80 Friday, November 1, 1980
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Jabotinsky — Ardent Zionist and Jewish Patriot
By MALKAH RAYMIST
World Zionist Press Service
Zeev Jabotinsky was born
Oct. 17, 1880 in Odessa,
southern Russia, the cradle
of. Russian Zionism, and
hometown of Bialik, Us-
sishkin and many other
Zionist personalities.
Educated in Russian
schools (he studied Hebrew
at home); Jabotinsky
studied law in Switzerland
and Italy, also working
there as correspondent of
the largest Odessa daily,
the "Odessa News." A bril-
liant journalist and pun-
gent polemicist, he signed
his articles with the name
Altalena.
His style, and he wrote in
several languages, was
fluent and expressive. For
example, he coined the ex-
pression "Zoological
hatred," for anti-Semitism,
which is still widely used.
Jewishness and
Zionism, though never
denied, were not his pri-
mary concern in early
youth. It was the 1903
Kishinev pogroms that
shook him and brought
out in him the dormant
potentialties of leader
and politician. He in-
itiated Jewish self-
defense, when the pog-
roms threatened to spill
over to Odessa. In the
same year he attended
the Zionist Congress in
Basel, where the Uganda
Project brought forth,
and was one of those who
voted for it.
He soon developed into
one of the foremost Zionist
writers and speakers of his
time — fearless, original
and persuasive. He advo-
cated autonomous minority
rights of Jews in Russia and
was once accused of "synth-
etic Zionism" for accepting
substitutes such as the
Uganda project and au-
tonomy in the Diaspora in-
stead of Palestine.
At that time he was more
concerned with improving
the Jewish lot in the Dias-
pora than with the return to
Zion.
He changed his political
tendencies more than once,
though not out of unstead-
iness or weakness. Once he
had decided that what he
championed was not that
which the situation needed,
he had the courage to make
a new analysis.
His political writings
were published in Russian,
French, Hebrew and
Ladino, in Constantinople,
where he was active in
1908, in the liberal atmos-
phere following the Young
Turks Revolution. Return-
ing to Russia in 1910, he
started a crusade for the
teaching of Hebrew, "the
language of our ancestors,"
in all Jewish - schools,
encountering much opposi-
tion from the Yiddishists
and even some Zionists.
His sister, Mrs.
Jabotinsky-Kopp, ran a sec-
ondary school for girls in
Odessa, known as the
Jabotinsky Jewish School,
where Hebrew and Jewish
history were taught. In
addition ' to Hebrew,
Jabotinsky himself was
fluent in Russian, French,
tented by a Military
Court to 15 years hard
labor. He was pardoned,
or rather his verdict was
quashed, as a result of the
widespread indignation
of Jews and non-Jews.
His further career was
checkered. For some time he
was a member of the official
Zionist leadership as a
member of the Zionist
Executive (1921), but left it
a year later in protest
against the Executive's ac-
quiescence to the British
White Paper (1922) which
was intended to placate the
Arabs against the Jewish
National Home.
Disappointed in the pol-
icy of Herbert Samuels (the
first High Commissioner for
Palestine, who was Jewish),
and having seceded from
the Zionist Executive, in
1923 he founded the Brith
Trumpeldor (Betar), and
two years later formed the
Union of Zionist Re-
visionists in Paris. It was in
the framework of this party
that he worked from then
on.
Zeev Jabotinsky in Jewish Legion uniform.
Until 1936, he lived in
English, German and Ita- the British forces entered London and Paris with a
Palestine, and was deco- one-year period in Palestine
Tian.
During World War I he rated and mentioned `in dis- as editor of the Revisionist
Hebrew daily "Doar
succeeded in having the patches.
After the war, forese- Hayom" (The- Daily Post).
British government agree
to form a Jewish Legion as eing Arab anti-Jewish The British viewed him as a
part of the British Army, disturbances, then al- permanent mutineer and a
though late in the war. Thus ready tolerated by the political danger, and can-
the 38th Battalion of Royal British, he was one of the celed his return visa to
Fusiliers was formed in founders of Hagana, Palestine when he was on a
1917, and Jabotinsky, who leading Jewish defen- lecture tour in South Africa.
Prior to that, objecting
enlisted as a private, was ders against attacking
soon promoted to lieuten- Arabs in Jerusalem. Too strongly to the formation
ant. He commanded a com- rebelliously active and in 1929 of an enlarged
pany that was the first to outspoken for the British Jewish Agency that in-
cross the River Jordan when authorities, he was sen- cluded 50 percent non-
Zionists, followed by the
refusal of the 17th Zionist
Congress (1931) to define
the aims of Zionism,
Jabotinsky left the World
Zionist Organization. It
was then that he founded
an independent New
Zionist Organization
with 713,000 voting mem-
bers.
1930s, he
In the
negotiated with a number of
governments for an orderly
transfer of their Jewish
populations to Palestine.
Beginning in 193., 'advo-
cated "illegal" im tion
which grew into' very
strong movement.
He also advocated armed
retaliation to Arab terror,
founding the Etzel (first let-
ters of Irgun Tzvai Leumi —
Hebrew for National Mili-
tary Organization) consist-
ing of Revionists and
Hagana activists impatient
of what they saw as official
Jewish passivity. This led
to splits in the Jewish popu-
lation of Palestine which
remain until our own times.
During World War II he
advocated the creation of a
Jewish army to fight the
Nazis. He went to the U.S.
for this purpose but died in
New York of a heart attack
on Aug. 3, 1940. In 1965, his
remains were brought to
Jerusalem and buried ac-
cording to a decision of
Prime Minister Levi
Eshkol.
In his will, written in the
late 1930s, he wrote that:
"My remains will be trans-
ferred (to Eretz Yisrael)
only on the instructions of a
Jewish government."
Followers Remember an Everlasting, Conquering Personality
to listen. Now, in their sor-
row and despair' they re-
Prime Minister of Israel
It was the summer of called his words but there
1940. For the second time in was no one who could save
25 years the lights went out their situation.
But Jabotinsky, in the
in Europe. But the darkest
of nights descended upon course of the 40 years of his
Jewry, whom the enemy activities, had molded and
sought utterly to destroy. In directed a generation which
those days a cry went up to would assure continuity
heaven, the likes of which and go on striving in his
had not been heard since image — the image of a
God created man, and man fighter who believed in his
created the devil: Why had - mission, the image of a rebel
we not hearkened to the call and dissident. In this, he
gave supreme expression to
of Jabotinsky?
For indeed, when the his immeasurable great-
-
Jewish masses were stand- ness.
Despite everything, the
ing on the brink of the
abyss, it was he who ap- Jewish people was al-
peared before them not as ways ready to begin
prophet of the Holocaust, anew — this was the sup-
but as a man bearing the reme command that had
message of redemption, and been given to, and ac-
pointing the way to rescue. cepted by, Israel.
It is this command of
He made superhuman ef-
forts to carry them across Jewish tradition that
the abyss to the land of the Jabotinsky took to heart
living, to the shores of and turned into a guide and
safety before they were mentor for himself. He was
overtaken by the sword. always ready to start af-
However, led astray by resh. He never despaired.
-their leaders, they refused He always believed in the
By MENAHEM BEGIN
justice of his struggle, and
always fought for his be-
liefs. He was always ready,
whenever one instrument
was shattered, to set up a
second.
This preparedness — to
cede from the majority and
to rebel — is also embedded
in the deep recesses of
Jewish tradition. From its
earliest appearance in the
area of history, the Jewish
people drew apart from the
many, gave up the comforts
of joining their ranks, and
continued to rebel against
them, despite all the sac-
rifices involved in such re-
volt and dissidence.
Again, Jabotinsky
acted in accordance
with this national tradi-
tion when he came to re-
scue his people from the
fate that its enemies had
decided for it. From the
episode of the Jewish
Legion during World War
I, to his efforts to estab-
lish a Jewish army dur-
ing World War II,
Jabotinsky's path was
the same.
This path he mapped out
for himself, not only by his
thoughts, his writings and
his speeches, but particu-
larly by the model that he
provided by his own life to
the generation that follows
his teachings. For that rea-
son, despite the departure
in the very midst of the days
of destruction and enslave-
ment, of the bearer of this
hope, the hope is not lost.
It has been translated
into action as he com-
manded, under the leader-
ship of his spirit. It has been
translated into freedom and
liberation, in war, in faith,
in dissidence and in revolt.
Among Jabotinsky's
deeds and achievements are
the Jewish Legion; the idea
of the Jewish state which he
carried and implanted in
face of thOse who denied it;
the idea of a Jewish army
which he bore aloft in face of
scorn; and the armed revolt
which blazed the road of re-
demption for the nation.
He who acted thus —
what connection has he
with the tragic figure which
people seek to ascribe to
him? Surely his is the glory
of victory.
The tragedy of his time
is not Jabotinsky's, but of
the people who refused to
hearken to the voice of
the prophet of truth but
MENAHEM BEGIN
followed — not for the
first time in its history —
false prophets. For this
they paid a bloody price,
the likes of which were
unknown even in our
tear-stained history.
The tragedy is that of the
erring leaders who snatched
fragments of thought from
him, scraps of ideas, but
tragically late in the day,
and even now are not pre-
pared to admit that he was
their author and try to
transform the copy into the
original. But will that be of
any avail to them? Surely
there is nothing more se-
cure or real than the victory
of truth.
Is there anyone, apart
from Herzl, who in our time,
has died and whose spirit
lives on like Jabotinsky? At
the beginning of the Revolt,
I said to a friend that when I
issued the order it was as
though I heard the voice of
Jabotinsky, Head of Betar,
commanding me to give it.
That is how we all felt. It
was under his leadership,
even after his-death, that
the Revolt was carried out.
And he lives on, like a
writer who lives not only in
his writings but mainly
through his readers; so the
teacher lives not only
through his teachings but
through his disciples who
implement his teachings,
who carry the message
aloft, who believe in the full
implementation of the mes.-
sage and who are uncondi-
tionally loyal to him.
On the 20th ar2-.."--sary
of your death, I hein.z - an-
nounce in the name of the
tens of thousands of your
veteran disciples, and in the
name of the tens of
thousands of followers who
have been won over to your
teachings after the
emergence of the state, that
during the days of the
Holocaust and destruction
and subjugation, we did as
you commanded us: We
rose, we revolted and we
liberated.
Even though the road
may be long and difficult,
we shall continue to carry
out your teachings.