2 Friday, November 19, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Jean Henri Dunant, writing in 1866 on Zionism:
"This resurrection of the East . . . will be aided
by the cooperation of Israelites . . .
By Philip
Slomovitz
J. Henri Dunant's Pioneering Role as Christian Zionist Inspires Early Fulfilment
of Global Unity Aims for International Red Cross and Israel's Magen David Adorn
worked out, and for which
(Continued from Page 1)
make contacts with he appealed to the Jewish
Jewish societies until the . and non-Jewish worlds, he
is one of the foremost
enterprise broke up.
forerunners of Dr.
"Nevertheless, the Theodor Herzl, and is one
Palestine project had of the greatest Christians
flourished so far that by of the past century to have
1867 Dunant could dis- joined in advocating
cuss it with the Empress Palestine's resurrection.
Eugenie in the presence
Dunant appealed to the
of the French Ambas-
sador to. Constantinople, Alliance Israelite Uni-
verselle in France to set-
M. Bouree. -
tle Jews in Palestine. His
It is possible that Dr. appeal fell on deaf ears.
Herzl must have been to- He pleaded for his cause
tally unaware of the ac- with the Anglo-Jewish
tivities of Dunant; else he Association, with Berlin
might have attempted to Jews, he wrote letters to
enlist his services in be- the London Jewish
half of the Jewish Na- Chronicle, but it was riot
tional Home in Palestine as easy to succeed with a
towards the end of the Jewish project as it was
last century.
for his Red Cross ideal to
Much needs to be said triumph.
about Dunant's interest in
He organized the In-
Palestine and his famous ternational Palestine
statement. It is necessary Society and the Syrian
to understand ,Dunant to Palestine Colonization
be able to appreciate his Society, but his writings
concern for the Jewish and his appeals were only
people.
destined to become great
Dunant began his historic documents in the
movement for the injec- story of later efforts for
tion of a spirit of mercy in the upbuilding of Pales-
the cruelties of war with a tine as the Jewish Na-
practical act of his own. tional Home, and the
At Castiglioni, a village in name of Jean Henri
the center of the French Dunant is accorded a gol-
position in the collision of den page in Zionist
the armies of Austro and annals.
Franco-Sardina, in 1859,
When Dunant was
he personally urged the found in 1897 in the Swiss
French women and girls village of Heiden (where
to follow him to the fields he also died on Oct. 31,
that were covered with 1910), where he was living
the bodies of the dying in poverty in a "Home of
and the dead and to offer Rest - for old men, his
drink to the thirsty, food name was again accorded
to the hungry and what- the well earned admira-
ever care was possible to tion and respect of the
the wounded and world. In 1901, when the
maimed.
A.B. Nobel Peace Prize
When Dunant's volun- was first awarded, it was
teers began to make a granted to the founder of
search for the French and the. Red Cross.
Italian wounded and
At this time, when the
turned their backs on the 92nd anniversary of the
unfortunate Austrians, Red Cross is being celeb-
the founder of the Red rated throughout the
Cross pointed out to them world and when Israel as-
that Austrians were sumes a place of priority
human beings too. "Tutti among humanitarian
Fratelli, - — all are movements, it is only
brothers — he said to proper that world Jewry
them, and with that remember Dunant for his
phrase on their lips they pioneering efforts in be-
helped all and in reality half of Jewish national re-
established the founda- demption.
tion for the humanitarian
Dunant's "Open Let-
idea that was called into ter" advocating Pales-
being by Jean Henri tine's rehabilitation, fol-
Dunant.
lows in full:
It must have been this
"The disquieting cir-
spirit of "Tutti Fratelli - cumstances in which
that motivated Dunant's Europe finds itself should
"Open Letter," in 1866, not let us forget that the
appealing for the coloni- Eastern question, 'which
zation of Palestine and has already troubled the
the "resurrection of the governments and
East, - which "uniting peoples, may speedily
with the rise of religious re-appear and complicate
sentithent, will be aided a position grave enough
by the cooperation of Is- in itself. Instinctively
raelites, whose valuable every one feels that the
qualities and remarkable day when this question
aptitudes cannot but will call for a definite sol-
prove very advantageous ution, all Europe will
to Palestine...
perhaps be in inextrica-
Dunant's letter was pub- ble difficulties.
lished a year after the pub-
"Diplomatic difficulties
lication of Moses Hess' can only end in barren
"Rome and Jerusalem," expedients, but the pre-
but it is clear that his sent, which is adverse to a
theories were worked out system of forcible con-
by himself and were not quest by fire and sword
motivated by earlier writ- has a much more power-
ings. In the plans that he ful weapon at its disposal
— that of pacific conquest
by civilization.
"What is therefore to be
done in order to prevent
grave complications, and
regenerate the East by
rousing its vital forces and
infusing into it the spirit of
Western Civilization?
"One of the most power-
ful means would be the
formation of a large. soci-
ety, having an eminently
international character,
and which would have,
thereby, the merit of re-
conciling the particular
interests of the several
European Powers with
those of civilization. This
society would open for the
West new and abundant
sources of wealth: it
would become for the
East an efficient means of
moral regeneration; and
lastly would be for all na-
tions cooperating in the
matter a great honor and
a great profit.
"The following is the
manner in which such an
association may be pre-
sented to the European
public:
"Objects of the Eastern
International Society:
"To promote the de-
velopment of agriculture,
industry, commerce, and
public works in the East,
and especially in Pales-
tine. To obtain from the
Turkish
government
privileges
and
monopolies, whether in
Constantinople or the rest
of the Empire: notably the
concession and • the
gradual abandonment of
the soil of Palestine.
"To distribute for
pecuniary consideration
such portions of the land,
the concession whereof
might have been acquired
or received by the com-
pany, and to colonize the
more fertile valleys of the
Holy Land.
"The Turkish empire
contains virtues of all
kinds, which, if they were
utilized by a powerful
company, would yield
considerable results; but
the Porte neither poSses-
ses the resources nor the
necessary forces in order
to create and lead to a
favorable issue the works
of public utility, which
the internal develo
pment
of the Ottomon Empire so
urgently demands; left to
her own resources she
can neither augment her
revenues nor form new
ones; she is unable to give
energetic support to
either agricultural or in-
dustry, which are the
only means of increasing
public wealth and pros-
perity.
"It is therefore for the
West, which possesses the
capital and where the
creative forces are
superabundant, to turn
to and account the real
advantages presented by
Turkey, and to take in
hand a work capable of
yielding excellent results.
Palestine offers itself at
first sight to the mind as
the earliest field of activ-
ity.
"Palestine, as known,
only wants human labor
in order to produce abun,
dantly; it is one of the
most remarkable and
fruitful countries on the
globe; products of all
latitudes are to be met
with there, and emig-
rants from Europe find
there the climate of their
country. Commerce and .
private industry complet-
ing a work of agriculture, -
will draw hither in num-
bers merchants, colonists
and capitalists.
"This resurrection of
the East, uniting with the
new rise of religious sen-
timent, will be aided by
the cooperation of Israel-
ites, whose valuable qual-
ities and remarkable ap-
titudes cannot but prove
very advantageous to
Palestine.
"Having established
commerciaLundertakings
in Constantinople and
other cities of the Turkish
Empire, the society will
construct at Jaffa a port
and a good road, a railway
from this city to
Jerusalem._
"Skillfully conducted
"The- territory through
operations in this new which the railway runs
country bring in a very should be granted by Tur-
high interest; but new key to .the society which
combinations must be de- might sell it to Israelitish
vised, which should enjoy families. These in turn
both the approval of the would create colonies and
European Powers, and the make them prosperous,
support of the Sultan's with the help and the labor
Porte. Therefore, in order of those of their Eastern
not to weaken its forces, brethren whose love for
the society must utilize their coast send Israelitish
certain special cir- emigrants from Morocco,
cumstances in which Tur- Niland, Moldavia, Was-
key is now placed, and sachis, the East, Africa,
etc.
"The result pursued
and obtained by the soci-
ety by means of a sincere
international under
standing, the cooperation
of those interested in
Turkey, and- the estab-
lishment of Western
populations in Palestine,
will infallibly be in a less
distant future than might
be imagined.
"The reconstruction of
Holy Places at Jertisalem,
which might be carried
out internationally, and
in a manner worthy of
Christendom; the end of
conflicts which are being
incessantly renewed be-
tween the Great Powers
on account of the Holy
Places; the transforma-
tion of ancient Jerusalem
into a new city which
shall rival in importance
the finest cities in the
West; the creation of
European colonies which
in time will become cen-
ters when Western civili-
zation will spread into
Turkey and penetrate the
extreme East.
"Under the nominal
suzerainty of the Sultan
the society will adminis-
ter with intelligence and
equity the territories
J. Henri Dunant in 1867, one year after his famous
that might develop upon
it. Thus India has long
proposal to "resurrect" a barren Palestine.
been administered and
governed by the English
company.
"The Sultan, grateful for
the financial • support
which will be given to him,
might perhaps, grant to
the Holy Land a sp 1
administration w
under the high direction of
the Porte, would offer real
security to the populations
that might be employed
there.
"Thanks to this combi-
nation, which would pro-
cure for her valuable re-
sources, Turkey would
not be obliged to contract
new loans in order to pay
the interest on previous
ones.
"The rising colonies
might diplomatically be
neutralized, like Switzer-
land, and by a treaty
which would have some
analogy to the convention
signed at Geneva in favor
of the ambulance, sanit-
ary bodies, and wounded
soldiers.
"It
would
not,
moreover, be so difficult
to neutralize'Palestine by
an agreement among the
powers, since there exists
a remarkable precedent,
which is the neutraliza-
tion of the Lower Danube
officially obtained from
the seven powers, who
signed the treaty at
Paris. Now the commis-
sion of the Lower Danube
has created its fiat and a
small fleet, it possesses a
numerous staff and re-
venues; it actually seeks
to contract a loan, the
same as an independent
state.
"In order to prepare the
organization of an Inter-
national Eas-tern Society,
it is necessary that' the
minds should be induced
to occupy themselves with
these great and interest-
ing questions. It is indis-
pensable for this purpose
to form a committee com-
posed of influential and
honorable men of different
nations and different opin-
ions, having at heart the
success of these views and
the general interest. For
the rest of the elements of
such a committee are quite
clear.
"Its program, at
same time econoi
humanitarian, scientine,
etc., is also international;
it cannot hurt the suscep-
tibilities of any nation.
Influential men in Fr-
ance, England and
elsewhere are favorably
disposed to the scheme,-
A letter to the London
Jewish Chtonicle dated
Dec. 13,1867, containing
an appeal from Dunant's
Association for the Col-
onization of Palestine,
reveals many other in-
teresting ideas of the
great founder of the Red
Cross, and is in essence a
prophecy that Palestine
will once again become
"The center of all ex-
change between the old
continents.-