ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a letter Dr. Theodore Herzl received by M. Youssuf Zia al-Khalidi while on a visit to Constantinople. In this letter, Herzl first shares that the feelings of friendship which Y. Z. Khalidi express for the Jewish people inspire in him the deepest appreciation. The Jews have been, and, and will be the best friends of Turkey since the day when Sultan Selim opened his Empire to the persecuted Jews of Spain. The Zionist idea, of which he was the humble servant, has no hostile tendency toward the Ottoman Government, but quite to the contrary this movement is concerned with opening up new resources for the Ottoman Empire. In allowing immigration to a number of Jews bringing their intelligence, their financial acumen and their means of enterprise to the country, no one can doubt that the well-being of the entire country would be the happy result.
