Here is an ever growing list of the books, film, media, and art that has helped expand my understanding of the diversity of Palestinian experience and their struggle for freedom in all of its facets. These are all master works I have found absolutely essential!
Download a shareable PDF version of my picks
BOOKS
A Child in Palestine by Naji al-Ali
“The first collection by the leading Palestinian political cartoonist, introduced by the author of Palestine. Naji al-Ali grew up in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in the south Lebanese city of Sidon, where his gift for drawing was discovered by the Palestinian poet Ghassan Kanafani in the late 1950s.”
Learn More
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
“Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe’s groundbreaking book revisits the formation of the State of Israel. Between 1947 – 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint.”
Learn More
Time of White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah
“Spanning the collapse of Ottoman rule and the British Mandate in Palestine, this is the story of three generations of a defiant family from the Palestinian village of Hadiya before 1948.”
Learn More
The Question of Palestine by Edward W. Said
“With the rigorous scholarship he brought to his influential Orientalism and an exile’s passion (he is Palestinian by birth), Edward W. Said traces the fatal collision between two peoples in the Middle East and its repercussions in the lives of both the occupier and the occupied–as well as in the conscience of the West.”
Learn More
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
“Amal’s own dramatic story threads its way through six decades of Israeli–Palestinian tension: it is one of love and loss, of childhood, marriage and parenthood, and finally the need to share history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has..”
Learn More
The Israel Lobby by John Mearscheimer & Stephen M. Walt
“Not since Foreign Affairs magazine published Samuel Huntington’s ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’ in 1993 has an academic essay detonated with such force.” The publication of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is certain to widen the debate and to be one of the most talked-about books in foreign policy.”
Learn More
Returning to Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani
“The story of Said and Safeyya, who fled their home in Haifa during the Nakba. In the chaos of their escape, their 5-month old son is left behind. 20 years later when the Mandelbaum Gate is opened they return to Haifa”.
Learn More
Justice for Some: Law & the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat
“Justice for Some offers a new approach to understanding the Palestinian struggle for freedom, told through the power and control of international law. Focusing on key junctures—from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza—Noura Erakat shows how the strategic deployment of law has shaped current conditions. “
Learn More
FILMS
Gaza Fights for Freedom by Abby Martin
“Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features exclusive footage of demonstrations where 200 unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers since March 30, 2018.”
Learn More
To See If I’m Smiling by Tamar Yarom
“Six Israeli women give a personal account about their life in the Israeli Army, in the Occupied Territories. A female point of view on the drama of an unending war, on the moral challenges the soldiers faced at the encounter with the Palestinian population. The women look back critically at the way they handled the power that was placed in their hands at the young age of eighteen. Questions that were not dealt with during the service are raised today with great pain.”
Learn More
Five Broken Cameras by Guy Davidi
“An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.”
Learn More
The Lobby by Al Jazeera Investigations
“Al Jazeera Investigations exposes how the Israel lobby influences British politics. A six-month undercover investigation reveals how Israel penetrates different levels of British democracy.”
Learn More
Naila & the Uprising by Julia Bacha
“When a nation-wide uprising breaks out in 1987, a woman in Gaza must make a choice between love, family, and freedom. Undaunted, she embraces all three, joining a network of women in a movement that forces the world to recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination for the first time. The remarkable journey of Naila Ayesh whose story weaves through the most vibrant, nonviolent mobilization in Palestinian history — the First Intifada.
Learn More
Wajib by Annemarie Jacir
“A father and his estranged son must come together to hand deliver his daughter’s wedding invitations to each guest as per local Palestinian custom, in this rousing family drama by Annemarie Jacir”
Learn More
MEDIA
Mint Press News
MintPress News is an independent watchdog journalism organization that provides issue-based original reporting, in-depth investigations, and thoughtful analysis of the most pressing topics facing our nation.
Learn More
Al-Shabaka
Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network, is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and foster public debate on Palestinian human rights and self-determination within the framework of international law.
Learn More
The Electronic Intifada
Founded in 2001, The Electronic Intifada is an independent online news publication and educational resource focusing on Palestine, its people, politics, culture and place in the world.
Learn More
Institute for MIddle East Understanding
The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) is an independent non-profit organization that provides journalists with quick access to information about Palestine and the Palestinians, as well as expert sources, both in the United States and in the Middle East.
Learn More
Miko Peled 