Author Ta-Nehisi Coates has openly wondered if he would have been “strong enough” to resist the kind of violence shown by terrorist group Hamas in Israel on October 7th if he had grown up as a Palestinian living in Gaza. I thought.
Coates, who recently published a book accusing Israel of practicing a form of apartheid, made his views clear in a newspaper interview. What is Trevor Noah up to now? Podcast. Coates wondered if growing up “under that oppression” could make him so radicalized that he would commit the kind of violence Hamas displayed on October 7. More than 1,200 men, women and children were murdered indiscriminately and brutally, with complete malice.
“And I grow up under that oppression and poverty, and the walls come down, and I wonder, am I strong enough, too, or am I built in such a way that I say, 'This is too much?' I don't know if I'm like that,” he said, a sentiment that Trevor Noah and his co-hosts seemed to share.
In another part of the interview, Trevor Noah even said that America's Founding Fathers were like terrorists when they rebelled against the British Empire.
“If you take away American history…it's like the people who fought against the British were terrorists,” Noah said.
Coates last week CBS Morning to promote his book, messagecriticizing Israel's handling of the Palestinian conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. The author even went so far as to say that Israel practices a form of “apartheid” in the territories it occupied after the 1967 Six-Day War. The interview was amicable, but the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, said he had converted to Judaism and that his ex-wife was living with him in Israel. The two children asked Mr. Coates some tough questions.
“I have to say, when I read this book, if I were to remove your name from this book, take away your awards and accolades, take the cover off the book, and the publisher is gone, I would not be able to remove your name from that section. I imagined the contents would be gone. It would be out of place in an extremist's backpack,” Dokoupil told Coates.
So the reporter wondered why a “talented and intelligent” writer couldn't include at least some Israeli perspective.
“Why ignore that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate Israel? Why ignore that Israel is dealing with terrorist groups that want to eliminate Israel?” Dokoupil asked.
“Is it because you don't believe that Israel has the right to exist under any circumstances?” Dokoupil asked.
Coates said he believes Israeli coverage receives fair consideration in U.S. news outlets and does not see a need to include it.
“I wrote a 260-page book,” Coates said. “This is not a paper about the entire conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.”
Dokoupil also said that Coates is “outlawing the pillars of Israel” with the aim of “bringing the whole Israeli edifice down.”
“What is particularly upsetting about the existence of a Jewish state, a safe place for Jews and not some other state?” Dokoupil said.
“There's nothing about the Jewish state that makes me uncomfortable,” Coates replied. “I am offended by the idea that nations everywhere are built on nationalism.”
The following Monday, CBS News chief Wendy McMahon and news division director of content development Adrian Roark said the interview questions did not meet editorial standards.
“We will continue to hold people accountable, but we will do it objectively, and that means checking our biases and opinions at the door,” Rourke said. said. “We are here to report the news without fear or favor.”
Tony Dokoupil later apologized to his colleagues.
