Exploring Radical Politics in Jerusalem

A free, public screening of "Café Ta´amon," light buffet dinner, and talk by the documentary's director, Michael Teutsch, will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in Joe Rosenfield '25 Center, Room 101. No reservations are needed.

The Ta´amon on King George Street is one of the oldest cafes in Jerusalem and it is world famous. Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel, drank coffee there, and so did Noble Peace Prize-winner Shimon Peres, former prime minister and president of Israel.

The cafe has been a meeting place for radical Leftist-political-activists, artists, politicians, and the literati. Israel and its political development have been fervidly debated here — in the past as well as today. The cafe, established in 1936, is history in a microcosm.

A Jewish family took the cafe over again in the 1960s. Together with Hamis, a Muslim, they cater to their guests day after day. The director precisely documents their everyday life. He shows the bistro, its owners, and customers. He moves away from them to investigate stories and comes back again — to Ta'amon and its record of contemporary history.

"This film takes us through the living history of a movement, the movement for peace and social justice," said K. Gibel Mevorach, professor of anthropology and American studies and Chair of the Cultural Films Committee: "It leaves us with the questions: 'What do activists do when the movement stalls, bogs down, or begins to fade away?' and 'What is revolutionary and transformative?'

"These are urgent questions for our times, not just there but here and everywhere," Gibel Mevorach added. "The path toward the fullest expression of rights and realization of potential for all human beings is fraught with challenges, full of unexpected successes and devastating or exhausting failures."

The Cultural Films Committee is sponsoring the event in conjunction with the Department of German.

Grinnell welcomes and encourages the participation of people with disabilities. Rosenfield Center has accessible parking in the lot to the east. Room 101 is equipped with an induction hearing loop system.  You can request accommodations from Conference Operations and Events.