A new book from Peter Beinart asks Jewish people to reimagine the Israeli state

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Peter Beinart, once a defender of the Israeli state, has become one of its sharpest critics. His new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, was born out of Beinart's personal struggle within the Jewish community in the wake of the war. In the book, Beinart makes an urgent appeal, asking his peers to imagine a world in which Palestinians and Israeli Jews share equal rights. In today's episode, Beinart joins NPR's Leila Fadel for a discussion that touches on the intertwined relationship between Israeli and Palestinian safety and how a reimagined Israeli state could lead to a better future for all people.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Wimbong. What is the point of a state? What is its function? That's a question at the heart of today's interview. It's with writer Peter Beinart, who's written a book titled Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza. And in the book, he wrestles with being a proud Jewish American, who is also horrified at
0:23.4	Israel's actions against the Palestinian people since the Hamas attack on October 7th.
0:28.6	He speaks with the empire's Lelah Faddle questioning the value of a Jewish state if, as he puts
0:34.4	it, the state is elevated above the value of the lives of the people under its control.
0:40.2	That's ahead.
0:41.4	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:46.3	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
0:52.8	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:00.2	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:05.8	Over his lifetime, Peter Bynard went from being a fierce defender of Israel to one of its fiercest critics.
1:11.9	In his latest book, The Professor of Journalism and Political Science makes an appeal to other
1:16.3	American Jews in the wake of the war in Gaza. It's called Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza,
1:22.6	a Reckoning. The book begins with a note to his former friend.
1:26.5	I know you believe that my public opposition to this war and to the very idea of a state that favors Jews over Palestinians
1:33.7	constitutes a betrayal of our people.
1:37.1	When I enter a synagogue, I am no longer sure who will extend their hand and who will look away.
1:43.6	Maybe you feel a similar anxiety in progressive circles where you once felt at home.
1:49.6	Jews have always quarreled, and we should.
1:53.0	But I worry that given the trajectory of events in Israel and Palestine,
1:57.3	we may be moving past mere disagreement toward hatred.
2:02.3	Why did you open the book this way with this note to your former friend?
2:08.5	Because the book really came out of my struggles over the last year and a half in some ways longer
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.