Matzpen - by Lutz Fiedler (Paperback)

About the Book

A comprehensive history of the Matzpen group - who advocated for a community of Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs in a socialist Middle East.

Book Synopsis

This book explores the history of the Israeli Socialist Organization - Matzpen (compass) - that splintered off from the Communist Party of Israel in 1962. After the Six Day War of June 1967, Matzpen shook Israeli society, calling for a withdrawal from the recently occupied territories, and placing itself outside the national consensus. Even before the war, the group emphasised the colonial dimension of the conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, which was irresolvable within the paradigm of the nation-state. Matzpen instead advocated for Israel's de-Zionisation and a socialist revolution in the Middle East in order to both restore the rights of Palestinian Arabs and guarantee the existence of Israeli Jews as a new Hebrew nation. However, in the era after Auschwitz, when the Jewish world stood in almost unanimous solidarity with the Jewish state, Matzpen's radical perspective was at odds with the history and memory of the Holocaust. Against this backdrop, this study places Matzpen's political stance in its historical context and sheds new light on the political culture of Israel.

From the Back Cover

'In this brilliant and deeply-researched book, Lutz Fiedler writes with empathy and critical engagement a new history of Israeli dissent, showing how the small political group of Matzpen provided - and is still providing - an alternative to Israeli Jewish existence in Israel and Palestine. This story from the past has forceful present-day resonance!' Alon Confino, University of Massachusetts, Amherst A comprehensive history of the Matzpen group, who advocated for a joint community of Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs and a socialist Middle East This book explores the history of the Israeli Socialist Organization - Matzpen (compass) - that splintered off from the Communist Party of Israel in 1962. After the Six Day War of June 1967, Matzpen shook Israeli society, calling for a withdrawal from the recently occupied territories, and placing itself outside the national consensus. Even before the war, the group emphasised the colonial dimension of the conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, which was irresolvable within the paradigm of the nation-state. Matzpen instead advocated for Israel's de-Zionisation and a socialist revolution in the Middle East in order to both restore the rights of Palestinian Arabs and guarantee the existence of Israeli Jews as a new Hebrew nation. However, in the era after Auschwitz, when the Jewish world stood in almost unanimous solidarity with the Jewish state, Matzpen's radical perspective was at odds with the history and memory of the Holocaust. Against this backdrop, this study places Matzpen's political stance in its historical context and sheds new light on the political culture of Israel. Key Features - Focuses on the stories of Matzpen's protagonists whose biographies are linked to key events in Israeli history - Uses the history of Matzpen as an entry point to broader questions around Israeli and Middle Eastern history, politics and culture - Tells a history of Israel from the margins and raises new questions about the Jewish state in the Middle East Lutz Fiedler is Research Associate at the Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies Berlin-Brandenburg and at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Jake Schneider is a US-born, Berlin-based translator and the editor in chief of the literary journal SAND, established in 2009. Cover image: A Jewish-Arab demonstration (including Matzpen members) in front of the Knesset on 28 January 1969. The posters read (from left to right) 'Down with the occupation' and 'This is a Jewish-Arab demonstration against the occupation'. Photographer unknown, detail taken March issue of the magazine Matzpen 48 (1969). Material taken from the archive of The Socialist Organization in Israel - Matzpen (matzpen.org) Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-5116-1 Barcode

Review Quotes

Matzpen: A History of Israeli Dissidence makes novel and important contributions to the topic. With a mastery of the archive and a powerful feel for the history of ideas, Fiedler locates Matzpen within the field of the global New Left of the 1960s and '70s, drawing connections not only to Europe but to the Arab world and the decolonizing countries of Africa.--Matan Kaminer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem "The Tel Aviv Review of Books"

In his excellent new book, Matzpen: A History of Israeli Dissidence, Lutz Fiedler, of the Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies Berlin-Brandenburg, offers the most comprehensive history now available in English of the anti-Zionist left in Israel.--Shaul Magid, Dartmouth College "Tablet (magazine), May 2021"

In this brilliant and deeply-researched book, Lutz Fiedler writes with empathy and critical engagement a new history of Israeli dissent, showing how the small political group of Matzpen provided--and is still providing--an alternative to Israeli Jewish existence in Israel and Palestine. This story from the past has forceful present-day resonance!-- "Alon Confino, University of Massachusetts, Amherst"

Lutz Fiedler's highly informative book about the far Left group, Matzpen, is a welcome addition to the recording of both Jewish and Israeli history. [...] This is an absorbing book, based on intensive research, because it is more a history of the international Jewish far Left and its origins rather than Matzpen itself. It is also a work that connects the far Left in Israel with its counterparts in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.--Colin Shindler "Fathom Journal, 2021"

Matzpen: A History of Israeli Dissidence makes novel and important contributions to the topic. With a mastery of the archive and a powerful feel for the history of ideas, Fiedler locates Matzpen within the field of the global New Left of the 1960s and '70s, drawing connections not only to Europe but to the Arab world and the decolonizing countries of Africa.--Matan Kaminer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem "The Tel Aviv Review of Books"

About the Author

Research Associate at the Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin.

Jake Schneider is a US-born, Berlin-based translator and the editor in chief of the literary journal SAND, established in 2009.