Peter Beinart — Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning - with Karen Attiah

This event is in partnership with Jewish Currents.In Peter Beinart's view, one story dominates Jewish communal life: that of persecution and victimhood. It is a story that erases much of the nuance of Jewish religious tradition and warps our understanding of Israel and Palestine. After Gaza, where Jewish texts, history, and language have been deployed to justify mass slaughter and starvation, Beinart argues, Jews must tell a new story. After this war, whose horror will echo for generations, they must do nothing less than offer a new answer to the question: What does it mean to be a Jew?Beinart imagines an alternate narrative, which would draw on other nations' efforts at moral reconstruction and a different reading of Jewish tradition. A story in which Israeli Jews have the right to equality, not supremacy, and in which Jewish and Palestinian safety are not mutually exclusive but intertwined. One that recognizes the danger of venerating states at the expense of human life.Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza is a provocative argument that will expand and inform one of the defining conversations of our time. It is a book that only Peter Beinart could write: a passionate yet measured work that brings together his personal experience, his commanding grasp of history, his keen understanding of political and moral dilemmas, and a clear vision for the future.PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780593803899?ic_referral=GOPG6_A1ry9Eb--Y6f-3byXX8Tr1aPkms218SISqS98wM0pQqPDTe1akyXIlOuNzxc-WfzQNIl7pG3aGdGs3gBlEv9AGHx4OWASkk5EEUFFQ2S4idGa5AOUiqFGrkshAXVnUtAPeter Beinart is professor of journalism and political science at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is also editor at large of Jewish Currents, a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times, an MSNBC political commentator, and a nonresident fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.com. He lives in New York with his family.Beinart is in conversation with Karen Attiah, a journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, known for her insightful work on race, gender, human rights, and international affairs. A native of Dallas Texas, Karen is a former Fulbright Scholar to Ghana, and has a masters degree in international affairs from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs. She has reported from countries including Nigeria, Curacao, Ghana, and Germany. Her work has appeared various global outlets including Associated Press. In 2016, she became The Washington Post’s founding Global Opinions editor, commissioning op-eds on global issues, and was named an Opinions columnist in 2021. Karen has received numerous awards, including the 2019 George Polk Special Award and NABJ’s Journalist of the Year, and Washingtonian Magazine’s “Star to Watch” Award. She was an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is currently working on a book, Say Your Word, Then Leave, a book about the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.