Počeci, razvoj i aktivnosti cionističkog pokreta na Kosovu i Metohiji 1918-1941

Abstract

Nosioci cionizma kao moderne političke ideologije jevrejskog naroda, uobličene i utemeljene krajem 20. stoleća, grčevito su se borili da za ideju vaskrsa političke nacije pridobiju podršku širokih narodnih masa, ali podjednako i razumevanje velikih svetskih centara moći, posebno onih od kojih je presudno moglo zavisiti ostvarenje početničkih zamisli i tekućih programa. U različite jevrejske zajednice u Evropi i svetu, cionistička ideja nije prodirala jednovremeno, istom brzinom i uspehom. Kočnicu tome, neretko su činile politički već defi¬nisane elite i njihove zajednice, koje viziju budućnosti jevrejskog naroda nisu vezivale za novonastalu etnocentričnu ideju. Na prostorima Kosova i Metohije, starosedelačka sefardska populacija, usled šire društveno-političke pripadnosti, dugo se opirala vesternizaciji, pa samim tim, i novom političkom duhu koji je postepeno ovladavao jevrejskim krugovima u Evropi. Tek sa političkom integracijom pomenutog prostora u jugoslo¬venske okvire, i opštom emancipacijom koja ju je verno pratila, stvorile su se prilike za slobodan odabir političke misli i nezavisno aktivno političko delovanje. Posredno, cionističkom političkom pokretu otvo¬reno je novo, skromno tržište. Prve cionističke organizacije na Kosovu i Metohiji, nastale su po osnivanju Kraljevine SHS, njihovu udarnu snagu činila je prvenstveno omladina, a u organizacionom ustrojstvu bile su podređene krovnoj organizaciji na nacionalnom nivou. U radu će biti istraženo i prikazano njihovo osnivanje, aktivnosti, odnosi sa lokal¬nim jevrejskim opštinama i regionalnim partnerima, kao i saradnja sa saveznim cionističkim centrom u Jugoslaviji.

The carriers of Zionism as a modern political ideology of the Jewish people, shaped and established in the late 19th century, were desperately struggling for achieving the idea of the resurrection of their political nation by obtaining support from people en masse but were equally seeking understanding from great world power centres, especially those who could crucially affect the realization of beginner ideas and current programs. In different Jewish communities in Europe and around the globe, the Zionist idea did not simultaneously penetrate by equal speed and success. The barriers for this were often already established elites and their communities who had not connected the vision of the future of the Jewish people to the newly emerging ethnocentric idea. Isolation from the given world events at the time, economic and technological backwardness of the area, a fundamental attachment to tradition and religion, conservatism of the social life, the disability of the political, cultural, and intellectual milieu, and many other factors have rendered themselves an obstacle to the free and unhindered expansion of Zionism. In the areas of Kosovo and Metohija, due to a wider socio-political identity, the native Sephardic population was resisting westernization for a long time, thereby opposing the new political spirit that had obtained control over the Jewish circles in Europe. Only with the political integration of the mentioned area into Yugoslav frameworks, and the complete emancipation that accompanied it did the opportunities create for the free choice of political thought, and independent and active political action. Indirectly, the Zionist political movement was introduced to a new, modest market. The first Zionist organizations in Kosovo and Metohija emerged upon the forming of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes; their impactful force was made up of mostly young people, whereas the organizational capacities were subjected to the umbrella organization at the national level. This paper will examine and display their establishment, activities, relations with local Jewish municipalities and regional partners, as well as cooperation with the federal Zionist centre in Yugoslavia.