The 34th Zionist Congress will convene in Jerusalem today under the banner of the \"Jewish People’s Solidarity with the State of Israel.” Over 1,200 delegates and alternates from 33 counties as well as an additional 300 activists will gather to discuss issues including the significance of Israel as a Jewish democratic state, the fight against anti-Semitism, settlement, and aliyah (immigration to Israel). The first Zionist Congress met in Basle, Switzerland in 1897, under the leadership of the father of modern Zionism, Theodore Herzl. For the first time since that initial conference, one quarter of those in attendance are under the age of thirty.