A continuous Jewish presence in Israel for over 3,000 years.

ENVIADO POR: ADALBERTO SANTIAGO

Zion is an age-old name for Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish
people who sought to restore their freedom and independence
in their ancestral homeland.

Theodore Herzl founded the modern Zionist movement in
1897, but the dream of restoration and return had always
been at the core of Judaism and Jewish identity. Rome tried
to obliterate the millennia-old Jewish state in the first century,
but unlike other nations conquered in ancient times, the Jews
survived and never lost their profound attachment to their
land of origin. Jews lived in the land of Israel continuously for
3,000 years. Those forced into exile expressed their yearning
to return in their daily liturgy and prayers. For 2,000 years,
many came back in periodic waves of immigration. By the late
1860s, Jews once again were the majority in Jerusalem.1
Zionists adapted this historic dream to modern political ideals
and circumstances. They were inspired by national liberation
movements and driven by ongoing anti-Jewish persecution
and discrimination that occurred even in progressive Europe.
The Zionists believed that if the scattered Jews reunited in
their historic homeland, joining the Jews who were already
there, they could restore their freedom, be free from prejudice
and further develop their unique culture.

Disagreements arose among Zionists as Jews from different
countries and with different ideologies—religious and secular,
socialist and conservative—joined together. But they united
around fundamental principles that combined idealism and
practicality. They would seek official support from other
national governments. They would return legally, purchase the
land and restore it through their own labor. Zionists envisioned
living in friendship with non-Jewish residents and believed the
entire region would benefit from their restoration of the land.
Within 50 years, the Zionist dream became a reality. Britain
recognized the thriving communities Jews had built and in the
1917 Balfour Declaration, endorsed the “Zionist aspirations.”
In 1920, the League of Nations reinforced this commitment
and carved out the Palestine Mandate from the defeated
Ottoman Empire for the Jewish homeland.

On May 14, 1948, Israel was reestablished as a modern state
and recognized by the community of nations. It lived up to the
Zionist dream. Israel began with a Jewish majority that had
purchased and settled the land and accorded full civil, political
and cultural rights to all its minorities, including Arabs, Muslims
and Christians.

Today, Jewish and non-Jewish Zionists around the world
support the State of Israel and hope to see the full Zionist
vision realized—a safe and thriving Israel living at peace
with its neighbors.