Author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates is speaking out about his 10-day visit to the West Bank amidst 28 days of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Israel began bombing the Palestinian territory after thousands of armed Hamas militants attacked Israel and murdered at least 1,400 people on Oct. 7, including women and children, ABC News reports. Coates appeared on “Democracy Now!” on Nov. 2 and shared his thoughts after spending 10 days visiting the West Bank. He compared it to the segregation of Black Americans during the Jim Crow Era.
“I spent 10 days in Palestine in occupied territories and in Israel proper,” he said. “I think what shocked me the most was in any sort of, uh, opinion piece or reported piece or whatever you wanna call it that I’ve read about Israel and about the conflict with the Palestinians, there’s a word that comes up all the time and it is complexity. That and its closely related adjective, complicated.”
Coates went on to say that he expected that it would be hard to discern right and wrong due to the complexity of the conflict. However, he said while visiting Hebron on his second day, the reality of the occupation hit him when he learned that some people could vote and others could not. He also said he was shocked when his Palestinian guide wasn’t allowed to walk down certain streets. While at a checkpoint, an Israeli guard asked Coates what his religion was.
When he answered that he wasn’t religious, he was asked about his parents’ and grandparents’ religion. Once he said his grandmother was Christian, he was allowed through the checkpoint. Coates went on to say that the area was segregated by race and religion, and it reminded of segregation in the United States.
“It became very very clear to me what was going on there,” he continued. “And I have to say it was quite familiar. Again, I was in a territory area where your mobility is inhibited. Where your voting rights are inhibited. Where…
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