Episode 59: Israel, Palestine, and the Problem of Morality

What do Shadi and Damir's divergent responses to the Gaza crisis tell us about questions of morality, idealism, and power? Damir presses Shadi on his recent commentary about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians—and the line between analysis and polemics. Shadi argues the Middle East still matters—and that it's in America's national interest to be moral. Damir counters by saying that it is the job of the analyst to complicate stories, not necessarily to resolve them.

Required Reading:

• "I'm Angry About Palestine. Should You Be?" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)

• "Don’t take the narrow view of what’s happening in Gaza," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)

• "A separate peace? What the Gaza crisis means for Arab regimes," by Shadi Hamid (Brookings)

• The Shadi vs. Dershowitz showdown (The Megyn Kelly Show)

• "Four Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" (Carnegie Connects)