Today In 1897, the first World Zionist Congress was convened.
In the second half of the 19th century, the Zionist idea developed among Jews, against the background of the rise of European nationalism and anti-Semitism. In the 80s, “Lovers of Zion” groups developed, which encouraged Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel. But Zionism became a real movement only when it was captured by Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl, a renowned Viennese Jewish playwright, who decided to write a book on the subject (“The Jewish State”) that was widely circulated. In 1897, Herzl decided to promote his ideas to the practical and political field, and called for a World Jewish Congress to deal with the Zionist question. The Congress met in Basel, Switzerland, where representatives of communities from all over Europe, from the east and west, arrived, and opened with the blessing of the President of the Congress, Dr. Karpel Lipa of Romania. The chairman of Congress was naturally Herzl himself, who barely managed to speak with applause. After several days of deliberations, it was decided to establish a worldwide Zionist organization (the Zionist Histadrut), and to promote political Zionism – political lobbying among the nations of the world and achieving legitimacy toward the establishment of a political entity for Jews in the Land of Israel. The Congress met again for the next 5 years, and later at a rate of once every two years, and placed the question of Jewish nationalism and Zionism at the forefront of global issues; The Congress soon saw fruit with the publication of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and it would not be far from reality to lay the basic root of the declaration of independence in 1948. The last surviving member of Congress, Clara Hirschenson, died in 1970 at her home in Pardes Hanna.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
