"Zion" refers to the sacred site in Jerusalem where the temple had been located. The main Zionist movement was largely secular in nature, however, focused on establishing a homeland for anyone of Jewish ethnicity. Some of the early founders were socialists in their political perspective as well, and looked to found a national community of that character. Theodore Herzl is typically credited with getting the secular Zionist movement started and leading in the founding of the World Zionist Organization. Convinced that the Jews would never truly be welcomed or assimilated within the countries of Europe, Herzl argued for establishment of their own homeland somewhere. (Eventually that "somewhere" became a movement focused on going back to the ancestral land of Israel.)
