the Dispersion, and for a moment it seemed as if Zionism were really entering the field of practical politics. Unhappily it only led to bitter controversies, which nearly wrecked the whole movement. The British offer was submitted to the Sixth Congress, which assembled at Basel in August 1903. It was received with consternation and an explosion of wrath by the ultra-nationalist elements, who interpreted it as an abandonment of the Palestine idea. By his personal influence Dr Herzl succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a commission to examine the proposed territory, but its composition was largely nationalist, and in the following year the Congress gladly availed itself of certain critical passages in the report to reject the whole scheme.
Meanwhile Zionism had suffered an irreparable blow by the death of Dr Herzl (1904). He was succeeded by Mr David Wolffsohn, a banker of Cologne, but there was in truth nobody who in ability and personal dignity and magnetism could take his place. The movement was further shaken by the dissensions which followed the rejection of the East African project. Mr Israel Zangwill led an influential minority which combined with certain non-Zionist elements to found a rival organization under the name of the ITO (Jewish Territorial Organization) with a view to taking over the East African offer or to establish an autonomous place of refuge elsewhere. Thus freed from all moderating elements the Zionists hardened into an exclusively Palestinian body, and under the auspices of Mr Wolffsohn fresh negotiations were opened with the Porte. These, however, were rendered finally hopeless by the Turkish revolution, which postulated a united Ottoman nationality, and resolutely set its face against any extension of the racial and religious autonomies under which the integrity of the Empire had already severely suffered.
During 1905–1910 the Jewish national idea, for all practical purposes, was in a state of suspended animation. The recovery of the Holy Land appeared more distant than ever, while even the establishment of an independent or autonomous Jewish state elsewhere, for which the ITO was labouring, had encountered unexpected difficulties. On the rejection of the British offer by the Zionists Mr Zangwill approached the Colonial Office, but he was too late, as the reserve on the Nasin Gishiu plateau had already been officially withdrawn. The ITO then turned its attention to Cyrenaica, and an expedition to examine the country was sent out (1908), but it was not found suitable. A project for combining all the Jewish organizations in an effort to secure an adequate foothold in Mesopotamia in connexion with the scheme for the irrigation of that region was subsequently proposed by Mr Zangwill, but up to January 1911 it had not been found practicable. The ITO, however, did valuable work by organizing an Emigration Regulation Department for deflecting the stream of Jewish emigration from the overcrowded Jewry of New York to the Southern states of the American Union, where there is greater scope for employment under wholesome conditions. For this purpose a fund was formed, to which Mr Jacob Schiff contributed £100,000 and Messrs Rothschild £20,000.
Although the Zionist organization was numerically strong—indeed, the strongest popular movement Jewish history had ever known—its experience from 1897 to 1910 rendered it very doubtful whether its nationalist aspirations could, humanly speaking, ever be fulfilled. From Turkey, either absolutist or democratic, it appeared hopeless to expect any willing relaxation of the Ottoman hold on Palestine, while in the event of a dissolution of the Empire it was questionable whether Christendom—and especially the Roman and Greek Churches—would permit the Holy Land to pass to the Jews, even though the Holy Places were exterritorialized. Should these obstacles be overcome, still more formidable difficulties would await the Jewish state. The chief of these is the religious question. The state would have to be orthodox or secular. If it were orthodox it would desire to revive the whole Levitical polity, and in these circumstances it would either pass away through internal chaos or would so offend the modern political spirit that it would be soon extinguished from outside. If it were secular it would not be a Jewish state. The great bulk of its supporters would refuse to live in it, and it would ultimately be abandoned to an outlander population consisting of Hebrew Christians and Christian Millenarians.
Modern Zionism is vitiated by its erroneous premises. It is based on the idea that anti-Semitism is unconquerable, and thus the whole movement is artificial. Under the influence of religious toleration and the naturalization laws, nationalities are daily losing more of their racial character. The coming nationality will be essentially a matter of education and economics, and this will not exclude the Jews as such. With the passing away of anti-Semitism, Jewish nationalism will disappear. If the Jewish people disappear with it, it will only be because either their religious mission in the world has been accomplished or they have proved themselves unworthy of it.
Literature.—A Zionist bibliography has been published by the Federation of American Zionists. Besides the works already cited in the body of this article, see on the early nationalist movement Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, under the heads of the various pseudo-Messiahs and their adherents. Jewish agricultural colonies will be found discussed very fully in The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. i. pp. 240-262. For early Zionist projects see Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 8, pp. 75-118; Laurence Oliphant, Land of Gilead; Mrs Oliphant, Life of Laurence Oliphant, pp. 168 et seq. The Zionist movement since 1895 is fully recorded in its official organ, Die Welt (Vienna). For proceedings of the Congresses see the Official Protocols published for each year by the society “Erez Israel” of Vienna; also Herzl, Der Baseler Congress (Vienna, 1897). On the movement generally, see Herzl's Zionistische Schriften, edited by Dr Leon Kellner; Ten Years of Zionism (Cologne, 1007); Nordau, Zionism, its History and its Aims (London, 1905); J. de Haas, Zionism, Jewish Needs and Jewish Ideals; also articles by I. Zangwill in Cosmopolis (October 1897), Contemporary Review (October 1899) and Fortnightly Review (April 1910); Dr Gaster in Asiatic Quarterly Review (October 1897); H. Bentwitch in Nineteenth Century (October 1897), and Fortnightly Review (December 1898); Reich in Nineteenth Century (August 1897); Lucien Wolf in Jewish Quarterly Review (October 1904; “The Zionist Peril”). On the ITO see pamphlets and leaflets published by the Jewish Territorial Organization; also the Report of the Commission on Cyrenaica (London, 1909). (L. W.)
ZIRCON, a mineral composed of zirconium silicate, sometimes used as a gem-stone. It is believed that the name comes from the Arabic zargun, and is essentially the same as “jargoon,” the name given to certain varieties of zircon. The mineral crystallizes in the tetragonal system, generally in combinations of square prisms and square pyramids, as in figs. 1 and 2. Zircon is isomorphous with cassiterite and rutile, and like them may occur in geniculated twins. There is no distinct cleavage, and the mineral breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The hardness is about 7·5. It is notable that the specific gravity has a very wide range, extending from a little below 4 to rather more than 4·7, and being thus greater than that of any other gem-stone. Rarely colourless, zircon is usually brown or red, sometimes orange, yellow or green, and occasionally parti-coloured or zoned.
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Whilst common zircon is opaque, the gem-varieties are transparent. The dichroism of coloured zircons is always feeble; the double refraction usually strong and of positive sign; and the optical properties of some zircons suggest a biaxial mineral. It was pointed out long ago by Sir A. H. Church that many transparent zircons afford a spectrum
