Canaanism

Canaanism was a cultural and ideological movement founded in 1939, reaching its peak among the Jews of Mandatory Palestine during the 1940s. It has had a significant effect on the course of Israeli art, literature and spiritual and political thought. Its adherents were called Canaanites (Hebrew: כנענים). The movement's original name was the Council for the Coalition of Hebrew Youth (הוועד לגיבוש הנוער העברי) or less formally, the Young Hebrews; Canaanism was originally a pejorative term. It came out of Revisionist Zionism and had roots in European extreme right-wing movements, particularly Italian fascism. Most of its members were former members of the Irgun or Lehi. Canaanism never had more than around two dozen registered members, but because most of them were influential intellectuals and artists, the movement had an influence which went far beyond its size. Its members believed that much of the Middle East had been a Hebrew-speaking civilization in antiquity. Ron Kuzar says they hoped to revive this civilization, creating a "Hebrew" nation disconnected from the Jewish past, which would embrace the Middle East's Arab population as well. They saw both "world Jewry and world Islam" as backward and medieval; Kuzar also says that the movement "exhibited an interesting blend of militarism and power politics toward the Arabs as an organized community on the one hand and a welcoming acceptance of them as individuals to be redeemed from medieval darkness on the other." In more recent years, the VISION Movement has generally been seen as the representative of Canaanism in the 21st century. It mostly focuses on building a peace process through creating a bi-national state through creating a dialogue between the Hilltop Youth and Palestinians. They refer to their ideology as Jewish liberation.