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Zionism Is as American as Baseball and Apple Pie
(Townhall) Jonathan Feldstein - Early American leaders understood that the Jewish people and the Land of Israel were inseparably linked. Long before there was ever an Israel-Arab conflict, America's founding fathers aspired to bless Israel and restore Jewish sovereignty there. 200 years ago, President John Adams wrote to a leader of the American Jewish community, Mordecai Noah: "I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation." In 1808, Adams wrote of the Jews: "They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their Empire were but a Bauble in comparison of the Jews. They have given religion to three quarters of the Globe and have influenced the affairs of Mankind more, and more happily, than any other Nation ancient or modern." Abraham Lincoln, who personally dreamt of visiting Israel, wrote that he hoped the oppression of Jews could be relieved by "restoring the [Jews] to their national home in Palestine...a noble dream and one shared by many Americans." Similar support was echoed by presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Hoover.