfectly documented account the story of Churchill's relationship to Zionism is layed out through Churchill's own political rise and his own worldview. Zionism was to Churchill a positive element in the world. Churchill had been an early admirer of the Jews for their tenacity and their survival over the cneturies. With the advent of Zionism he became a supporter of this movement because he saw it as a meaningful challenge to Communism. With the rise of Nazism he saw that the threat to Jewish existence in Europe could be releived through Jewish migration to Palestine.
Churchill was a phenomenal character and his relationship with Zionism is one of the most interesting stories regarding his long life. This book exists alongside other discussions of the same material such as Martin Gilbert's
Churchill and the Jews: A Lifelong Friendship but this book is fascinating for orienting Zionism vis-a-vis Churchill's own worldview and for providing a well written, fast paced discussion of the interplay between the two.
Seth J. Frantzman
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Empire Strikes Back, December 12, 2009
This review is from: Churchill's Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft (Paperback)
Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (WSC) was, without any doubt whatsoever, one of the seminal figures in world history. His long tenure in government service spanned the British-African colonial wars (he was a participant as a soldier, as a journalist and Minister for the Colonies), the First World War (as a soldier and government minister, unfairly tarred with the responsibility for the Gallipoli debacle), Indian independence and the decline of the British Empire. His amazing ministerial portfolio also included that of Prime Minister (twice!). In his capacity as British leader during WW-II, he has been acknowledged as a supremely gifted orator,savior of the U.K. and the rallying point for the beleaguered West. He has also been savagely pilloried by his contemporaries not only for his principled positions and was sometimes viewed as a pessimistic Cassandra for his prescient insights on the menace of emerging Nazi German power and the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Then and now, he has been scruitinized for his role in the creation of Israel, accepted by received wisdom as the linchpin of the current Middle East imbroglio. WSC's positions on many controversial subjects have been characterized as redolent of hubris, being imbued with imperialistic perspectives and/or smacking of arrogance or ignorance. A prolific author, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature for work done in his "spare time". In short, he was (as one biographer characterized him), "The Last Lion". Given the vast panorama of his life and the divisive nature of the issues the dealt with, it is hardly surprising that he remains a controversial figure for contemporary commentators.
From the current perspective, Zionism is an explosive topic, one which easily outranks other contentious hot-button issues such as race relations, globalization (note that WSC was an ardent free-trade advocate), same-sex marriage, global warming and the O.J.'s trials and tribulations. Viewed from an historical remove, it seems that the incendiary atmosphere permeating this issue existed from the late 19th century which is where this book begins at the dawn of the Churchill Era. As it happens, WSC had his hand in the Zionist enterprise, too. That topic is the subject of this short and narrowly focuesd history.
To grasp WSC's sometimes vacillating support of Zionism, it is necessary to place it in the context of his perspective as guardian of the Empire. In this book, Makovsky has prepared an in-depth study of Churchill's longstanding involvement with the notion that Jews deserved a state of their own, situated in Biblical Israel. WSC's attachment evidently stemmed from two emotional matters: to his (neglectful and remote) father, Randolph and to his fealty to Victorian-era notions of civility, rectitude, the civilizing role of the Empire in "backward" lands and the notion that great ideas are the product of the efforts of great men. In order to understand the first issue (family dynamics), recourse to another book will be necessary. Martin Gilbert's one-volume synopsis of his multi-volume reference biography is a good start on this topic. His adherence to Victorian principles is best understood by reading William Manchester's unfortunately incomplete biography ("The Last Lion"). His grand strategic thinking is nicely summarized in Makovsky's book. While religious considerations motivated many of Churchill's contemporaries, more pragmatic considerations largely influenced his own attitudes and efforts.
"Promised Land" begins, appropriately enough, at the beginning. The study follows the efforts to establish a Jewish State through its byzantine complexities to final realization in 1948 and through WSC's final term as Prime Minister. As always, WSC seemed supportive, but caused consternation in his varied expressions. Pragmatism and self-interest tempered by overarching loyalty to the Empire always influenced the extent of his support; sometimes rapturous, sometimes distant, occasionally dismissive, rarely antagonistic. The difficulties in following all this are evident in this book, which is itself sometimes tedious reading as it meanders along with WSC to the conclusion.
Occasionally, the author (whose sympathies with Zionism are unconcealed) makes assertions regarding WSC's state of mind which simply are not supported by references, of which there are an abundance. In a certain sense, this is a "psycho-biography" in that Markovsky intuits perspectives that, at times, are not otherwise manifest. Additionally, only careful reading of the frequent and generally bluntly stated condemnations of Arabs (in general) and Palestinian Arabs (in particular) can be parsed as originating from the author or from WSC. The "civilizing" role envisioned by WSC for the European Jews, as opposed to "Asian" Arabs seems racist from a contemporary perspective but is entirely consonant with not only the prevailing attitudes of the times but, more especially, with the profound attachment WSC had for the Empire. The same can be said for WSC's occasionally dismissive and sometimes apparantly anti-Jewish comments. As with everyone, he was more-or-less a creature of his time and social strata.
Finally, the arcane history of the the genesis of Israel has been more than adequately told elsewhere ("A Peace to End All Peace" being one prime example), but is also cogently summarized in this book. References are adequate, though occasionally lacking for certain prime assertions. The book is interesting, but not riveting reading. Its sometimes non-chronological presentation can be confusing. The "conclusion" section is an excellent synopsis of the topic.
If one were to summarize WSC's attitude on Zionism as recounted in this short history, it would be in the following statements: the Jews are in Israel by right and not by sufferance and the presence of the Jews in Israel in their own state would benefit the British Empire and the West. However, Zionism was subordinate to greater matters of state and was pragmatically dealt with as such by WSC. Whether or not Makovsky's sometimes intuited assessments of Churchill's emotional attachment to Zionism are accurate is at the reader's discretion, but the author makes a compelling case that an affinity for Jews and Zionism certainly governed WSC's thinking through one of the most important eras of contemporary history, one whose ramifications extend to the present day.
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