Coates’s The Message is Obscenely Wrong about Palestine

The new ARI Bookshelf podcast series gives you a window into ARI’s educational programs by showcasing our faculty as they discuss books of recent interest. This episode discusses Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Message. Panelists included Elan Journo, Greg Salmieri, Ibis Slade, and Mohamed Ali.

The Message claims to reveal fundamental truths about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to draw connections to racism in America and Africa.

Our panelists discuss the book’s lack of objectivity in its account of the conflict and show how it is affected by Coates’s views on morality, human nature, and Western civilization.

The discussion covered:

• The evasions in the book’s criticism of Israel;
• Coates’s victimhood and lack of positive ideal;
• How altruism distorts occupation, which can be good if done properly;
• Examples of the book’s lack of objectivity about Israel and Palestine;
• The book’s disrespect for Western civilization’s values and achievements;
• How Coates’s obsession with oppression is prioritized over truth.

The episode was released on November 4, 2024.