1. Introduction: Cohn-Bendit on the Roof in Gan Shmuel
- Author
-
Lutz Fiedler
- Subjects
business.industry ,Structural engineering ,business ,Roof ,Geology - Abstract
The book opens with an Introduction that gives a tight description of the historical place Matzpen occupied in the Israel of the 1960s and 70s. Looking at Daniel Cohn-Bendit’s famous visit to Israel in the spring of 1970, the chapter offers an extensive interpretation of the Israeli debate that was triggered by the arrival of the leader of the European student revolt, but much more by his advocacy of the Israeli leftists of Matzpen. Taking this event as my departure point, an overview of Israeli society in the years following the Six-Day War is given, with an emphasis on three aspects that become relevant for the entire book: first, the return of the Palestine question with the beginning of the occupation, second, the place of Matzpen as a dissenting voice within Israeli society, and third, the continuing impact of Holocaust memory on political debates about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Only within this broader historical context is it possible to evaluate not only the significance of Matzpen in Israeli history but also the rejection the group encountered.
- Published
- 2020