Theodor Herzl and the Birth of Political Zionism

Theodor Herzl, also known as Binyamin Ze'ev in Hebrew, was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who is credited with founding modern political Zionism. In order to establish a Jewish state, Herzl founded the Zionist Organization and encouraged Jewish immigration to Palestine. Theodor Herzl, the creator of the political form of Zionism, a movement to establish a Jewish state, was born in Budapest, Hungary, Austrian Empire. His booklet, The Jewish State (1896) advocated that the Jewish question be resolved by a universal council of countries as a political issue. In August 1897, he convened an international conference of Zionists in Basel, Switzerland, and became the first president of the World Zionist Organization, which was founded by the congress. Despite the fact that Herzl died more than 40 years before Israel was founded, he was a tireless organizer, publicist, and diplomat who played a key role in transforming Zionism into a global political force.

What is Zionism?

Simply defined, Zionism is a movement that seeks to re-establish the Jewish presence in Israel. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "Zion", which alludes to Jerusalem. Throughout history, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have regarded some sites in Israel as sacrosanct. The Torah, the Jewish sacred scripture, tells of ancient prophets who were commanded by God to return to their country. While the Zionist movement's core beliefs have existed for hundreds of years, contemporary Zionism emerged in the late nineteenth century. Around that time, anti-Semitism was on the rise all across the world.

Some historians argue that the Zionism movement was sparked by an increasingly hostile relationship between Jews and Europeans. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish lieutenant in the French army, was wrongly charged and convicted of treason in 1894. This incident, which became known as the "Dreyfus Affair", enraged many people, including Jews. Persecuted Jews seeking to reclaim their identity began to promote the concept of returning to their homeland and re-establishing a Jewish civilization there.

Theodor Herzl and the Birth of Political Zionism

In 1897, Theodor Herzl formally created modern Zionism as a political movement. Herzl, an Austrian Jewish journalist and political activist, thought that the Jewish people would perish if they did not have their own country. Following the Dreyfus Affair, Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), a booklet advocating for the recognition of a Jewish homeland in what was then known as Palestine. Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. He also founded the World Zionist Organization and served as its first president. Despite the fact that Herzl died 190 years before Israel was formally recognised as a state, he is widely regarded as the founder of contemporary Zionism.

In October 1898, Herzl made his first visit to Jerusalem. He timed his journey to coincide with Wilhelm II's in order to achieve what he believed had been planned with the help of Rev. William Hechler: public global power recognition of himself and Zionism. On October 29, Herzl and Wilhelm II met for the first time in public in Mikveh Israel, near Holon, Israel. The encounter was brief yet historic. On November 2, 1898, he had a second formal meeting with the emperor, this time in a public audience in the latter's tent camp on Jerusalem's Prophets Street. The English Zionist Federation was created in 1899 as a local affiliate of the World Zionist Organization, which Herzl had founded in Austria in 1897.

Rise of Political Zionism

Political Zionism, the Jewish people's national liberation movement, arose in the 19th century amid the liberal nationalism that swept Europe at the time. By striving to free the Jews from hostile and repressive alien authority and to rebuild Jewish unity by bringing Jewish exiles from all over the globe to the Jewish homeland, Zionism combined the two aims of liberal nationalism that is freedom and unity. The inability of the Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment) to solve the "Jewish issue" prompted the emergence of Zionism as a political movement. Personal emancipation and equality were unattainable without national emancipation and equality, according to Zionist thought, because national issues necessitate national answers.

The Zionist national solution aimed to establish a Jewish national state in the historical homeland with a Jewish majority, thereby achieving the Jewish people's right to self-determination. The "normalisation" of the Jewish predicament was not seen as a threat to universal goals and ideals by Zionism. It maintained that only sovereign people could become equal members of the family of nations and that every people on the planet had the right to their own home.

Relation between Theodor Herzl and Sultan Abdul Hamid

After Sulaiman al Kanuni, Allah's mercy on them, Sultan Abdul Hamid was the greatest ottoman sultan ever. Sultan Abdul-Hamid II came to power in 1879, and owing to the Empire's fragility and pressure from Europe, he established a secular constitution and the first "Representative Parliament." Sultan Abdul Hamid, however, disbanded the Parliament and suspended the constitution a year later, possibly out of fear of breaching Allah's Hakimmiyah and because he did not trust the Secular parliament's intentions. He was Sultan during the time of Theodor Herzl's founding of the Zionist movement in 1896. 

In response to Herzl's appeal for Palestine in 1901, Sultan Abdul Hameed reportedly told Herzl's envoy, "While I am alive, I would sooner thrust a sword into my body than see the Islamic Caliphate severed & given away the territory of Palestine." He was even given a large sum of money. He said, “I will not sell a single inch of the nation because it is not mine; it belongs to all Muslims”, rejecting the offer. Their blood was spilt to build this empire. And it shall be redeemed by our blood.

Conclusion

Theodor Herzl, was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist, and author. He is widely considered the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl created the Zionist Organization in order to build a Jewish state. Israel was legally recognised as a state 190 years after Herzl died. He is largely acknowledged as the father of modern Zionism. In Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, Herzl organised the First Zionist Congress. The English Zionist Federation was founded in 1899 as a World Zionist Organization affiliate.