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First of all, don't get me wrong, I join the rest of the world in condemning last month's Zionist bombings in Istanbul and Edrine. I'm not in support of the actions of Irgun, the Stern Gang or any other Zionist organization labeled by the Ottoman government as "terrorist".

In this thread, I would just like to look at Zionism as an idea instead of a militant insurgency. Zionism is basically just Jewish nationalism, started by Theodore Herzl in the late 19th Century, it argues for a small strip of land in Palestine for the Jews, who are a homeless people. Now, I know that this idea has been discredited by mainstream Jewry as "sacrilegious" because of their belief that the Jews can only return to the Holy Land as a people when the Messiah comes, but what of the secular Jews who really need a piece of land to call home? I agree that the "State of Israel", idea which is what Irgun wants is insane and a slap in the face of the Caliph but what about a small Jewish autonomous entity within the Ottoman Empire, which is what more peaceful Zionist groups like the New Zion Party push for? What harm can that do to anyone in the Empire and to world Jewry?
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