What the row over Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book reveals about free speech

It is a common response among visitors to Israel, even before the war in Gaza. They see the “teeming cafés” and “cocktail bars” of Tel Aviv, as Ta-Nehisi Coates puts it, and, in the West Bank, hardship and expropriation. The contrast offends natural justice and inspires compassion for Palestinians. It would be odd if it did not. The book Mr Coates has written on the basis of such impressions, and the controversy it has ignited, together spotlight an urgent issue—but perhaps not the one he intended.