Ta-Nehisi Coates, Rashid Khalidi & Michelle Alexander in Conversation on Palestine

On November 1st the Palestine Festival of Literature staged a free, public event at the Union Theological Seminary in New York titled:
But We Must Speak: On Palestine and the Mandates of Conscience.
Professor Rashid Khalidi in conversation with National Book Award winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Michelle Alexander, the acclaimed civil rights lawyer and authors of The New Jim Crow, introduced the evening and moderated the conversation.
Palestinian poet, activist and journalist, Mohammed El-Kurd opened the evening.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Mojave poet, Natalie Diaz, performed three works of poetry.
A message was read out from Rabbis Brant Rosen and Alissa Wise, Co-Chairs of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council.
The scholar and lawyer, Noura Erakat, spoke on the urgency of the moment.
The Rev Dr Raschaad Hoggard read extracts of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s Beyond Vietnam speech.

[@firesandflowers]

Just FYI for anyone trying to listen to this who is struggling with no volume on the right side using headphones 🎧: the full ~2 hr version under the live tab doesn't have this problem. Someone made a comment with timestamps on that video if you want to jump around. Free Palestine! 🇵🇸 ❤

[@deborahgordon1812]

Thanks for this.

[@arcoiris_sky]

Good looking out! I can hear it perfectly via the 2 hour live stream vid.

[@3g0st]

You can also look in accessibility settings on your device and see if theres a "Force Mono" option in Audio Accessibilty

[@jolenegalegher9163]

Not sure what you mean by live tab. Can anyone help?

[@firesandflowers]

​@@jolenegalegher9163 if you go to their home screen (click their icon above where you like the video) you should see several links under where you subscribe: home, videos, live, playlists, community. Click "live" and currently the most recent 2hr & 17 min video is what this clip was pulled from. Hope that helps!

[@CholaConCello]

It is a great comfort to hear Ta-Nehisi Coates speak about his lack of knowledge and debt to correct his past assumptions about Israel. Also Michelle Alexander’s similar revelation. Many of us supported the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and continue to support the right of Palestine to exist as a free people in light of Apartheid Israel.

[@presterjohn1697]

Sorry but Ta-Nehisi Coates does not get a cookie for this talk. He's a day late and tens of thousands of dead Palestinians short. Just the fact that he's just now reaching his senses on this topic in his late 40's after years of well publicized genocide is utterly startling. Talk about captain hindsight. He should be damn shamed of himself for playing the middle for this long. That's simply not a information deficit (or) a lapse in judgement........it's deliberate.

[@RachelDerGolem]

There is a huge Israeli conspiracy to prevent Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, The Muslim Brotherhood, The Taliban, Islamic Jihad, Boku Haram, ISIS, Saddam Hussein, Ayatollah Khomeini, Osama Bin Laden, Bashar Assad, Muammar al-Gaddafi, the Syrian Air Force and President Putin from bringing peace to the world!!!!!

[@Gravity376]

Hats off to the organizers to make this happen, and deep respect to all the discussants for their insights and uncensored expression of their knowledge and experiences. Thank you. We need more truth-tellers like Prof Khalidi, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Michelle Alexander, especially today as the mainstream news media parrots what the politicians want, and the politicians parrot what their donors want. Shame.

[@musicalexistence1]

I'm so appreciative this talk was able to happen and that I am able to listen now also. I pray for the downfall of colonialism and tyranny

[@GeorgiaTimes2023]

You optimism may be in for a surprise.

[@dawnanderson5040]

Incredible talk. Thanks to the coordinators that scrambled to make this event happen.

[@Tressa-Rei-Tressa]

Ta-Nehisi is so honest and open minded about the non-violent protest, going as far as to say that in the Israeli's he saw an alternate reality for black Americans. What makes this point within the Palestinian struggle even worse is, it is not a role reversal, not an alternate reality. It is still ethnically white Europeans - not black or Arab jews - who have the power over a darker skinned people. The indigenously white Europeans, are the ones ethnically cleansing the people of Palestine, for the sins of other white-Europeans who commited the genocide against Jews.

[@nuwayser]

9:08 "...and what I came to, Michelle, is that Israel is a democracy, the only democracy in the Middle East in the exact same way that the United States is the oldest democracy in the world."

[@matthewpeterson1784]

That sounds so spot on, how he compared his experience in Israel to all his knowledge from his family and from research on the experience of "black" people in the US. Segregation, a racist regime with the trappings of democracy. So sad that so many of us in the US are still so unaware/ignorant of the facts of this situation. I remember when I was young I learned that it was just ancient hatreds between two equal groups. How far from that the truth is.

[@paulheydarian1281]

The Oldest Democracy = The Vilest Hypocrisy

[@thorntonwilliams3851]

United States is a democratic republic, not a democracy.

[@readingisfreedom9756]

I loved Taneheisi Coates response, “I know what this is, I know exactly what this is.” May Allah destroy the oppression that is taking place in Palestine and across the globe, Ameen!

[@hanifahal-amin3583]

Allahummah Ameen.

[@Yo-yo98]

This War is not between equals ! Rashid

[@jaialaiwarrior]

What do you think Hamas would do with more weapons?

[@kennethrobinson6738]

Thank you for sharing this video and to the people who put this presentation together. The panelist are correct. You really have to go to Palestine/Israel. It really is not that complicated. I went to the area in 2004, 2008, and 2012 (Nablus, Khan Yunis, Hebron, and Gaza) and Mr. Coates story was my experience, especially the checkpoint story. Also being in those areas back then, just reminded me of what African Americans had to deal with in the South here in America from slavery up until 1960. Being told that "You can't eat here" or "You have to walk on that side of the street". Also, the sheer terror that Israeli citizens could get away with towards Palestinians. Israeli citizens did not have to respect the rights of Palestinians. Sounds pretty familiar. Going to Palestine, changed me. I will not lose my voice. I might lose my job(s), but I will not lose my voice.

[@georgka74]

pathetic hypocrisy

[@airons1895]

ALL non-white people that came to Amerikkka for whatever reasons, and from wherever, have been either discriminated against or endured some form of genocidal, governmental polities.

[@latrekistaboricuablogger7421]

??@@georgka74

[@zainabvh484]

So very rich in content and humanity

[@bo2.4u6]

THANK YOU SIR 🙏 FOR TELLING IT!!!!!!!!

[@HaileISela]

beautiful people, full of heart, soul, sincerity and wisdom. "in the midst of bombs being dropped on children, we have to speak" 🕊️

[@GeorgiaTimes2023]

And with a good dose of mind drugs for those getting told what they like to hear.

[@georgka74]

is it a joke?

[@narimenrhodes-zh7tr]

WHOEVER was in charge of the SOUND? "YOU'RE FIRED!" otherwise, thank you, thank you, thank you 😊 🎉

[@moustapha_.elkhayari513]

😂

[@dianarolls8929]

@narimenrhodes: You made me laugh which lightened my remorse at exactly that, The sound sucked, but the content and the People were/are Fantastic! @@moustapha_.elkhayari513

[@MQB-dz8wr]

Much needed thank you

[@dha7307]

Coates is a national treasure, along with entire panel. I'm surprised and also joyous that coates is publicly stating he understands the power of nonviolence...

[@lordjohnson48]

In short: NAH.

[@dha7307]

@@lordjohnson48 good for you! That sounds great

[@lordjohnson48]

@dha7307 awe thanks man! Have a great Sunday.

[@GeorgiaTimes2023]

@dh7307: No kidding.

[@dha7307]

TGIM! God bless buddies 🙏🏽 reading the words of Christ and apostles helps me stay calm and peaceful throughout work week. Also, fellowship with other humans goes a long ways.

[@stephenhedt349]

It would have been very valuable to have a Native American voice in this conversation

[@hulasista1918]

Right. They can speak for themselves. They have plenty of Native American leaders that can talk to THIS.

[@DJMcG-kb4rv]

Just fucking magnificent, folks. Thank you!

[@mrose6107]

Awesome!

[@The.Adept.Chamber]

Read. 'The Rabbis Speak Out' (over 130 years of Religious Jewish Rabbis opposing Zionism and the state of "Israel").

[@henryortega8893]

What a mess. I hear the pain. I see the pain. One thing I don't hear is a solution. I agree with 95% of what I hear. But the lack of ideas for a conflict resolution leave the audience to feed on true statements of pain and suffering. The solution. Remove Israel from the whole territory? Destroy Palestinians? Seems to me that there are two groups at war and the rest of us instead of fighting those two groups, we are fighting each other. I hated the USA with all my heart, I hated every single inhabit of this country. Then I moved here, I learned that I hated politicians not the masses. Be careful to place everyone in one group. Big mistake. No everyone is a Muslim terrorist or everyone a Jewish racist who took the land by force. Innocent people are dying, and we don't want to think about solutions. If Jewish or Palestinians have to move away from the land, then every inhabitant of the USA should move and give the land back to the First Nations. Solutions, solutions, solutions. So sad to see humanity like this. Sad.

[@kamran5461]

Can you re-upload this with better audio? I am not sure why it's mono and really low. Thank you.

[@betohale]

I’ll make sure to request it in Dolby Atmos for you for next time

[@kamran5461]

@@betohale You were quick to make a pithy remark but completely lost the point of my statement. This is an important conversation and should reach a large audience. One way to make that happen is to have a good quality audio which allows people to listen without too much effort.

[@kaikomartu]

Volume inadequate

[@builditwell]

i dont mean to center everything around our experience in America but i cant help myself. -ta nehisi coates

[@jaialaiwarrior]

Ooooh, Zeev Jabotinsky! Much more unremitting than Haj Amin Husseini. He was so non-violent that he helped train the Bosnian Schutzstaffel!

[@jayjuggrnaut]

As a side bar that I hope doesn't detract from this magnificent dialogue, there are substantial rumors that the leaders of the Ferguson (Missouri) demonstrations that Michelle Alexander referenced around 22:29 are all dead...one found in a burning car, one "committed suicide" by hanging himself in his front yard, so on and so forth. Six or so black men...all dead, with no significant followup on what happened by the national media... May the Creator bless Palestinians in their struggle against their oppression in their homeland.

[@bruceangel4459]

Welcome to the club of daily brisk walkers Mr Coates ⭐️

[@bo2.4u6]

MARTIN LUTHER KING SAID: WAITING ALMOST MEANT NEVER!!!!

[@nigelralphmurphy2852]

One thing that stands out for me is that the old leaders such as Malcolm and MLK rarely if ever talked about themselves or told anecdotes about themselves or resorted to personal emotion to communicate. Today that is ALL the intellectual leaders talk about. The issues take second place to the cult of self and celebrity. This is evidence of the distressing decline in intellectualism and civic society and leadership in America. We are turning into a ship of fools; fools led by other fools. Fools voting for other fools to lead them by fooling them. Stupidity combined with corruption, venality, greed and 'patriotism' leads to hell and this particular hell is called 'America.' The saddest thing is that this new America has been planned and created from long ago by multitudes of American people. It is no accident. It has been planned, desired, and worked for for years and years, and decades..

[@sachikowoods6520]

I dont understand what youre trying to say

[@bofpp7951]

Your point is a bit muddled in that without personal connection to issues that affect the human experience, why would any of us meaningfully connect to those issues?? MLK & Malcolm (your examples) literally wrote whole books detailing their personal, experiential, anecdotal journeys that ultimately defined their perspectives on a host of issues.... I can feel that you've got a valid point buried somewhere in the midst of your comment.... it's just not at all clear what that could be??

[@Doll2018]

The Ben Gurion Canal Project?

[@TravisRiver]

Ta-Nehisi cannot help but come up with liberal (read, neoliberal) personal solutions and readings of political scenarios, that call for cooperation and organizing.

[@tracyclark7560]

apartheid south africa we fought in our lifetime

[@uch3nna]

iwl i do, at times, get tired of intellectuals and academics just talking amongst themselves. it’s definitely meaningful for people who aren’t aware of the history pertaining to the ongoing genocide in palestine, but how long are we just going to talk about how this is wrong instead of taking tangible action on behalf of palestinians?

[@bofpp7951]

That's a valid point.... what "tangible actions" would you table to achieve that end???

[@hulasista1918]

Don't forget to ask Palestinians and Israelis what THEY want because... This is the crux of the problem... Thinking we know better what someone else needs and then beating our collective chests that we're their heroes. This is how France, England and America got them into this mess.

[@jaialaiwarrior]

Great speakers! Any reason a representative from Hamas couldn't be present? Possibly a telecast with Ghazi Hamad, live from his hotel in Doha?

[@jaialaiwarrior]

Rashid has in a very scholarly fashion made sure that Arab violence prior to 1947 is not mentioned. Very astute. He also laments American funding of Israel, are no funds sent to Palestine?

[@kansax8253]

Israel is founded on genocide. The Arabs have every right to fight back against the colonial state, just as the Native Americans do.

[@hulasista1918]

I noticed that too. How... Strategic.

[@GeorgiaTimes2023]

No disrespect. But I see the Khalidi-Coats duet as another 'pioneering' social project that falls flat - a 1D therapy session for the modern internet masses. It's makes good T.V or "coverage", but it doesn't provide an original critique of the problem beyond the confessional model pioneered by the Anglos (British, Americans, etc.) I mean the idea that tolerance forums, peace and reconciliation appeals by a couple, or bunch of passionate men and women of standing and respectability is still doing the rounds confirms the disappointment that 'change' (whatever that means) will very unlikely come from such gatherings.

[@mikegardens]

I would agree. It felt very much for an 'audience.' but still, Coats had some insightful things to say, and hopefully it encourages other public figures to speak out.

[@freemn]

...but all this heartfelt talking can be liberating?

[@VicHay-hk6nh]

D J KHALED WHO IS PALESTINIAN, IS SILENT, THIS BLACK MAN IS NOT EVEN MIDDLE EASTERN

[@nigelralphmurphy2852]

Echoes my comments and concerns as stated above.

[@kushitespearman9394]

Not everyone is as informed as you. When you don't center yourself and your requirements, then you can see the usefulness of this talk.

[@medgarcooks]

Settler colonialism is asick and sidistic behavior that's totally wrong. Power to the indigenous people of the world. 👌

[@Kingslayer00003]

He’s about 7 years too late. Read cornel west article on tanehisi coates being the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle. And Mr. coates still didn’t get it right how do you still try and identify with the Israel occupiers?🤦🏽‍♂️

[@GeorgiaTimes2023]

1990s: 'African-American' artist expresses positive sentiments about his fellow Jewish-American citizens (song: they don't care about us). He was forced to apologise, and changed the 'offending' lyrics. 2120s: new 'African-American' artist, Ta-Nehisy Coats expresses positive sentiments about his fellow Jewish-American citizens. NO controversy. He is widely quoted, and grazes new pastures of fame. How come Michael's empathizing sentiments towards the J-ews caused offense, while Ta-Nehisy's towards the same were enthusiastically received?

[@louverture905]

Too often (we) African American ppl have a myopic view of matters, based on historic grievances against the American Republic and our nostalgia for the revolutionary brashness (1960s-70s). Israel is an American outpost for the West. Haiti is a doorstop against African revolutionary zeal on our front stoop. That remark about sensitivity for sex workers is very telling of leftists, too. 🙄

[@sachikowoods6520]

Your comment is what is myopic

[@markacohen1]

If the Ottoman Empire had retained control of Palestine after World War One it is quite possible that the Palestinians would now be struggling to free themselves from some oppressive Arab regime, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon or some configuration of whatever nations emerged from post-war decolonization. Remember, Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip and Jordan the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967. No Arab State sought to create a Palestinian State, they wanted that land for themselves. Had Israel lost the Independence War in 1948 the result would NOT have been an independent Palestine. Egypt crushed its own Islamist movements (that is one reason they do not want Hamas and Gazans flowing into Egypt) and Jordan fought a civil war against the PLO in 1970, killing thousands of its fighters on Black September 1970. The Kurds, Catalans, Basques, Bretons, Corsicans are all still fighting for their own national entities. The difference with Israel, like it or not, is that until very recently Palestinian nationhood was framed as the destruction of Jewish nationhood. The Palestinians could not achieve it on their own, and the Arab States have made a pretense of supporting it only when they could no longer defeat Israel militarily. Obviously Shia Iran, almost a thousand miles away, could never achieve it either. The Basques have not vowed to drive out and kill all the Spaniards, the Corsicans and Bretons all the French. The Palestinians might have justice on their side but the Israelis know full well what would happen to them if they laid down their arms, and they can see that no Arab nation, let alone an Islamist Jihadi one can offer a single example of good governance since decolonializtion (Syria, Iraq, ISIS, the Taliban, Lebanon, Libya?) and the protection of human rights in those countries is derisory. Every single Arab nation in the Middle East with no exceptions expelled 800 000 of their own Jewish citizens in the 50s and stole their property. No way any Jews would trust the Arabs to govern them fairly, especially after 80 years of brutal conflict. The ONLY country that has the power to get the Palestinians an independent state on the West Bank is the US. The US helps bankroll and support the Israeli Security State, it bankrolled the Peace Treaties of the 70s that finally made Israel secure in existential terms. The US is the dam that prevents International Law having any impact on the criminal Israeli Occupation. But it also was and is the only country that can bring the Israelis to the negotiating table, it did so in 1974, 1979, 1993, 2000 and 2008. The geopolitical environment in the Middle East largely FAVORS Israel. So everyone's efforts must be aimed at RE-ELECTING the Democrats. If Trump returns the Israeli Right will have the green light to annex all of those parts of the West Bank they want. Biden may not be great but Trump is the apocalypse. It was two DEMOCRATIC administrations that brought the Israelis to the negotiating table. The current Republican Party and the most extreme nationalist Israeli parties are on the same page. So if you want the extremists in Israel to win you should help defeat Biden. So hating on Biden, like Hamas's atrocities, will not help the Palestinian cause, it will bury it further in delusional righteousness and I guarantee in 20 years time the Palestinians will be in even worse shape than they are now. What would it take for Israel's actual geopolitical advantage to change? Another Arab Spring overturning somehow every Sunni government, currently aligned de facto or explicitly with the US against Iran and militant Islamic movements and even then, the likely result of such a highly unlikely occurrence would be chaos, ISIS's resurgence and NOT the end of Israel's dominance Hamas's armed rebellion on the other hand has dug the Palestinians deeper and deeper into its current state of powerlessness, it is the illusion, or delusion of power as resistance. Its plan is destroy Israel or die, River to the Sea. Well, the dying part is going well. Lobbing rockets into Israel and staging raids that has not only failed year after year but actually strengthened the Israel Annexionnist Right. What kind of response to such atrocities do you expect from the most powerful, belligerent military in the region, who know they dare not show weakness, especially to their own electorate? So going on about righteous protest on US campuses, the youth vote, or demonstrations all over the world, an appeal to the UN Nations that largely support the Palestinians, even if it is MORALLY right, will advance the Palestinian cause not one inch. Hamas has ended up being Netanyahu's best friend, that is why he promoted it all these years. Only much much smarter strategy, much better leadership than self-interested and blind militancy will ultimately help the Palestinians. Check out someone like Salam Fayyad, he is the modest, pragmatic way forward.

[@Doll2018]

The Ben Gurion Canal Project.

[@hulasista1918]

@markachoen1 - 🗣️ STOP MAKING SENSE! I agree with you! My nephew and I talk about this, in more plain terms than your eloquence, weekly. Thank you for stating cleaning the complexities that Ta-Nehisi Coates cannot expound on and that Rashid Khalidi left out. It's super f***ing complex indeed and I just don't believe folks understand HOW MUCH SO.

[@markacohen1]

@@hulasista1918 i don’t have an answer. It’s up to the voters in israel and the US. Only centrist governments with a good majority can ever bring Israel back to the negotiating table and that’s where it has to start. The Palestinians are too weak politically and too trapped in their own pathologies and despair to do it by themselves.

[@johnwright5126]

Its going to be really hard to vote for the Democrats next year. I almost forgot Biden was a Zionist.

[@jaialaiwarrior]

This is like the Oprah-fication of Palestine.

[@meeeka]

I've known some of these people for 20+ years. This conference is unbalanced, biased and there is a lot of shallow ignorance on show.

[@stephenboisvert6703]

What you're describing is the fallout of a two state solution where one side is "governed" by terrorists. To continue promoting a two state solution in light of the modern reality in Gaza is to perpetuate the thing that you complain about, presumably for money and fame.

[@udz39]

😂

[@sleepyccs]

Coates owes Black Americans an apology for making false equivalences between Palestinians and my people's 404 years of American history. It's offensive.

[@hulasista1918]

Like for real... Hamas got large scale weapons - supplied by Iran - and sh** fighting (erroneously) for their people. We barely had bayonets and machetes supplied by the few abolitionist here. Took a whole gat dang president and a Civil War to "free" our asses and another 100 years until the civil rights acts made us "free" ... again 🙄. This ain't the same. Looks the same. But it ain't. And we ain't even going to go into South Africa apartheid. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not remember any other country supplying black folk there with weapons to fight back the white people there. Not the damn same.

[@maevehollyn3826]

promo sm 😁

[@georgka74]

Love this clown show!!!