American authors draw parallels between Palestine and global oppression

 

“I mean, Hebron is obviously just a straight-up analogue for Jim Crow and segregation.”

Acclaimed authors Ta-Nehisi Coates, Maaza Mengiste, and Eve Ewing reflected on what they saw in Palestine during the 12th edition of the Palestine Festival of Literature in May 2023.

From witnessing racial segregation in Hebron to drawing comparisons with Jim Crow laws and apartheid, the authors emphasized the global connections between struggles for justice and the importance of international solidarity.

“It’s in the small details that I have begun to understand the magnitude of this oppression. The small ways that your life and routine and predictability and your time is being taken away. I had no idea about that until I came here,” Mengiste said.

The video has resurfaced after a recent CBS Morning Show interview sparked outrage as social media users accused an anchor of bias and malpractice for suggesting Coates held “extremist” views regarding the perspective of Palestinians in his new book called The Message.