A conversation with Palestinian-American Yousef Munayyer

The fundamental promise of Tangle is to share the best perspectives from across the political spectrum on the most divisive issues of the day.

For the last few weeks, we’ve been covering the Israel-Palestine conflict and everything that has happened since October 7. Throughout that time, you have gotten several Tangle editions that included a wide range of perspectives on this conflict: Israeli, Palestinian, American, European, and, of course, my own. But given the personal nature of this story to me, you’ve gotten an unusually frequent rate of editions that included just my own personal views on what is going on — including last Friday’s 10 thoughts about what is happening in Israel.

Of course, Tangle is my publication, and it’s okay for me to occasionally climb out on some limbs and share my own views independent of others. But in times like these, I also think it is critical for me to elevate perspectives that are decidedly different from my own. At times, my efforts to do that have created some content that is — for lack of a better word — unhelpful. But those same efforts often create content that I find very valuable.

Yesterday was one of those times. 

I got to sit down with Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst who is the head of the Palestine/Israel program at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C. Munayyer is one of my go-to voices on this conflict, as evidenced by the fact that I actually interviewed him for our podcast way back in 2021 — before I even had a proper microphone to record these episodes. 

Despite the difficult circumstances surrounding our conversation, it was great to bring him back on. Just like in 2021, while I have bones to pick on plenty of points Munayyer made, I also learned a lot, found his arguments cogent and challenging, felt my own position shifting on certain specifics, and was left feeling that these kinds of conversations should be more frequent. In fact, they need to be more frequent.

You can also check out our latest videos, and interview with presidential candidate Marianne Williamson here and a look at what a potential second term for Donald Trump could look like, here.

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