The Fourth Zionist Congress was held in London from Aug. 13 to 16, 1900. It was the first Congress not held in Basel, Switzerland and the only Congress prior to Israel’s independence not held in Europe. The decision to select London to host the Congress reflected Herzl’s strategy to focus on Britain in his quest to establish a Jewish state.
In his opening address to the Congress, Herzl said: “England, great England, free England, England looking over all the seas, will understand our aspirations. From here the Zionist idea will take its flight further and higher, of that we are sure.”
Herzl, of course, was right. In 1903, England offered the Zionist movement the possibility of a territory in East Africa, commonly referred to as Uganda, but actually in the area that is Kenya today. And in 1917, the English government issued the Balfour Declaration which reflected its support for the establishment in Palestine of a home for the Jewish people.
The Congress discussed the crisis which was then unfolding for the Jews of Romania where thousands were forced to flee the country and those remaining were subject to harassment and pressure. Herzl viewed this situation as proof of the need for the Jewish homeland that Zionism was working to secure.
At the Congress, the religious Zionists demanded that the Zionist movement restrict itself solely to political matters. The Congress also discussed issues relating to the Zionist workers in Palestine and the question of a national Jewish sports movement.
The Congress did not resonate greatly with English Jewry, many of whom were skeptical about Zionism. An article in the Sept. 1, 1900 edition of the Reform Advocate, an English-Jewish weekly, stated: “The Zionists have chosen to come to London in the dead season of August when Londoners are out of town. We can scarcely suppose that they are satisfied to preach to the converted. But if they wished to make converts among Jews, they chose a curiously inopportune moment for spreading their propaganda. Had Dr. Herzl and his colleagues come a month or six weeks earlier, he would have found our communal life in full swing. This would have given them an opportunity of conferring with our communal leaders on the Roumanian situation and it is not unlikely that some good might have resulted from such deliberations.”
There were 18 more Zionist Congresses held before the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. Herzl attended two more before he died in 1904.
This is a sign-in sheet for a session at the Fourth Zionist Congress. The 39th Zionist Congress will take place in Jerusalem in October.
