PETER BEINART: On Being Jewish After Gaza

I spoke with author, professor, and New York Times contributing opinion writer Peter Beinart about his important new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Our topics included the history of Zionism, its roots in European nationalism, and how it transformed Jewish religious longing into a secular political movement. Peter also spoke about his personal journey from being a progressive Zionist to questioning the ethical foundations of a Jewish state that enforces legal supremacy over Palestinians, and what a future state might look like if it were free of religious and ethnic inequality.

We also spoke about the emotional difficulty of confronting deeply held beliefs about Israel and Jewish identity, especially within the Jewish community (in which I was raised, and where Peter remains a practicing Jew).

We also touched on Peter’s recent column in the Times, which was headlined, “States Don’t Have a Right to Exist. People Do.” An excerpt:

“Countries in which everyone has a voice in government tend to be safer for everyone. A 2010 study of 146 instances of ethnic conflict around the world since World War II found that ethnic groups that were excluded from state power were three times more likely to take up arms as those that enjoyed representation in government.”

A final note: Peter's book title could be interpreted as placing the destruction of Gaza in the past tense. I am sure that is not his intent, nor is it mine. Ceasefires are fragile, and destruction takes many forms: biological, emotional, environmental, epidemiological, architectural, and more. Even if the ceasefire holds, we all share the moral responsibility to end this destruction—in all its forms.

Peter’s book, like his column and other recent writings, remain vitally important to the restoration of justice in the Middle East. The book, like all those discussed on this program, is available through many fine independent booksellers who are not named “Amazon.”

Peter’s Substack page:

The book:

Column—“States Don’t Have a Right to Exist. People Do”:

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Photo: Naaman Omar \ apaimages

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