This Thursday at 11 AM Eastern, I’ll be interviewing Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book, The Message. Coates’ decision to write unsparingly about Israel’s oppression of Palestinians— in full knowledge that doing so would turn many of his former admirers into adversaries— is among the most remarkable things I have seen an American writer do. I made a short video relating Coates’ decision to a
Thank you fro your courage Peter. As an American Jew whe came of age in the 1960's and 1970's in a Jewish community, I went to Hebrew School three times a week, was Bar Mitzvah and walked around my neighborhood canvassing for the Jewish National Fund. I learned many myths about the founding and growth of the state of Israel, which was purposely connected to what it meant to be Jewish. I read the autobiographies of Abba Eban and Golda Meir. I learned some painful lessons over the succeeding ears about the real founding and development of Israel, quite by accident. As an undergraduate student at U'Mass, I decided to write a term paper on "human rights" and came across the works of Noam Chomsky. What an awakening. Since then, I have had the pleasure and privilege of reading Norman Finkelstein ("Gaza and the Misuse of Anti Semitism") Edward Said, Illan Pappe and many more courageous Jews like you. I'm now an immigration lawyer in Falmouth, MA, on Cape Cod, after practicing criminal law for many years. We have a very active ceasefire organization hereand have put on a number of well attended educational forums featuring Rabbi Brian Walt and Alice Rothschild.
We need to do more. I just wanted to say:Thank you, thank you, thank you. If you are ever in Falmouth on the cape, don't hesitate to pay us a visit. We live on a wonderful bike path a stone's throw from the harbor and beaches. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the Ta-Nehisi Coates interview.
Peter, thank you for your kind, thoughtful profile of Ta-Nehisi Coates, writers as truth-tellers, and what they face when they tell their truth. Very much looking forward to your interview this Thursday.
Albert Camus was the opposite of Ta-Nehisi Coates. He was shunned by the left-wing intelligentsia for refusing to endorse the extremism of the FLN. He was among those were called the "Liberals" during the Algerian War. Albert Camus had much more in common with Amos Oz than Beinart or Coates.
The opposite of Coates? Really? Camus repeatedly risked his life in the French resistance as the editor of the clandestine Combat. After a brief fit of rage after the liberation of Paris, he strongly opposed the death penalty even for the worst murderers of the Second World War. He was shunned by France’s left intelligentsia mostly for refusing to back the Soviet Union fullthroatedly when the extent of the gulags became known, and because he dared to not bow down to Sartre.
His position on Algeria (a civilian truce, a shared society, a support of decolonization that had no truck with blowing up civilians on trains, etc) is actually pretty in line with both Beinart and Coates’ position. I think if you would ask them, they would both say they support the South African solution over the Algerian solution to Israel/Palestine. Peter always insists he is a liberal, and his liberal values inform his support for equality under the law.
But that is the nature of Camus, his insistence on the value of every human life lived in freedom, and that the ends of even the most beautiful vision of justice cannot justify murder, sit uncomfortably with everyone on the left and the right who insist on omelets and eggs, etc.
You make a good point here Camus’s, may I call it nativism. He was born in Algeria.
Considering what DeGaulle did to Algerians, can one honestly call the FLN extremists?
I value the substance of the quote attributed to Camus. I worked as a photojournalist for 4 different publications over 4 decades. The sophostry that’s being promulgated by former colleagues, I know, and some journalist I don’t know, say, at the New York Times (I worked more than 2 decades) on Palestine,, IMO, is eroding the integrity of the fourth estate
Not long before Peter's interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates yesterday, I saw this interview with Coleman Hughes reviewing Coates's book, also mostly focusing on the Palestine chapter::
Comparing the two interviews, they were like night and day! I've suggested before that Coleman Hughes be a guest on this show sometime. He's starting to make a career of defending Israel and criticizing pro-Palestinians, and deserves to be confronted.
Thank you fro your courage Peter. As an American Jew whe came of age in the 1960's and 1970's in a Jewish community, I went to Hebrew School three times a week, was Bar Mitzvah and walked around my neighborhood canvassing for the Jewish National Fund. I learned many myths about the founding and growth of the state of Israel, which was purposely connected to what it meant to be Jewish. I read the autobiographies of Abba Eban and Golda Meir. I learned some painful lessons over the succeeding ears about the real founding and development of Israel, quite by accident. As an undergraduate student at U'Mass, I decided to write a term paper on "human rights" and came across the works of Noam Chomsky. What an awakening. Since then, I have had the pleasure and privilege of reading Norman Finkelstein ("Gaza and the Misuse of Anti Semitism") Edward Said, Illan Pappe and many more courageous Jews like you. I'm now an immigration lawyer in Falmouth, MA, on Cape Cod, after practicing criminal law for many years. We have a very active ceasefire organization hereand have put on a number of well attended educational forums featuring Rabbi Brian Walt and Alice Rothschild.
We need to do more. I just wanted to say:Thank you, thank you, thank you. If you are ever in Falmouth on the cape, don't hesitate to pay us a visit. We live on a wonderful bike path a stone's throw from the harbor and beaches. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the Ta-Nehisi Coates interview.
Peter, thank you for your kind, thoughtful profile of Ta-Nehisi Coates, writers as truth-tellers, and what they face when they tell their truth. Very much looking forward to your interview this Thursday.
Albert Camus was the opposite of Ta-Nehisi Coates. He was shunned by the left-wing intelligentsia for refusing to endorse the extremism of the FLN. He was among those were called the "Liberals" during the Algerian War. Albert Camus had much more in common with Amos Oz than Beinart or Coates.
The opposite of Coates? Really? Camus repeatedly risked his life in the French resistance as the editor of the clandestine Combat. After a brief fit of rage after the liberation of Paris, he strongly opposed the death penalty even for the worst murderers of the Second World War. He was shunned by France’s left intelligentsia mostly for refusing to back the Soviet Union fullthroatedly when the extent of the gulags became known, and because he dared to not bow down to Sartre.
His position on Algeria (a civilian truce, a shared society, a support of decolonization that had no truck with blowing up civilians on trains, etc) is actually pretty in line with both Beinart and Coates’ position. I think if you would ask them, they would both say they support the South African solution over the Algerian solution to Israel/Palestine. Peter always insists he is a liberal, and his liberal values inform his support for equality under the law.
But that is the nature of Camus, his insistence on the value of every human life lived in freedom, and that the ends of even the most beautiful vision of justice cannot justify murder, sit uncomfortably with everyone on the left and the right who insist on omelets and eggs, etc.
You make a good point here Camus’s, may I call it nativism. He was born in Algeria.
Considering what DeGaulle did to Algerians, can one honestly call the FLN extremists?
I value the substance of the quote attributed to Camus. I worked as a photojournalist for 4 different publications over 4 decades. The sophostry that’s being promulgated by former colleagues, I know, and some journalist I don’t know, say, at the New York Times (I worked more than 2 decades) on Palestine,, IMO, is eroding the integrity of the fourth estate
You evidently are unfamiliar with Fanon's the "Wretched of the Earth."
I’m interested in what you mean, and to whom that comment is addressed.
Can’t wait for this! ❤️🔥
Not long before Peter's interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates yesterday, I saw this interview with Coleman Hughes reviewing Coates's book, also mostly focusing on the Palestine chapter::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FrrXhbtfFA
Comparing the two interviews, they were like night and day! I've suggested before that Coleman Hughes be a guest on this show sometime. He's starting to make a career of defending Israel and criticizing pro-Palestinians, and deserves to be confronted.
Will there be a recording forl those who were unable to hear it live?
I'm now subscribed. I want to sign up for the interview. How do I do it?
Thank you - to be committed to Truth, in community with those who are committed to Truth. Thank you.
You sound like an advocate.
An advocate? For what?