The American Zionist Movement (AZM) is launching an initiative called Herzl 125 to highlight Zionist anniversaries in 2021-2022.
The initiative coincides with the 125th anniversary of the February 4, 1896 publication of Zionist leader Theodor Herzl's Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State).
The bible of Zionism, for lack of a better term, outlined Herzl's vision for a modern Jewish state in the land of Israel.
When Herzl wrote Der Judenstaat, Jews living in Israel had second-class status and paid a special tax to their Ottoman overlords.
Things worsened under the British, with Jews being murdered by Arab neighbors enraged by the incoming refugees who were escaping the jaws of Jew-hatred in Europe.
Thus the Jews, fed up with miserable lives and untimely deaths, organized and began to push for a state and form armies of their own, decades before the Holocaust.
In light of the book's anniversary, the AZM will be celebrating landmark events representing Herzl's efforts and the triumphs of Zionism since its writing. The initiative will run through 2022, culminating at the 125th anniversary of the Zionist Congress.
“Herzl’s leadership and vision, combined with his perseverance, lead to the gathering of world Jewry to form the Zionist movement that resulted in the fulfillment of his dream in 1948 when the State of Israel was established," said AZM President Richard D. Heideman and AZM Executive Director Herbert Block. "125 years later, as Zionism continues to connect the global Jewish community to our ancestral and modern homeland, we reaffirm our commitment to its principles as we move Zionism forward."
The AZM, together with the World Zionist Organization’s Herzl Center in Jerusalem, will present a webinar: “The Jewish State; 125 Years Later,” beginning at 8 p.m. IST.