In recent years, a term has emerged in leftist activist circles: “progressive except for Palestine,” or “PEP” for short. It describes a person whose values and political leanings are consistent across issues of racial justice, homophobia, healthcare, immigration and more—but on Palestine, they are either silent, or actively hostile to a progressive point of view. It’s a worldview that permeates media spaces, academia, and Washington. What causes the progressive exception for Palestine, and are we seeing a shift on the horizon? In this episode of Unsettled, producer Ilana Levinson interviews Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick, authors of the forthcoming book, Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics.
Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Asaf Calderon, Max Freedman, and Ilana Levinson. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions.
Marc Lamont Hill is an award-winning journalist and the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. He is the author of multiple books, including the New York Times bestselling Nobody, and co-author (with Mitchell Plitnick) of Except for Palestine (The New Press). He lives in Philadelphia.
Mitchell Plitnick is the president of ReThinking Foreign Policy and is a frequent writer on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, is the former vice president at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, director of the U.S. Office of B’Tselem, and co-director of Jewish Voice for Peace. The co-author (with Marc Lamont Hill) of Except for Palestine (The New Press), he lives in Maryland.
