Political movement advocating the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, the ‘promised land’ of the Bible.

1896 As a response to European anti-Semitism, Theodor Herzl published his Jewish State, outlining a scheme for setting up an autonomous Jewish commonwealth .

1897 The World Zionist Congress was established in Basel, Switzerland, with Herzl as its first president. ‘Hatikva’ (The Hope) was adopted as the Zionist anthem, which was the unofficial anthem of Israel until 1948 when it was sung at the proclamation of the State of Israel on May 14.

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 Irgun and Stern Gang and both Palestinian Arabs and the British.

1947 In Nov the United Nations (UN) issued a resolution in order to divided Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as an international city.

1948 The Jews in Palestine proclaimed the State of Israel on May 14, 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 crossed Palestine borders and attacked but were defeated by the Israeli army (Haganah).

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 (now the European Union).