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Uganda Scheme
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==History== === "Just the country for Dr. Herzl" === Joseph Chamberlain and Theodor Herzl were acquainted through the [[Rothschild family|Rothschild]] brothers.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Initially, Herzl proposed a plan to the Colonial Secretary for Jewish settlement in [[Cyprus]], the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai peninsula]], or [[Arish|El Arish]]. However, Chamberlain deemed Herzl's proposal impractical since these territories were either inhabited or not under British control.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> Nevertheless, he agreed to discuss the El Arish plan with [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]], the Foreign Secretary, believing it could gain the support of world Jewry for Britain. Chamberlain left London in December 1902 to tour South Africa and stopped in [[Mombasa]] before continuing to South Africa.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> After a warm welcome, [[White people in Kenya|White British settlers]] in the region presented their grievances to the Colonial Secretary about the Foreign Office's failure to attract a significant number of hardworking settlers to the area, hindering the profitability of the railway.<ref name=":2" /> Additionally, during a journey on the Uganda Railway through what was described as "the white man country" in East Africa (modern Kenya), Chamberlain's opinion on the suitability of the tropical climate for Europeans changed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> While on the trip, Chamberlain thought that this "would be just the country for Dr. Herzl"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzl |first=Theodor |url=http://archive.org/details/the-complete-diaries-of-theodor-herzl |title=The Complete Diaries Of Theodor Herzl |publisher=Herzl Press and Thomas Yoseloff |year=1960 |editor-last=Patai |editor-first=Raphael |editor-link=Raphael Patai |location=New York |pages=1473 |translator-last=Zohn |translator-first=Harry |oclc=726924 |translator-link=Harry Zohn |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> and even proposed the idea of a Jewish homeland in East Africa to Dr. Herzl but did not pursue it further, assuming Herzl's interest would lie only in Palestine or nearby.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Amery |first=Julian |url=https://archive.org/details/the-life-of-joseph-chamberlain-v-4/page/256/mode/2up |title=The Life Of Joseph Chamberlain Volume IV 1901-1903 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |year=1951 |location=London |pages=256β70 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> === Initial negotiations === Initially, Herzl was not interested in the offer of a Jewish homeland in East Africa, as his focus was primarily on Palestine and its surrounding area. However, everything changed after the [[Kishinev Pogrom|Kishnev Pogrom]] after which he redoubled his efforts to secure a Jewish homeland.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> [[L. J. Greenberg|Leopold Greenberg]] acted as Herzl's main representative in the negotiations, and together they hoped to gain de facto diplomatic recognition from Great Britain, making the proposal's political value immense.<ref name=":2" /> Despite East Africa's lack of moral and historical significance to Jews, the East Africa plan held the most promise compared to the other plans.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7">{{Citation |title=THE EMERGENCE OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT |date=2012-11-08 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv102bfrj.6 |work=Israel |pages=3β26 |access-date=2023-05-06 |publisher=Brandeis University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctv102bfrj.6 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Greenberg successfully obtained a letter from the Foreign Office expressing the British government's willingness to establish a Jewish colony with considerable land, local autonomy, and religious and domestic freedom under its general control. In the Sixth Zionist Congress, which took place in 1903 in Basel, Herzl presented the proposal and the Congress voted in favor of sending a fact-finding group to East Africa with 295 delegates in favor and 178 against.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> === Reaction to the offer === Herzl's announcement sparked a heated debate that challenged fundamental beliefs and sparked passionate reactions. Some delegates viewed it as a betrayal of the [[Basel Program]] and a conflict between Palestine and Uganda.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> The discord threatened to divide the organization, with some Eastern European delegates dramatically walking out of the meeting and others expressing their loss of trust in Herzl and the steering committee. The emotional tension remained high, with some delegates falling on each other's necks, weeping, and a young student fainting.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> However, Herzl reassured delegates that Palestine would remain Zion and threatened to resign, preventing the organization's division.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> Though he believed the attachment to Palestine was remarkable, he thought the reaction was unreasonable.Β "These people have a rope around their necks, but they still refuse," Herzl commented.<ref name=":3" /> Despite concerns about the East Africa scheme, the Jewish World was willing to take the risk, particularly in light of the Kishinev incident.<ref name=":2" /> However, some members, such as [[Moses Gaster|Reverend Dr. Moses Gaster]] and [[Lucien Wolf]], strongly opposed the plan, believing it went against the principles of Zionism and was an unwise experiment with Jewish self-government.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> The Zionists' proposal was met with equal controversy in the British colony.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The white British settlers were openly hostile toward the offer and formed the "Anti-Zionist Immigration Committee," which rejected the proposal through the [[The Standard (Kenya)|African Standard]]. They believed that British poor people deserved the land more than the Jews and expressed concerns about how the black natives would react to the Jewish immigrants. Furthermore, there were worries about granting a special territory to an alien community after the troubles in Canada with the [[Doukhobors]], and doubts about Jews' ability to engage in profitable farming. The British media also joined in the objection, amplifying these concerns. The response of the native population to the offer is unknown, and the Indians who came to build the Uganda Railway did not entirely reject the proposal.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Freeman-Maloy |first=Dan |date=2017-10-06 |title=Remembering Balfour: empire, race and propaganda |journal=Race & Class |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=3β19 |doi=10.1177/0306396817733877 |s2cid=149183462 |issn=0306-3968}}</ref> === The Zionist expedition to East Africa === In December 1904, the Zionist Organization dispatched a special commission to [[Uasin Gishu County|Uasin Gishu]] to assess if the conditions were suitable for Jewish settlement. The commission was composed of Major Alfred St Hill Gibbons, a British veteran of the Boer War and a well-known explorer; Alfred Kaiser, a Swiss orientalist and advisor for the [[Northwest Cameroon Company]]; and Nachum Wilbush, a Zionist engineer.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> Although there were disparities in their final reports, with the climate used to argue for and against the Jewish settlement, the main reason for the rejection of the Plan in 1905 was partly due to the opposition by the former high commissioner of East Africa and the white settlers in the area. This led the British to withdraw the offer.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> === Implications of the offer === The East Africa plan was a significant turning point in Zionist history. Despite its rejection in 1905, the plan paved the way for the emergence of the territorialist ideology and the establishment of the [[Jewish Territorial Organization|Jewish Territorial Organisation]] (ITO). The ITO emphasized the pressing need to find a solution to the Jewish problem, even if it meant giving up the return to the Land of Israel.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alroey |first=Gur |date=2011 |title="Zionism without Zion"? Territorialist Ideology and the Zionist Movement, 1882β1956 |journal=Jewish Social Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.2979/jewisocistud.18.1.1 |issn=0021-6704 |s2cid=154121434}}</ref>
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