39. Why did Jews choose Palestine to develop their State?

The answer can be found in the Declaration of Independence of Israel: Eretz Israel has been the cradle of the Jewish people. This is the place of the development of its spiritual, religious and national personality. This is the place where it has lived as a free and sovereign people; this is the place where it has created a culture with national and universal values”. The land of Israel is full of historical and archaeological proof of the presence of the Jewish people. Among others, this is where the ministry of Joshua (Jesus) was developed. He was from Nazareth, though he was born in Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem). Zionist ideologists were mostly secular Jews, though the territorial reference for their identity as a people and a nation was, no doubt, the land of Jerusalem, or its alternate name, Zion (the origin of the name of the movement). Zionism sought the national reconstruction in Israel, because it always was the center of their prayers, their collective memories and because it was the place associated with the past Jewish political sovereignty. Biblical references reinforce this link. The territory had been subject to the Ottoman Empire, and their “property deed” was having conquered it by force (the same as Arabs did previously). The Jews wanted to recover the sovereignty by purchasing the land, with their work and with massive immigration. In his book, Hertzl asked himself if Palestine was a better place than Argentina. Certainly, Argentina was mentioned, but it was never a solid proposal. The Argentina Project was led by philanthropist Baron von Hirsch, and it was meant to “save” the European Jews in agricultural colonies, with no national pretense or linkage to Zionism (with the consent of the Argentinean authorities). The territorial alternative to Palestine that was presented to Zionism was Uganda, a British colony, more affordable than Ottoman Palestine. However, the proposal was rejected by Zionists: they wanted only Zion.