Progressive Jews in Argentina and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Stances on the Six-Day War (1967)

• Published date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19828736
• Author: Emmanuel Nicolás Kahan
• Date: 01 May 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X19828736

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 226, Vol. 46 No. 3, May 2019, 42–54

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19828736

© 2019 Latin American Perspectives

42

Progressive Jews in Argentina and the Arab-Israeli

Conflict

Stances on the Six-Day War (1967)

by

Emmanuel Nicolás Kahan

Translated by

Mariana Ortega Breña

Since the 1947 United Nations resolution on the partition of Palestine and, subse-

quently, the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, the Israeli-Palestinian issue has

played a powerful role in Argentine public space that has not found a concomitant response

in academia. The stance with regard to the 1967 Six-Day War taken by an institution that

promotes itself as representative of progressive Argentine Jews, the Idisher Cultur Farband

(Argentine Federation of Jewish Cultural Institutions—ICUF), undermined certain

meanings, ties of solidarity, and modes of representation held by a diversity of actors

regarding the existence and legitimacy of the State of Israel.

Desde la resolución de 1947 de las Naciones Unidas sobre la partición de Palestina y,

posteriormente, la Declaración de Independencia de Israel en 1948, el problema israelí-

palestino ha desempeñado un papel importante en el espacio público argentino que no ha

encontrado una respuesta concomitante en el mundo académico. La postura con respecto

a la Guerra de los Seis Días de 1967 tomada por una institución que se promueve a sí

misma como representante de los judíos progresistas argentinos, el Idisher Cultur Farband

(Federación Argentina de Instituciones Culturales Judías—ICUF), socavó ciertos sig-

nificados, vínculos de solidaridad y modos de representación de una diversidad de actores

con respecto a la existencia y legitimidad del Estado de Israel.

Keywords: Israel, Palestine, Communists, Jews, Argentina

While the Arab-Israeli conflict has been rather visible in Argentine public

space, few studies have addressed the concomitant tug-of-war (Klich, 1994;

Méndez, 2008; Saborido, 2009). Documentary sources attest to the fact that many

actors took an early stance regarding the historical evolution of the clash between

Arabs, Palestinians, and Israelis. This paper problematizes the stance with

regard to the 1967 Six-Day War adopted by an institution that promotes itself as

representative of progressive Argentine Jews, the Idisher Cultur Farband

(Argentine Federation of Jewish Cultural Institutions—ICUF). Although this

Emmanuel Nicolás Kahan is a researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technological

Research and teaches political theory at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata. His latest compila-

tion is Israel-Palestina, una pasión argentina: Estudios sobre la recepción del conflicto árabe-israelí en

Argentina (2016). He received the university’s award for scientific work in 2015. Mariana Ortega

Breña is a freelance translator based in Mexico City.

828736LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X19828736Latin American PerspectivesKahan / Argentine Jews And The Arab-Israeli Conict

research-article2019