"In Basel I founded the Jewish state": 129 years later, a "Death to Zionism" demonstration was planned in the city

In an official statement released by the police on Tuesday, it was reported that the organizers of the demonstration, planned for Saturday, August 29, did not submit a request for a permit. The police determined that the event in its declared format "is not consistent with fundamental rights and therefore cannot be approved."

"Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly also protect sharp and controversial political positions," the police statement said. "However, they reach their limit where violence is spread. In view of the explicit calls for violence, the planned demonstration cannot be approved."

The police stated that they are preparing for Saturday, but refrained from detailing the forces and means that will be used for operational reasons. The statement emphasized: "The Jewish community in Basel must also be able to feel safe at all times."

The demonstration was planned to take place at the Theater Square in Basel exactly 129 years after the opening of the First Zionist Congress in the city. On August 29, 1897, Theodor Herzl convened the congress, where the "Basel Program" was adopted and the organizational foundations of the Zionist movement were laid. Herzl later wrote in his diary the famous sentence: "In Basel I founded the Jewish state."

On a poster distributed on social media, the inscriptions "Free Palestine" and "Death to Zionism" appear, alongside an Israeli tank with an inverted red triangle above it — a symbol identified with Hamas propaganda videos and used in them to mark targets intended for attack. The poster also states: "From the birthplace of Zionism, we call for its destruction."

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), which warned about the event even before the police announcement, identified the group basel4palestine as the one promoting the demonstration. This is in the city most identified with the beginning of political Zionism.

At the same time, a criminal complaint has already been filed with the Basel prosecutor's office against the unidentified persons responsible for publishing the demonstration. More than 350 people have joined the complaint, including members of both houses of the Swiss parliament. The complaint accuses the organizers of discrimination and incitement to hatred, through a public call for violence. As of now, no official statement has been released by the prosecutor's office confirming that a criminal investigation has been opened.

The police did not state how they would act if the organizers and their supporters arrive at the square despite the lack of a permit, but clarified that operational preparations are already underway and that a demonstration in the published format will not be allowed.