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Lovers of Zion who admire the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” can finally stop the guilt. Turns out that T. E. Lawrence was “a serious Zionist,” as revealed by acclaimed British historian Martin Gilbert. This comes to our attention thanks to correspondent Ruthie Blum writing in the Jerusalem Post.

Historian Gilbert found the true Lawrence in researching his book, “Churchill and the Jews,” and terms his find “a surprising archival revelation.”

Lawrence had “a sort of contempt for the Arabs,” according to Gilbert – and here’s what’s really startling: “Lawrence was an advocate of Jewish statehood from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” What’s more, Lawrence “felt that only with a Jewish presence and state would the Arabs ever make anything of themselves.”

Those familiar with the 1962 movie (that hasn’t aged a bit) will recall that Lawrence, as portrayed by Peter O’Toole, was a British officer (Lieutenant-Colonel) who, during World War I, championed the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. He lost himself in the cause to such an extent that General Allenby (Jack Hawkins) asked Colonel Brighton (Anthony Quayle), “Has he gone native?”

Followers of David Lean, the director, consider this his masterpiece, and some consider this a masterpiece above all others in the history of film. Equal credit goes to composer Maurice Jarre for his haunting score, and to screenwriter Robert Bolt for his restrained dialogue – not to mention dialogue that is unstinting and occasionally scathing, even, yes, contemptuous.

Arabs are not spared in this seemingly pro-Arab film. Here’s a line that always comes up as a surprise to viewers who may fear they’re in store for some propaganda, instead of a first-rate work of art, which this is – Lawrence/O’Toole: “So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous and cruel.”

To the question put to Lawrence, “Can you pass for an Arab in an Arab town?”

Here’s the answer from Bolt’s politically incorrect script: Lawrence/O’Toole: “If one of you will lend me some dirty clothes.”

Also this from Col. Brighton when Lawrence tells him that his guide was killed by an Arab: “Bloody savages.”

This, too, from screenwriter Bolt: “Moses was a prophet and beloved of G-d.”

Fans of the movie, like myself, bypassed the politics to sit back and get swept up in Lean’s glorious imagery. Even DeMille never captured the wilderness so mystically. Lean himself wanted Lawrence trimmed of politics. Lean wasn’t happy with an original script that got bogged down in historical details. He hired Bolt, who turned the screenplay into a character study of Lawrence – as captured in the movie’s refrain, “Who are you?”

Bolt’s screenplay ends with politics indeed, and, in the hands of director Lean, we’re treated to some prophecy. After Lawrence’s Arabs defeat the Turks and arrive victorious in Damascus, the in-fighting begins (tribe against tribe) and chaos reigns, a scenario that’s up to the minute in Gaza.

Historians quibble as to the film’s veracity against the true “revolt in the desert” but most (some?) agree that, allowing for dramatic liberties, this IS the story.

Given the direction by Lean, the script by Bolt, the music by Jarre, and a cast that includes O’Toole, Hawkins, Claude Rains, Quayle, Omar Sharif, Jose Ferrer and Alec Guinness, it’s no wonder that “Lawrence” won seven Academy Awards in 1963, notably Best Picture. The American Film Institute ranks it as fifth best picture of all time.

Those of us who rank this movie number one for its artistry cannot be blamed for imagining those nomads to be our Hebrews. (Except for the savagery and the ending.) Lean’s picture is really about one man’s quest to find himself in a desert as endless as the stars. The immensity of this wilderness causes us to reflect (through the director’s lens) upon our own loneliness and insignificance against the majesty of G-d’s creation. This is the movie’s sub-theme, or, in my view, the primary theme.

“Who Are We?”

Now that we have Lawrence proven to be a “serious Zionist,” we can rewind and start this movie with new eyes.