(Jewish Group) World Zionist Organization in Basel to mark anniversary of First Zionist Congress

World Zionist Organization convenes hundreds in Basel to mark 125th anniversary of First Zionist Congress


Participants in a 125th anniversary gathering of the 1897 First Zionist Congress will recreate an iconic photograph taken then of Theodor Herzl, father of modern political Zionism. (GPO via Getty Images)


Hundreds of Jews from around the world have traveled to Basel, Switzerland, to mark the 125th anniversary of a historic gathering of Zionists there.

The event was organized by the World Zionist Organization, a group inaugurated during the First Zionist Congress that Theodor Herzl, considered the father of modern Zionism, convened in Basel in 1897. At the 1897 congress, 200 participants from 17 countries voted to adopt as an explicit goal the creation of “a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine” for Jews.

“At Basel, I founded the Jewish state,” Herzl famously wrote in his diary at the time, noting that while not everyone recognized the import of the congress then, they would in 50 years — precisely predicting the moment when Israel would become an independent nation.

The 125th anniversary event, which began Sunday, is not meant to set or debate specific policies. Instead, it aims to celebrate the degree to which Herzl’s vision has transformed into a thriving reality in modern-day Israel.

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