Jewish History Moment – Alfred Dreyfus – Zionism

Captain Alfred Dreyfus of the French army was wrongly accused of spying for Germany in 1864 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Because of Dreyfus's Jewishness, an unexpected mass of French citizens directed their prejudices towards the Jewish people as a whole. The famous French writer Emile Zola came to Dreyfus's defense in his article J'Accuse. Dryefus was eventually pardoned but not before the scandal awakened the feelings of countless Jewish activists. One was Theodor Herzl, a young journalist covering the trial at the time. Herzl was so moved by the bigotry he saw, he became a leader in Zionist movement and started the first international Zionist congress to discuss the return to the Land of Israel. For more info visit http://www.IsraelNationalRadio.com.