Jacob Israël de Haan (31 December 1881 - 30 June 1924) was a Dutch Jewish literary writer, lawyer,

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

and journalist who immigrated to Palestine in 1919. There he became more religiously committed and served as the political spokesman of the Haredim in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He was assassinated in 1924 by the Zionist paramilitary organization

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

for his

political activities.

Early life

De Haan was born in Smilde, a village in the northern province of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

, and grew up in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

. He was said to be one of eighteen children and received a traditional Jewish education. In 1904, while living in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, he wrote the novel '' Pijpelijntjes'' ("Lines from De Pijp"), which falsely pretends to be a thinly veiled version of his own gay life with Arnold Aletrino in Amsterdam's " Pijp" working-class district. The homo-eroticism of the book, shocking to readers in the early 20th century, led to his dismissal from his teaching job and social-democratic political circles. De Haan's acquaintances bought almost the entire print run of the book, to keep a lid on the scandal. A new homo-erotic novel, ''Pathologieën'', made it even more difficult for him to find a job. In 1907, he married Johanna van Maarseveen (1873–1946), a non-Jewish doctor eight years older than him. They separated in 1919, but never officially divorced.

Work on behalf of Russian Jewish prisoners

In 1912, de Haan visited a number of prisons in Russia, in order to study the situation of political prisoners. He published his shocking findings in his book ''In Russische gevangenissen'' (In Russian prisons, 1913). He also founded a committee, together with Dutch writer

Frederik van Eeden Frederik Willem van Eeden (3 April 1860, Haarlem – 16 June 1932, Bussum) was a late 19th-century and early 20th-century Dutch writer and psychiatrist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers and the Significs Group, and had top billing amo ...

and Dutch poet Henriette Roland Holst, which aimed at collecting signatures for the sake of inducing especially Russia's then allies France and Great Britain to exert pressure on Russia to alleviate the fate of the prisoners. In a publication of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

he was, because of these activities, described as "a precursor of Amnesty International"."Wordt Vervolgd" (Amnesty International, Section Netherlands), March 1987

Move to Palestine

Zionist beginnings

Around 1910, De Haan returned to the Jewish religion and started to learn

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. He developed an interest in

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

, joining in 1915 the Mizrachi, the religious branch of the Zionist Organization. This is a description of de Haan prior to his departure for Palestine:

Religious and anti-Zionist phase

De Haan moved to

in 1919 as correspondent of the ''

Algemeen Handelsblad ''Algemeen Handelsblad'' was a Dutch daily newspaper founded in 1828 by stockbroker . Originally liberal, economically focused, and Amsterdam-based, the paper merged in 1970 with the ''Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant'' to form ''NRC Handelsblad''. H ...

'', one of the leading Dutch dailies. He also taught at a new law school, the Jerusalem Law Classes, established by the Government of Palestine in 1920. He was one of the defenders of members of the Zionist para-military group

who had attacked Arabs in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

. De Haan rapidly became more religiously committed, and was angered by Zionist refusals to cooperate with Arabs. At first he aligned himself with

religious Zionism Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

and the Mizrachi movement, but after meeting Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, leader of the ultra-conservative

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

Jewish community, he became the political spokesman of the Haredim in Jerusalem. He was elected political secretary of the Orthodox community council, '' Vaad Ha'ir''. De Haan endeavoured to obtain an agreement with Arab nationalist leaders to allow unrestricted Jewish immigration into Palestine in exchange for a Jewish declaration forgoing the Balfour Declaration. During this time it is alleged that he continued to have relationships with young men, including Arabs from

east Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

. In one of his poems he asks himself whether his visits to the Wailing Wall were motivated by a desire for God or for the young Arab men there. The secular Zionist establishment would not allow the established Haredi community in Palestine to be represented in the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

in the 1920s. In response, the Haredim founded a branch of the Agudath Israel political organisation in Jerusalem to represent their interests in

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

. The leader at the time, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, chose de Haan to organise and represent the Haredi position as their

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, on a diplomatic level equal to that of the secular Zionists. When in February 1922 Lord Northcliffe, the most influential British publisher, visited Palestine, De Haan presented the case of Palestine's Haredim and how they felt oppressed by the Zionists. De Haan, speaking on behalf of Agudath Israel, even opposed the British authorities allocating separate benefits to the Zionist-led

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

. From 1922, he suffered persisting harassment including death threats and being spat on by Zionists, and his class at the Law School demanded his dismissal. De Haan he was invited several times to visit Emir Abdullah, the future king of independent Transjordan. In March 1924, De Haan and rabbi Sonnenfeld travelled to

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

for an audience with Abdullah's father and top

Hashemite The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the Dynasty, royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz (1916–1925), Arab Kingdom of Syria, Syria (1920), and Kingd ...

leader, Emir Hussein bin Ali. They sought their support for the Old Yishuv (the pre-Zionist Jewish community in the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

), and explained the Haredi Jewish opposition to the Zionist plans of founding a state and support for the establishment of an official Palestinian state within the

Emirate of Transjordan The Emirate of Transjordan (), officially the Amirate of Trans-Jordan, was a British protectorate established on 11 April 1921, In April, De Haan met Hussein again and reported that the Caliph condemned "godless" Zionism and would mobilize the Islamic world against it"; however, De Haan's top rival Frederick Hermann Kisch obtained a retraction from Hussein, which De Haan was forced to publish. De Haan made plans to travel to London in July 1924 with an anti-Zionist Haredi delegation to argue against Zionism.

Assassination

Shortly before leaving for London, De Haan was assassinated in Jerusalem by the

on the early morning of 30 June 1924. As he exited the synagogue at the Shaare Zedek Hospital on Jaffa Road, Avraham Tehomi approached him and asked for the time. Tehomi shot him three times and ran away from the scene. De Haan died minutes later. At first, the Palestinian Jewish society, the Yishuv, readily accepted the theory that the assassination had to be blamed on Arabs. They did not doubt the Zionist leadership's assurances that it had played no part in it. With time, doubts started arising. In 1952, Yosef Hecht, the first commander of the main Zionist pre-state para-military organisation, the Haganah, told the official Haganah historian in a testimony what had actually occurred. In order to stop De Haan's planned anti-Zionist activity in London, Hecht discussed the issue with Zechariah Urieli, the Haganah commander in Jerusalem. They decided to assassinate De Haan. Two Haganah members, Avraham Tehomi and Avraham Krichevsky, were selected for the task. Hecht did not inform the Yishuv's civilian leadership until after the assassination, when he contacted

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963; born Izaak Shimshelevich) was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving president of Israel. He was 1952 Israeli presidential elec ...

, a senior member of the National Council. Hecht stated that "he did not regret it and would do it again." Before the facts were published, journalist

Liel Leibovitz Liel Leibovitz (; born 1976) is an Israeli journalist, author, media critic, and video game scholar. Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv, immigrated to the United States in 1999, and earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2007. In 2014, he was Visi ...

wrote that, while the identity of exactly who ordered the assassination was unknown, "there's little doubt that many in the senior Zionist leadership in Jerusalem knew about the proposal to kill de Haanand that none objected." The 1985 publication of ''De Haan: The first political assassination in Palestine'', by Shlomo Nakdimon and Shaul Mayzlish, revived wider interest in his assassination. Nakdimon and Mayzlish were able to trace Tehomi, then a businessman living in Hong Kong. When interviewed for Israeli TV by Nakdimon, Tehomi said that Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who later became the second

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

(1952–1963), must have ordered the assassination: "I have done what the Haganah decided had to be done. And nothing was done without the order of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi... I have no regrets because he (De Haan) wanted to destroy our whole idea of Zionism." Tehomi denied allegations that De Haan's assassination was related to his homosexuality: "I neither heard nor knew about this", adding "Why is it someone's business what he does at his home?" According to Gert Hekma, Zionists spread a rumour that De Haan had been killed by Arabs because of his sexual relations with Arab boys. Gert Hekma, 'De Haan, Jacob Israel' in Robert Aldrich, Garry Wotherspoon (eds.) ''Who's who in gay and lesbian history: from antiquity to World War II,'' Routledge, 2003 p. 143

Aftermath

De Haan was buried on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

. His funeral was attended by hundreds of Haredim, along with Zionist and British representatives. Following the funeral, many Haredim ventured into the city center to confront Zionists, and were barely restrained by the police. The headquarters of Agudath Israel received condolences from the British Palestine government, the French and Spanish consuls in Jerusalem, and various cables from around the world. In New York, ultra-Orthodox Jews circulated Yiddish leaflets praising De Haan and condemning "Torahless Zionists, who use violence to enslave the pious." The British authorities offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer, but Tehomi was never caught. A young pioneer named Yaakov Gussman was briefly detained by the British police on suspicion of carrying out the assassination, but released for lack of evidence. The assassination caused shock in Palestine and Europe. Senior Zionist leaders, among them

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

, blamed each other. There was widespread speculation as to the identity of the assassin, with the theories postulated including him being a Zionist, a Haredi enraged over the revelations of De Haan's homosexuality, or an "Arab lover". De Haan's murder is considered the first political murder in the Jewish community in Palestine. His activities were perceived as undermining the struggle for the establishment of a Jewish state, but the assassination sparked a controversy and was harshly condemned by some. Labor movement publicist Moshe Beilinson called the murder a moral breakdown of the Yishuv.

Posterity

German author Arnold Zweig published a book in 1932 based on De Haan's life called ''De Vriendt kehrt heim'' (English title ''De Vriendt Goes Home''). When, in 1949, the first Dutch ambassador to the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

presented his credentials, Israeli president

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

stated Dutch Jews had made an excellent contribution to their cause except for De Haan. In

Neturei Karta Neturei Karta () is a List of Jewish anti-Zionist organizations, Jewish anti-Zionist organization that advocates Palestinian nationalism. Founded by and for Haredim and Zionism, Haredi Jews opposed to Zionism, it is primarily active in parts o ...

circles De Haan is considered a martyr, killed by secular Jews while protecting the Jewish religion. A pilgrimage to his grave is held every year on the anniversary of his death. Nevertheless, some Haredim recoil from his homosexuality, his religious questioning, and his attempted coalition with the Arab nationalists. During the 1980s, the Neturei Karta community in Jerusalem tried to change the name of the Zupnik Garden to commemorate De Haan.

Netherlands

Although De Haan's fame waned after his death, his works have been published and reprinted. After his murder, his estate was transferred to his friend Mosche Wallach, who shipped it to the Netherlands, presumably to De Haan's widow Johanna van Maarseveen. In 1934, the latter met a Zionist called David Koker, who admired De Haan's work in spite of his political opinions, and she chose him as De Haan's literary executor. During the

Nazi occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of '' Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal f ...

, Koker managed to publish De Haan's ''Brieven uit Jeruzalem'' ('Letters from Jerusalem') in a small book. Following Koker's and Van Maarseveen's deaths, De Haan's archive was transferred to Karel van het Reve, who in turn deposited it at the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana of the University of Amsterdam. In 1949, a committee was founded to publish a collected edition of the poems, which followed in 1952. A 'Society Jacob Israël de Haan' furthered other publications: philosophical aphorisms and letters, and a memoir by his sister Mies de Haan. In the 1960s two attempts at a biography were published. After 1970 a revival of interest in De Haan brought more publicity, stimulating new editions of his works. Many of his publications about law and

significs Significs () is a linguistic and philosophical term introduced by Victoria, Lady Welby in the 1890s. It was later adopted by the Dutch Significs Group (or movement) of thinkers around Frederik van Eeden, which included L. E. J. Brouwer, founder of ...

have been reprinted, as were his novels, and his earlier prose has been rescued from obscure magazines. Dozens of bibliophile editions honoured his poems and prose sketches. Many magazine articles and other publications about his life were published, and generated heated debates. A large volume of his correspondence (only of the period 1902–1908), published in 1994, shed a bright light on his life. In 2015 a comprehensive 685-page Dutch-language biography written by Dutch academic and literary critic Joop Fontijn was published by De Bezige Bij in Amsterdam under the title "Onrust. Het leven van Jacob Israël de Haan". Through the years, in the Netherlands there have been projects, festivals and theatre productions commemorating Jacob Israël de Haan's work and life. A line from De Haan's poem "To a Young Fisherman": ''"For friendship such a limitless longing..."'', is inscribed on one of the three sides of the Homomonument in Amsterdam.

Publications

Poetry

* 1900–1908 De Haan published poetry in several magazines during these years. These early poems however have never been collected in a book * 1914 – ''Libertijnsche liederen'' ('Libertine songs') * 1915 – ''Het Joodsche lied. Eerste boek'' ('Jewish song, first book') * 1917 – ''Liederen'' ('Songs') * 1919 – ''Een nieuw Carthago'' ('A new

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

', Carthage being a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

for

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in this case) * 1921 – ''Het Joodsche lied. Tweede boek'' ('Jewish song, second book') * 1924 – ''Kwatrijnen'' ('Quatrains') * 1952 – ''Verzamelde gedichten'' ('Collected poems'); complete poetry 1909–1924 in two volumes, edited by K. Lekkerkerker * 1982 – ''Ik ben een jongen te Zaandam geweest'' ('I was a boy in

'), anthology edited by Gerrit Komrij

Prose

* 1904 – ''Pijpelijntjes'' (last reprint 2006) * 1904 – ''Kanalje'' ('Rabble'; reprint 1977) * 1907 – ''Ondergangen'' ('Perditions'; reprint 1984) * 1905–1910 - ''Nerveuze vertellingen'' ('Nervous Tales', published in various magazines, first collected in 1983) * 1907–1910 – ''Besliste volzinnen'' ('Decided Sentences',

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

s published in magazines, collected for the first time in 1954) * 1908 – ''Pathologieën. De ondergang van Johan van Vere de With'' ('Pathologies. The Perdition of Johan van Vere de With'; last reprint 2003)

Law

* 1916 – ''Wezen en taak der rechtskundige significa''. Inaugural address * 1916 – ''Rechtskundige significa en hare toepassing op de begrippen: 'aansprakelĳk, verantwoordelĳk, toerekeningsvatbaar'' (dissertatie) * 1919 – ''Rechtskundige significa''

Journalism

* 1913 – ''In Russische gevangenissen'' ('In Russian Prisons') * From Palestine De Haan sent many sketches and articles to the Dutch newspaper

. These never have been completely published in book form, but there are several collections: * 1922 – ''Jeruzalem'' * 1925 – ''Palestina'' with an introduction by Carry van Bruggen * 1941 – ''Brieven uit Jeruzalem'' edited by David Koker ('Letters from Jerusalem') * 1981 – ''Jacob Israël de Haan – correspondent in Palestina, 1919–1924''. Collected and edited by Ludy Giebels

Correspondence

* 1994 – ''Brieven van en aan Jacob Israël de Haan 1899–1908''. Edited by Rob Delvigne and Leo Ross

Notes

External links

Archive
(Amsterdam University)
Haan, Jacob Israël
by Henriette Boas and Ludy Giebels. ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'' article at

Encyclopedia.com ''Encyclopedia.com'' is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information, images, and videos from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works. History The website was launched by Infonautics in March 1998. Infonautics w ...

On De Haan
by Ludy Giebels in Exquisite Corpse, 1915
Amsterdam Jewish History Museum
biography (Dutch)
links to de Haan's writings

Images of de Haan
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