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 come to dominate the Middle East.

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 - such as its early relationship to the Palestinians and 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, primarily 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.

Translator’s note
Preface

Introduction
1. Pioneers of Zionism: Early Thinkers (1862-1884)
2. Lovers of Zion: Early Practitioners (1882-1904)
3. Herzl and the Zionist Organization: The Jewish State Project and its Agencies (1897-1904)
4. The Second Aliyah: Foundations of the Zionist Entity (1904-1914)
5. The First World War and the Balfour Declaration: The Alliance of Colonialism and Zionism (1914-1917)
6. British Mandate over Palestine, Part 1: The Mandate System and its Frameworks (1918-1923)
7. British Mandate over Palestine, Part II: Foundations of the “Jewish National Home” (1918-1923)
Conclusion: Zionism in the Service of Colonialism

Bibliography
Index

“A foundational and vital work. Jiryis’ book is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to understand Zionism's monstrous rise from myth to mandate, and a sobering reminder that there is no redeeming it.”

Mohammed el-Kurd, Palestinian writer and poet

“Sabri Jiryis has written a most comprehensive and detailed history of the foundations of Zionism. An accomplished Palestinian historian in his own right, Jiryis’ 1976 book on the history of the Israeli state’s subjection of Palestinian citizens after 1948 remains an indispensable classic. His new book on Zionism, originally published in Arabic, has finally been translated to English and at a most auspicious moment in the history of the ideology and the movement. Based on extensive research from Zionist and Israeli sources, Jiryis’ The Foundations of Zionism will be equally indispensable to readers and specialists interested in the policies of the state of Israel and its official ideology. Erudite and thorough, the book reminds us that nothing the state of Israel does falls outside the foundations of its ruling ideology. This compelling book is essential reading.”

Joseph Massad, Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University

“Books differ from all other propaganda media, primarily because one book can significantly change the reader’s attitude and action to an extent unmatched by the impact of any other single medium… this is, of course, not true of all books at all times and with all readers – but it is true significantly often enough to make books the most important weapon of strategic (long-range) propaganda.”

Head of Covert Action, CIA, 1961.

This series, a collaboration between Liberated Texts and Ebb Books, is dedicated to re-publishing, or publishing in English for the first time, works of ongoing relevance that have been forgotten, underappreciated, suppressed or misinterpreted in the cultural mainstream since their release.

We do so in the belief that despite the dramatic shift in the educational and media landscape that has taken place in the six decades since the statement quoted above was made, books remain powerful tools with the ability to fundamentally transform people’s view of the world and spur them into action to change it for the better.

Series Editor, Louis Allday

October 2025
614 pages, Ebb Books
9781738468744