Mordecai Manuel Noah tried to establish the state of "Ararat" for the Jews on Grand Island, New York (Getty Images)
It is known that the Israeli occupation of Palestine was not the first attempt to create a state for world Jews; The announcement of the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 was preceded by several attempts throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
There were Soviet experiments with Jewish self-rule in the oblast region founded by Joseph Stalin in 1934, with its capital, Birobidzhan.
Jewish nationalist movements also sought to establish autonomous regions in Ukraine.
However, what many do not know is that the Jews sought to establish a state in New York City, in what was known as the “Ararat” state project.
Mordecai...the spiritual father of the American Jewish state
The idea of the state of "Ararat" goes back to Mordechai Manuel Noah, who was born in 1785 in the state of Philadelphia, a few years after the end of the War of Independence with Britain.
His mother died at an early age, and his father returned to his native Germany, so Noah and his brother were raised by their paternal grandparents, and they belonged to the modern American elite.
Although they were of Ashkenazi (European Jewish) descent, Noah always preferred to highlight his Portuguese ancestry on his maternal grandfather's side, as he felt that this background was more noble than the German ancestry associated with the mass immigration of the time.
Noah studied law, got a job in the US Treasury Department after meeting a wealthy man named Robert Morris, and later held a series of political positions, including the position of Sheriff of New York.
In 1813, the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, appointed an American consul in Tunisia, but he was removed from this position after only 3 years because of his Jewishness, which was considered “unsuitable for communicating with citizens of North African countries,” and that it constituted “a diplomatic obstacle in the society with Muslim majority.”
Purchasing a plot of land to establish the Jewish project
After returning from Tunisia, Noah settled in New York City. In 1824, he convinced his wealthy friend, Samuel Leggett, to buy about a fifth of the area of Grand Island, near Niagara Falls and adjacent to the US border with Canada, which has a total area of about 73 square kilometers, to be a headquarters for Jewish immigrants.
The former diplomat hoped that establishing a permanent - or even temporary - settlement would provide broad opportunities for adherents of the religion that he saw as being dispersed and persecuted around the world.
Noah was able to collect enough Jewish donations to purchase approximately 9.8 square kilometers to build his project, considering that America was a suitable place to establish a unified state for the Jews at that time, because it was already established to be a safe haven for immigrants and refugees from all over the world, and it received millions of immigrants during the century. nineteenth.
Mocking the "single ruler"
Noah's plan was to gradually purchase the rest of Grand Island as the project prospered and grew; Either to be a permanent home, or even a temporary refuge for the Jews until a state was established for his people in Palestine, so he spread the idea of the project to collect financial support and attract Jews to their new homeland.
The man has already begun publishing appeals to Jewish communities across Europe to support his project, but the response has been lukewarm.
Mordecai Manuel Noah tried to persuade the Jews of the world to immigrate to America and contribute to the establishment of the state of “Ararat” in New York (Getty Images)
Then he appointed himself the ruler of American Jews in his nascent city, and in a special ceremony he held in the city of Buffalo, adjacent to New York, “Jewish independence” was declared, Mordechai declared himself “the appointed ruler and judge of Israel,” and he announced the inauguration of the “State of Ararat.”
In the name chosen for the state, there is an implicit reference to Noah's first name, as it is believed that "Ararat" is the name of the mountain on which Noah's ark, peace be upon him, landed after the flood, according to Jewish beliefs.
The name also contains a reference to the promise that the new state will be a haven for Jews around the world. He even appointed rabbis and community leaders in Europe to collect taxes from all Jews to fund the construction of Ararat, and ordered Jews in "foreign lands" around the world to remain loyal to his state.
Noah's plan sparked some ridicule, and American Jews and right-wing politicians accused him of trying to deceive wealthy European Jews and achieve material gains at their expense. Therefore, his "state" did not receive the support and immigration movement it desired, so he was forced to abandon the idea after the general rejection he found.
The Ararat state project failed
After the failure of the Ararat state project, an investor bought Grand Island in 1833 to benefit from its cheap forests. After 20 years, the island began to abandon its Jewish character, after about 18,000 people of different beliefs moved to reside there.
The foundation stone of the Jewish state of “Ararat” that Mordecai Manuel Noah sought to establish on Grand Island in New York (Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society)
Experts and historians attribute the failure of the Jewish state project on American soil to the lack of need for it in the first place, as the Jewish immigrants coming from Germany did not need independence in a new “ghetto,” especially since they succeeded in integrating into American society.
Despite the collapse of Noah's plan to create a unified Jewish state, he remained one of the important figures among American Jews, as the Democratic Party granted him many honorary positions until his death in 1851.
Source: Al Jazeera + websites