“My life will never be the same”: Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israel and Palestine

Seven years after his last nonfiction book, acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates returns with The Message, chronicling his separate trips to Senegal, South Carolina, Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Coates says witnessing Palestinian oppression in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem changed his life. He compares it to systemic racism in the US, while confronting his own misunderstandings of Israel’s history. He also calls out a news media that he says is complicit in the erasure of Palestinians.

As Israel’s war on Gaza enters a second year, resulting in the death of more than 42,000 civilians, what insight can one of America’s most prominent writers offer on this conflict? And why has he entered this conversation now?

In an UpFront special, Marc Lamont Hill talks with award-winning writer, journalist, and author Ta-Nehisi Coates.