Page 361 - הציונות בתוניסיה

Summary VIII

of Zionism as an obligation of the individual to the movement. There were
arguments between the various streams of Zionism about the character of
fulfillment – for example whether to live in a kibbutz or a city – but none
about the need for its realization. Preparation was now required prior to
embarking on a new life in Israel. Hebrew became significant and a Zionist
was required to invest time learning the language as part of his preparation
for aliya. No less important for the Zionists were the attempts to establish
preparatory camps in Tunisia and elsewhere. However, the number of
Zionists who succeeded in completing this preparation was small. One
particular aspect of this ideology was the mission of Tunisian Zionism
in North Africa. Almost all the Zionist parties saw Tunisia as the base for
overall activity in North-Africa. The strength and importance of Zionism in
Tunisia led to its primary position in all Zionist activity in North Africa.
During this period the emigration of Tunisian Jews to Israel began. The
gap created between the desire to immigrate and the possibilities for legal
aliya between the years 1947–1948 forced the Zionists to turn to illegal
immigration. Tunisian Zionists were among the planners and implementers
of the ‘Ha'apala’ (illegal immigration movement). Only some 300 Jews left
Tunisia illegally during this period, but in terms of responsibility, the role of
Tunisian Zionism was more significant.
Those years were characterized by an increase in the number of
ideological parties, particularly those connected to world movements. The
Revisionists still enjoyed Zionist hegemony, as exemplified in the results
of the elections to the Zionist Congress in 1946, and in its strong Zionist
and Revisionist newspaper. Among the other various movements, which
combined socialism and Zionism, were Tzeirei Zion, which was aligned with
the Kibbutz HaMeuchad, and Hashomer Hatzair, which renewed its activities
in 1946. Among the religious movement, two trends were established. One
was aligned with Torah VeAvoda and the Mizrachi party, and the other,
religious Zionists, such as the Ateret Zion in Jerba, were unaffilliated. Other
groups remained politically neutral.
In this period, it is significant that the Zionists were the first to understand
that the Jewish community under French rule was at its end. Restricted
modernization under colonial rule had brought about the end of Jewish
existence in Tunisia. Such was the Zionists’ advantage in the colonial drama.
Zionism in Tunisia was one of the social and ideological streams