The Foundations of Zionism by Sabri Jiryis

Translated into English for the first time since its original publication by the PLO's Palestine Research Center, this book extensively details the origins of Zionism and its development as an ideology and political project that has wrought havoc in the Middle East and beyond over the last century.

The Foundations of Zionism chronicles this development from Zionism's early origins up to the establishment of the British mandate over Palestine in 1923, refuting many of the movement's own foundational myths - from its early relationship to the Palestinians to its exclusively religious character. Sabri Jiryis delves into Zionism's successive congresses and factional struggles, its early failures to settle in Palestine and the formation of armed militias, and its temporary alliances with the Ottoman Empire before the movement eventually secured support from Western colonial powers such as Britain. In a newly written conclusion, Jiryis reconsiders the Zionist project 100 years on from the Balfour Declaration and amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Sabri Jiryis is a Palestinian scholar, lawyer and writer. An Israeli citizen who lived through the Nakba as a child, he graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and dedicated his life to the study of the Palestinian cause and Zionism. He served in the Palestine Liberation Organization as director of its Research Center, member of the Palestine National Council and Fatah Advisory Council, and advisor to Yasser Arafat on Israeli affairs. He is the author of the seminal The Arabs in Israel (1966 in Hebrew). In 2025, Jiryis received the Arab Historian Award from the Union of Arab Historians, Baghdad, in recognition of his contributions to Arab historical research and writing.

2025 (1976)

Paperback