> Last evening, while boxing some books I am not interested
> in, I came across *The Romance of Palestine:  A History for
> Young People* by Rev. James W. Lee (1897), and I was
> reminded of our earlier discussions in this newsgroup about
> claims of the Jews and Palestinians to what is variantly
> known as Israel and Palestine.  I had remarked at one time
> that I had come across British maps of the 1890s naming the
> region "Palestine".  So I browsed through this book, which
> combines a tour guide (with photographs!!) with religion
> lessons and some history.  What surprised me was a short
> section about Napoleon in Palestine.

> That caused me to do an internet search and I came up with
> some interesting information.  It should be remembered that
> on September 27, 1791, the Convention granted Jews full
> citizenship in France.  Napoleon apparently was shocked when
> on coming into Italy in 1797, he discovered that Jews were
> forced to live in Ghettos in the big cities.  He abolished
> the ghettos - there and elsewhere.  And he abolished the
> laws of the Inquisition which were constant threats to "new
> Christians".  On Malta, he allowed the building of a
> Synagogue.  And so, when he reached Palestine, he prepared a
> proclamation dated April 20, 1797, that would establish an
> independent Jewish state in Palestine.  Only his defeat at
> Acre prevented it from being issued.

> But that was not the end of it.  On May 22, 1799, he
> announced a proclamation asking Jews to join with him to
> re-establish the ancient Jerusalem.  He followed this up on
> August 16, 1800, with the statement that if should govern a
> nations of Jews, he would rebuild the Temple of Solomon.

>  From all this a few things are clear.  First, the name
> Palestine for the region was well established (Napoleon also
> uses it in writing his own account of the Egyptian
> Campaign).  Second, the idea of establishment of a Jewish
> state in Palestine precedes even the formation of a Zionist
> movement later in the 19th century.   Third, perhaps
> Napoleon was the first Zionist.

> --
> Francis A. Miniter

> Oscuramente
> libros, laminas, llaves
> siguen mi suerte.

> Jorge Luis Borges, La Cifra   Haiku, 6