A Jewish political movement for the
establishment of Jewish homeland in
Palestine, the `promised land' of the Bible,
with its capital Jerusalem, the `city of
Zion'. 1896 As a response to European
anti-Semitism, Theodor Herzl published his
Jewish State, outlining a scheme for setting
up an autonomous Jewish commonwealth under
Ottoman Turkish suzerainty. 1897 The World
Zionist Congress was established in Basel,
Switzerland, with Herzl as its first
president. 1917 The Balfour Declaration was
secured from Britain by Chaim Weizmann. It
promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine.
1940-48 Jewish settlement in the British
mandate of Palestine led to armed conflict
between militant Zionists (see Irgun, Stern
Gang) and both Palestinian Arabs and the
British. 1947 In Nov the United Nations
divided Palestine into Jewish and Arab
states, with Jerusalem as an international
city. 1948 The Jews in Palestine proclaimed
the state of Israel on 14 May, but the Arab
states rejected both the partition of
Palestine and the existence of Israel. The
armies of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Trans-Jordan,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Egypt attacked
Israel but were defeated. 1975 The General
Assembly of the UN condemned Zionism as `a
form of racism and racial discrimination';
among those voting against the resolution
were the USA and the members of the European
Community.