From Stephen Peter Rosen and Martin Kramer
Today is April Fools’ Day, and no day could be more auspicious for an exercise in counterfactual history. In that spirit, MESH is pleased to offer a new paper by MESH member Walter Laqueur, entitled Disraelia: A Counterfactual History, 1848-2008. Laqueur, whose many books include an acclaimed history of Zionism, has put together an anthology of would-be documents, predicated on the counterfactual premise that large-scale Jewish immigration to Ottoman Palestine began in 1848. In Laqueur’s controlled speculation, Disraeli occupies the place of Herzl. Laqueur writes to us:
Even a few lines of this alternative modern history of the Middle East should make it clear that there is no rivalry with The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. Counterfactual history—what might have happened—is no idle enterprise. What did actually happen cannot be evaluated unless it is put into some context and this includes, of course, the question what might have happened. This we shall never know for certain. But given some knowledge of history, there is room for speculation, and given the role of accident in history, developments which may seem today far-fetched might easily have taken place.
One issue which greatly intrigued me is the fact that there is no equal justice in international relations, that different standards are applied, that big powers are not treated the same way as small countries. Why belabor the obvious? Because there is such great reluctance to call a spade by its name. There is the pretense of equal rights and standards, but in fact… I tried to provide a dispassionate outline in this essay.
So as not to spoil the pleasure, we won’t say more. Download here (pdf), read, and reflect.
This also inaugurates our new e-publication, Middle East Papers. These are planned as occasional studies distributed via this site, on any subject we believe might interest our readers. Middle East Papers have their own page, and new numbers will always be announced on this weblog.
MESH Update: See Martin Kramer’s comment on Disraelia, at his Jerusalem Post blog.
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Walter Laqueur’s brief exercise in “what if” history is fascinating, highly original and totally authentic. The counter-factual documents are so convincing that one is tempted to believe in their authenticity. Indeed, the main argument is totally valid: had Zionism appeared half a century earlier, things would have been totally different and Israel, or rather Disraelia, would have become a power to be reckoned with, immune to the bash-Israel propaganda which is aimed at it now. This is a powerful point—although I doubt that even given this premise, there would have been a Nazi ambassador to Tel Aviv.
Amnon Rubinstein is professor of law and former president of the Inter-Disciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel. He was also a member of the Israeli Knesset.