WI: Jewish State in Newfoundland

ITT, the British make provisions in the Balfour Declaration for a Jewish homeland in Newfoundland, not Palestine. Does this change the world as a whole, with Israel located in North America? What would happen to the Middle East with an Arab state in place of Israel?
 
The Balfour Declaration was the result of months of talks and negotiations, all of which were specifically about having a Jewish homeland in Palestine. For these talks to result in a declaration of support for a Jewish homeland in Newfoundland would come completely out of left field. Conversely, if those talks have the British government pushing a homeland in Newfoundland from the beginning, I am not sure the proposal would get so far as a declaration--with a British (or French or international) Palestine on the horizon, Zionist attentions will be very much directed in that direction, and Newfoundland will pale in comparison. Something could come of it, but I suspect it would go the way of Zionist Uganda--although if the Holocaust isn't butterflied away by this, perhaps someone will dig out the old plans and establish a Jewish homeland there during or after WWII a la Sitka in The Yiddish Policemen's Union. The impact on Palestine of not having any British commitment to establishing a Jewish homeland there will be interesting, though. We could see the original Sykes-Picot provisions for the region going through, with most of the region going under international administration while Britain takes control of the southern portion.
 
If we do have an Arab Palestine, there's going to be two ways it'll go.

Either Palestine becomes part of the Hashemite kingdom, surrounded on all sides by bigger and stronger nations, or it'll be a Republic of Palestine forever stuck with Lebanon as the 'small fry' everyone seeks to take control over. And unlike the Lebanese, the Palestinians don't have a particularly close European patron to bail them out every once in a while (not that it always helped the Lebanese, mind).
 
Of course, Newfoundland is totally unsuited geographically to the type of large-scale settlement the OP's thinking of. Let alone the Island having its own fully-functional Dominion government, even with its problems, and its own society. Let alone the then-current corruption scandal surrounding the war bonds and St. John's own crippling railway debt. So yeah, even in a Yiddish Policemen's Union type of setting, I don't see it possible in NFL.
 

MatthewB

Banned
Of course, Newfoundland is totally unsuited geographically to the type of large-scale settlement the OP's thinking of. Let alone the Island having its own fully-functional Dominion government, even with its problems, and its own society.
Finland with less land and worse climate has over 5 million people today. Don't forget that the colony of Newfoundland also included Labrador. Build that bridge linking the two and I'd say there's a viable county there. And once oil is discovered.....
Let alone the then-current corruption scandal surrounding the war bonds and St. John's own crippling railway debt. So yeah, even in a Yiddish Policemen's Union type of setting, I don't see it possible in NFL.
Get the Newfoundland narrow gauge railway working, including a Port aux Basque to Terrenceville line to support the south shore and I'm on board!

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Finland with less land and worse climate has over 5 million people today.

Finland is also not located on top of a mountain range where the effects of the Ice Age stripped it bare of anyrhing really useful agriculture-wise. Of course there are exceptions, but those are already settled by the time of the OP. The heart of the Palestine project - of what made aliyah enticing outside of any religious connotations - for Ashkenazim was the agriculture project of which the kibbutzim and moshavim are prime examples of. Newfoundland is not like even the Galilee in this sense, as the existing soil over most of the Island simply is not suitable for large-scale intensive agriculture. And that's for starters.

As for the railway:


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That was the exact same operational narrow-gauge one that pushed a shite load of debt onto St. John's and ultimately in part led to its bankruptcy. The reason is simple enough - no one wanted to invest in it because it was not a viable concern. It was basically the politicians imbuing all the wrong ideas onto the railway and acting surprised when the promised benefits did not materialize.
 
Finland is also not located on top of a mountain range where the effects of the Ice Age stripped it bare of anyrhing really useful agriculture-wise. Newfoundland is not like even the Galilee in this sense, as the existing soil over most of the Island simply is not suitable for large-scale intensive agriculture.

The locals don't call it the Rock for nothing. The lack of rich soil and the shitty climate render Newfoundland and Labrador unfit for farming. Jacques Cartier described Labrador as "the land God gave to Cain." Sometimes first impressions are accurate. At least as regards for farming and large scale settlement.
 
Great Powers: "Let's play: Pin the Zion on the least desirable scrap of land anyone's willing to cede."
"Ok, Palestine!"
"No, Madagascar! Or Rhodesia!"
"Newfoundland."
...
"Dude, don't be anti-semitic."
 
Pin the Zion on the map is one of my favorite AH cliches.

I'm not really sure how Britain would make Newfoundland, which had self-determination, a Zionist homeland however. Most proposals involve sticking the Jews someplace lacking in self-determination.
 
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