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54

FRIDAY. FFBRUARY 3. 1989

e died in December,
1888, just over a
hundred years ago. A
Christian Zionist, Laurence
Oliphant never heard of
Theodor Herzl, and passed
away before the modern
Zionist movement began. Yet
Oliphant's efforts to create a
Jewish national restoration
were couched in Zionist
terms, and he labored valiant-
ly both to raise funds for
Jewish colonization in
Palestine, and to obtain a
Turkish concession for the
return.
Oliphant was a distinguish-
ed figure in England in the
late 19th century. Diplomat,
statesman, member of Parlia-
ment, war correspondent and
author, he was also a con-
troversial personality, and for
a period was enmeshed in a
mystic cult. His religious in-
terests led him to espouse the
Jewish cause, and before the
1881-1882 pogroms in Russia
he announced his idea of ob-
taining a concession from the
Turkish government for set-
tlement in Palestine. In 1879
he called for the opening of
Palestine as a refuge for op-
pressed Jews. He envisioned
the retraining of Jews for
manual labor and for a
cooperative way of life.
Like Herzl some years later,
Oliphant realized that
without official approval of
the Ottoman authorities, col-
onization would be futile, and
he spent much time in Con-
stantinople, presenting peti-
tions to the Sultan.
Oliphant carried on a fund-
raising campaign on behalf of
Jewish settlement, wrote and
lectured on the subject, and
even visited eastern Europe,
where he was hailed by the
Jewish masses as a modern
messiah.
A letter from 105 would-be
emigrants to Palestine from
southern Russia voiced a
typical reaction: "Lord, Pro-
vidence itself has delivered
the wand of our nation's
leadership into your hands,
and with your possession of it
a new era in the history of the
Jews . . . begins."
Oliphant combined sen-
timentality with the practical
and mundane aspects of his
plan: "My Eastern project is
as follows: lb obtain a conces-
sion from the Turkish
Government in the northern
and more fertile half of
Palestine . . . which proves to

be capable of immense
development. Any amount of
money can be raised upon it,
owing to the belief which peo-
ple have that they would be
fulfilling prophecy and bring-
ing on the end of the world. I
don't know why they are so
anxious for this latter event,
but it makes the commercial
speculation easy, as it is a
combination of the financial
and sentimental elements
which will, I think, ensure
success."
In 1882 Oliphant and his
wife moved to Haifa. His
secretary during this period
was Naphtali _ Herz Imber,
who was later to become
famous as the author of the
anthem, Hatikvah.
Oliphant's several books
are replete with references to
Jewish settlement of the

Oliphant carried on
a fundraising
campaign on
behalf of Jewish
settlement.

country and of his desire to
help them. Writing in 1883,
he told of the seven or eight
Jewish colonies established
by refugees from Russia and
Romania. He described the
Haluka system of charity for
the old Jewish community in
Palestine, and reported that
many of the latter would be
prepared to give up the
Haluka if they could become
self-sufficient farmers.
"Under these circumstances,"
he wrote, "it is a thousand
pities that Western Jews do
not come to their assistance.
They would confer thereby a
twofold benefit upon their
race. They would assist the in-
dustry and enterprise of their
coreligionists, while they
would undermine that system
of religious mendicancy
which is a disgrace to any
religion . ."
He encouraged what today
would be called aliyah, and
sent back to Europe op-
timistic reports on growth
and development.
"There are three prejudices
which have operated against
the colonization of Palestine
by Jews, and which are all ab-
solutely unsound," he wrote
from Haifa in 1883. "These
are, first, that the Jew cannot
become an agriculturist;
secondly, that the country is
barren; and thirdly, that it is
unsafe. The real obstacle in
the way to Palestine coloniza-

tion does not lie in any of
these directions, • but in the
fact that the government is
most determinedly opposed to
it."
He sought to convince the
Sultan of the benefits to be
derived from his plan, and
wrote that "at a time when
the (Ottoman) exchequer
stood sorely in need of
replenishment, his Majesty
would, by taking the lead in
a policy which had for its ob-
ject the restoration of the
Jews to the land of their
ancestors, have secured their
powerful influence in the
journalism and finance • of
Europe and America." Twen-
ty years later, Herzl was to
take the same tack. Oliphant
further called attention to the
commercial possibilities in
exploitation of the vast
chemical and mineral
resources of the Dead Sea. He
wrote eloquently of the digg-
ing of a canal from Haifa to
the Sea of Galilee, thus
creating a large inland sea,
with outlet down the Jordan
Valley to the Dead Sea, and
thence by Canal to Akaba;
thereby breaking the
monopoly of the Suez Canal.
The Turks were not
interested.
In letters and newspaper ar-
ticles, the Englishman kept
up his struggle. In 1882 he
reported American interest in
the subject. While Oliphant
was unable to remain in the
Turkish capital to keep up
the pressure, he wrote that
"the American Minister,
whose government takes a
benevolent interest in the
subject, has kindly assured
me that he will be happy to
render your delegates or local
committee any assistance in
his power."
A biographer of Oliphant,
who had access to most of his
papers and documents, wrote
in 1891 that "if the coloniza-
tion of Jews in Palestine suc-
ceeds, it will owe everything
to Oliphant's initiative."

Who remembers Oliphant
today? The old stone house in
which he lived, located on
what is now Ben Gurion
Boulevard in Haifa, carries a
plaque of identification. His
second home, in the Druze
village of Dalia el-Carmel,
still exists. In front is a small
monument in memory of his
wife, Alice, who died in 1885.
And a tiny footpath, in a
hidden corner of Mount
Carmel, is known as Oliphant
Way.