Herzl famously wrote in his journal about the event: “At Basel I founded the Jewish State.”
The protest is being promoted by a group called basel4palestine but the organisers have not been identified, Jonathan Kreutner, general secretary of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), told JNS.
Police in Basel, who require protests to apply for approval at least 14 days in advance, have been alerted to the development, he said.
“It’s serious and the authorities are alert,” said Kreutner.
Next to the banner on Instagram, basel4palestine posted: ‘From the birthplace of Zionism, we call for its destruction!’
Basel’s Theaterplatz is a broad public square at the centre of Basel’s cultural district.
It’s located less than a mile away from the Old City and serves as a meeting place and venue for public gatherings, performances and demonstrations.
The online banner promoting the protest (Instagram/basel4palestine)[Missing Credit]
Congress participants established the Zionist Organisation during the event, which was later renamed the World Zionist Organisation, and elected Theodor Herzl, a Budapest-born journalist turned Zionist activist, as the congress’s president.
The Zionist Organisation was an important element facilitating the creation and survival of the State of Israel.
After writing ‘At Basel I founded the Jewish State’, Herzl added that saying so publicly at the time would invite ridicule, but predicted that this would be universally recognised within 50 years.
David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, 50 years and eight months after the 1897 event.
Herzl died in 1904 in Edlach an der Rax, a town in modern-day Austria, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was 44.
From the birthplace of Zionism, we call for its destruction! For a free Palestine. For Lebanon, Syria, Iran and all the people resisting this genocidal ideology. Join us in Basel, on the 29th of August 2026 14.00 Theaterplatz. Exactly 129 years after the congress that started the Zionist movement.
