Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare
Trump’s Gazan dream is to overlay the complex human history with his own narcissistic real-estate fantasy. But for Maia Carter Hallward, co-author of a new contemporary history of Gaza, this once vibrant Mediterranean entrepôt linking Africa, Asia and Europe is now defined more by nightmare than dreams. “In peace studies, we talk about positive peace, which has rights, liberties, the ability to reach human potential - and we talk about negative peace, which is the absence of war,” Carter Hallward says. “I would say we have none of those in Gaza right now.” No negative peace, no absence of war. For Carter Hallward, that - alongside the more than 70,000 dead Palestinians - captures today’s Gazan tragedy.
Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Jo-Ann Mort: How Poets Could Bring Peace to Israel and Palestine
Michael Blanding: Was Shakespeare a Plagiarist?
Charles Dellheim: How Jews Made the Art World Modern
Vegard Skirbekk: Why We Need to Bring Down Global Birth Dates and Have Fewer Children
Rowan Hooper: How to Save the World For Just a Trillion Dollars
Levi Vonk: The Moral Case for Demilitarizing the Southern Border
Nick Marx: Can Conservatives Be Funny?
Danica Roem: Why We Should Judge All Politicians Through the Prism of Authenticity
Sam W. Haynes: How Everyone—Left and Right—Has Misrepresented the History of Texas
Alice Sherwood: Should We Really Want to Reclaim "Reality" in Our Counterfeit World?
Tripp Mickle: How Apple Appears to Have Lost Its Soul in the Post-Steve Jobs Era
Scott Hershovitz: How to Nurture the Philosopher In All Our Kids
John A. List: Why Quitting Good Ideas Is Often a Winning Strategy