The New York Times · 2 December 1905

CP-1905-003

What Do the Zionists Want?

Scan 578 × 690 pixels

Transcribed from the clipping

What would the Zionists have us do? So far as I can make it out, they want a sort of “reserve” for Jews to be established in Palestine, where they may enjoy the rights of self-government. But the sovereign of Palestine is the Sultan, and would they have us head a crusade to annex the country and then hand it over to them?

In Palestine there are inhabitants—mostly Mohammedans. Are they to be driven out and to be deprived of the ownership of the soil? The scheme is altogether a preposterous one. But if the Jews really want to found some sort of Hebrew State, I should advise them to treat the matter themselves with the Sultan.

He is a very needy Sultan, and possibly might agree to deal for a good sum down and a handsome tribute and give them a portion of Palestine under his suzerainty, provided that they are prepared handsomely to compensate its inhabitants for expropriation.

I doubt, however, whether many Jews with money are either desirous themselves to settle in Palestine or are disposed to provide the means for other Jews to do so.

How this transcription was made

Read from the scan at 3.5x to 20x by a machine looking at the image of the page, not by OCR and not by a person. The clipping carries no masthead, no folio, no dateline and no internal date, so BOTH its date and its newspaper rest on the slide label alone, not on anything printed. Internal evidence is Ottoman ('the sovereign of Palestine is the Sultan'), which places it before 1917 and no closer. The source line 'From London Truth.' names the British weekly the editorial is reprinted from, not the publisher. Slide 13 of the October 2025 deck; the date is assigned by elimination against the other image on that slide, which is firmly dated 21 May 1911.

Cite this clipping

More from The New York Times

• The Maine Colony in PalestineThe New York Times · 12 November 1866
• Jewish Colonization in PalestineThe New York Times · 9 December 1883
• Jewish State in Palestine OpposedThe New York Times · 9 July 1897
• ZIONIST CONGRESS IN BASELThe New York Times · 31 August 1897
• ROME FEARS THE ZIONISTSThe New York Times · 12 September 1897
• PROGRESS OF ZIONISMThe New York Times · 16 December 1901
• 852 more from this paper in the full text →

More from the 1900s

• A Rare TreatOttumwa Semi-Weekly Courier · 18 May 1905
• Jewish Opposition to ZionismThe Spokesman-Review · 20 August 1905
• Palestine Railways.The Standard Times · 6 February 1906
• JEWS FAVOR PALESTINEThe New York Times · 1 July 1906
• Zionists to Meet in Cooper UnionThe New York Times · 25 March 1903
• JEWISH OPPOSITION TO ZIONISMEast Oregonian · 5 February 1907
• All 24 clippings from the 1900s →