Well a central point that Coates makes is precisely that we need to have Palestinian voices heard in the media, since the dominant Israeli viewpoint has been what is almost exclusively represented in the US for decades. His raising of these issues is definitely adding something to the conversation.

I’m not so sure. (And maybe because I’ve been seeking out original work on this subject for a while.) But it seems to me he could have done any number of things to elevate Palestinian writers that isn’t writing his own newly developed perspective on it.