The name is derived from the Old Testament. Zion is the name of the hill in ancient Jerusalem, captured by King David in the year 1000 B.C.- britannica.com. As a result, Jerusalem was made the capital of the Jewish Kingdom. King David’s son, Solomon, built the First Holy Temple about 40 years later.-history.com.
In 1890, Nathan Birnbaum of Vienna, Austria, invented the term “Zionism.” Theodor Herzl, born in Budapest; family moved to Vienna in 1878, is considered “the visionary behind modern Zionism”, and the formation of a Jewish homeland. “Herzl first encountered anti-semitism that would shape his life and the fate of Jews in the 20th century while studying at the University of Vienna in 1882.”-jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
“In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was unjustly accused of treason, mainly because of the prevailing anti-semitic atmosphere. Herzl witnessed mobs shouting “Death to the Jews” in France, and Herzl resolved that there was only one solution: the mass immigration of Jews to a land that they could call their own.” The Dreyfus case became one of the main factors in the genesis of “Political Zionism.” -jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
“In 1897, Herzl organized the first Zionist Congress. The goal was the creation “for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law.”-cia.gov./library.
“Zionism, by definition, “means the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.”- jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has come to include the movement for the development and protection of the State of Israel.”- jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
After Germany was defeated in World War I by the Allies, the Jews were being scapegoated by Germany “for the economic, social and political turmoil that followed.” This “set in motion the events leading to the Holocaust.”-momentmag.com. 6/16/15.
“The 2 greatest achievements of Zionism in the 20th century, are the commitment made by the British government in the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the establishment of Israel in 1948.”-cia.gov./library.
“Zionism has been repeatedly denounced by the Arab nations and their supporters as a “tool of imperialism.” In 1975, the UN adopted a resolution equating Zionism with racism. In 1991, the General Assembly voted 111 to 25 for repeal. For their part Zionists have emphasized that their movement has never rejected Arab self determination and that the fundamental meaning of Zionism has been the national liberation of the Jewish People.”-cia.gov./library.
“Zionism today is based on the unequivocal support of 2 basic principles. The autonomy and safety of the State of Israel and the right of any Jew to settle there (The Law of Return)-which together provide the guarantee of a Jewish nationality to any Jew in need of it.”-cia.gov./library. / Done
