aug 29, 1897 - 1st Zionist Congress

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The first Zionist Congress was convened by Theodor Herzl as a symbolic parliament for the small minority of Jewry in agreement with the implementation of Zionist goals.
While Jewish majority opposition to Zionism would continue until after the revelation of the Holocaust in World War II, some proponents point to several directions and streams of this early Jewish opposition.
"Alongside the dynamic development of the Zionist movement, which generated waves of enthusiasm throughout the Jewish public, sharp criticism began to appear about Zionism, claiming that Zionism could not hope to resolve the Jewish problem and would only serve to harm the status of Jewish laborers and sabotage its own recognition as an independent class."
As a result of the vocal opposition by both the Orthodox and Reform community leadership, the Congress, which was originally planned in Munich, Germany, was transferred to Basel by Herzl. The Congress took place in the concert hall of the Stadtcasino Basel (Concert Hall) on August 29-31, 1897.
Theodor Herzl wrote in his diary (September 3, 1897):
Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word - which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly - it would be this: At Basel I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today l would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly in fifty years, everyone will perceive it.

— Theodor Herzl (1897) (Wikipedia)

Footnote: 50 years later, in 1947, the League of nations (later to become the United Nations) assembly, voted to partition the remaining portion of the area of Palestine and provide the means to create not only a Jewish State but also a new Arab State of Palestine.
The Jews grasped the opportunity and on May 14, 1948, declared a Jewish state of Israel.
The Arabs have not, to this day, created another State of Palestine, turning down multiple opportunities to create a new homeland for the resident Palestinian Arabs.

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