Ta-Nehisi Coates: But What’s the Solution?

His Book’s Flaw is Casting Blame for a Problem Without Providing an Answer

In this newsletter I usually try to show that while human rights are a worthy ideal, human rights organizations and activists often let us down. Since Coates’ recent book has been taken as such an important call to human rights, I decided to share some thoughts about it too.

I admit that I did not purchase or read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ (TNC) new book. Ordinarily that ought to disqualify me from writing a review. But in this case, I think it’s fair to make an exception. I’ve heard quite a bit about his book, and I also read through an hour and twenty minute interview of TNC by Ezra Klein. If TNC felt himself qualified to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on just one ten-day visit to the Middle East, he can forgive me for deciding that when it comes to writing about him I already have enough information.

In any case, the first and greatest impulse people seem to have regarding TNC’s book is simply to use it as a weapon. TNC says that Israel is an apartheid state. Finally, Israel’s enemies seem to think, here is a widely accepted author we can use to support our claims that Israel is racist and apartheid and colonialist and all the other mean and nasty names they’ve gotten used to calling it. This book is another great ticket to getting that further accepted by the mainstream.

Israel’s supporters are just as eager to poke holes in TNC’s book and delegitimize it. This isn’t hard to do. As I mentioned above, TNC’s firsthand knowledge is based entirely on one short trip sponsored by a Palestinian advocacy group. By his own admission, when in the region he spoke to no one other than Palestinians and an extreme Israeli group devoted to opposing the government’s policies. Since he consciously decided not to hear even a mainstream Israeli point of view it’s easy to accuse him of bias. His book does not contain the words Hamas, Hezbollah, or intifadah. The whole thing is only getting attention because TNC is a celebrity, and TNC’s opinions can be portrayed as about as worthy of serious consideration as Taylor Swift’s pick for president.

A Different Impression

But none of this captures the impression I get listening to TNC speak. I find him to be earnest, curious, and eager to learn. So the big question is then why didn’t he seek out a more balanced variety of voices to listen to before writing? I believe his answer would be that while in Hebron he saw complete segregation and discrimination. Palestinians travel on different roads than the Israelis who live right near them, have a different legal system, and are treated unequally in numerous areas of life such as getting building permits and access to water. And that’s wrong. TNC is absolutely committed to that position, so he figures why bother. There is nothing any Israeli could say or do which would convince him that what he saw in Hebron was okay.

Here’s the thing- I agree with him, and I suspect most people reading this do too. The current setup with its entrenched inequality and discrimination is unacceptable. It is a violation of human rights that should not continue.

But that’s really not too hard to see, and while I admit there are some folks in Israel who may try to defend the current system, I don’t believe that’s even remotely a mainstream view. What TNC did is like wandering into a war zone and saying, “What are you all doing, shooting at each other? Can’t you see how stupid that is, it just hurts everyone. I don’t need to hear a complicated history of whatever led up to this to know that war isn’t a good answer. Whatever the problem is, work it out with words and not by fighting. Didn’t any of you go to kindergarden where you learn that stuff?”

Citizens of the warring countries are not going to lavish praise on the person who says this and commend him for his insight. Insults (and worse) are more likely. Obviously, the only reason they’re at war is because they can’t find any peaceful way of solving their problem. So too here. The million dollar question isn’t whether the current situation is good, legal, or healthy- most Israelis along with Palestinians already know that it’s not. The problem is figuring out a solution.

What’s the Solution?

While there are endless views and opinions, the bottom line is that no one has figured out a workable plan to restore human rights for Palestinians without reciprocally denying the rights of Israelis or enabling a bloodbath. How do we overcome the power wielded by the many extremists on both sides who will likely torpedo any compromise? An obvious point is to look at Israel’s attempted unilateral withdrawal from Gaza several decades ago and the horror that has turned into. How to change things in Hebron, where TNC visited, without repeating that disaster is in no way clear.

To his credit, TNC seems to acknowledge this. When asked by Kline what he views as practical next steps towards a solution, he says news networks hiring more Palestinians and in general empowering more Palestinian voices to speak to the world. Fine. That’s a nice suggestion, but not one with enough horsepower to bring peace to the Middle East. And of course as the conflict drags on Israel must do everything it can to protect West Bank Palestinians from violence, ease the hardship caused by security checkpoints, and in general do its utmost to uphold Palestinian human rights. But those are steps to ease suffering caused by the conflict, not a long-term political solution.

So I don’t begrudge TNC telling us that all it takes is ten days in Hebron to realize that the discrimination and inequality taking place there is wrong. That’s plain as day and hardly a news scoop. But what are the ethics of writing a book pinning all the blame on Israel for a problem that no one knows how to solve? Is it a genuine attempt to help, or is it just stirring up anger and outrage that has nowhere productive to go? That’s the question readers will have to decide for themselves.