In a recent podcast appearance, author and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates made controversial comments regarding the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, stating he wasn’t sure if he would have had the strength to avoid participating had he grown up in Gaza.
He described Gaza as a “giant open-air jail” and questioned whether he would have resisted taking part in the violence, saying, “Am I even strong enough… where I say, ‘This is too far’?”
Coates’ remarks seem to suggest empathy for the conditions leading to the attacks, which claimed the lives of over 1,200 civilians and involved kidnappings.
He drew parallels between the October 7 massacre and historic resistance movements like the Nat Turner rebellion, acknowledging the horror of the attack but framing it as a response to what he called an Israeli system of “apartheid.”
Online critics were quick to condemn Coates. Columbia professor Shai Davidai criticized his comments harshly, saying Coates is “not above raping young women at a music festival in the name of ‘resistance,’” a reference to the atrocities committed at the Nova festival.
Bard College professor Thomas Chatterton Williams similarly expressed disbelief, writing, “I cannot imagine killing innocent people… I’m actually pretty certain I couldn’t ever do that.”
Coates’ comments reflect his long-held views on systemic injustice, but his statements about the Hamas attack have ignited significant backlash, particularly for drawing any moral equivalence between acts of terrorism and historical acts of resistance.
