Over the last two years I have been absolutely horrified by what is going on in Gaza. The daily images of traumatised orphaned kids starving, missing limbs, grieving their dead families, has been really quite grotesque and I have found myself feeling completely devoid of any belief in the supposed innate goodness of humanity. Bombing hospitals, targeting ambulances, purposely attacking those seeking food, preventing aid from being delivered to help a starving, wounded, traumatised population is nothing short of evil. What the Israeli government is doing is evil, and to see so many Western governments including my own do nothing to stop daily slaughter has been unbelievably disheartening to put it mildly. I have no doubt that in generations to come, this moment will be looked upon with great shame and guilt, and history will judge those who did nothing to prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people (the vast majority of whom are not Hamas). I first came to be a supporter of the Palestinian cause when I studied the founding of Israel in 1948 as part of my university degree. Over the years I’ve read significant literature on the subject and so I wanted to do a little post for those who maybe don’t know the complete history and want to know more but don’t necessarily know where to begin. I hope you enjoy and please if you have any more recommendations, comment below.
For a basic introduction, these three are great; if you’re only going to read one book on the subject let it be one of these;
Rashid Khalidi, “The Hundred Years War on Palestine 1917-2017”, 2020
Edward W Said, “The Question of Palestine”, originally published in 1979, then republished in 1980 and again in 1992 with a new introduction & epilogue (read the 1992 version)
Ilan Pappe, “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine”, 2007 (centres around the 1948 Nakba)
These next books cover a range of topics from the history of Palestine to the current situation; some are memoirs, some are non fiction and there’s even some fiction in there. I have read many of these however there are a few I have not but have been recommended to do so and absolutely plan too.
Lorenzo Kamal, “Imperial Perceptions of Palestine: British Influence and Power in Late Ottoman Times”, 2019.
Nur Masalha, “The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory”, 2012.
Izzeldin Abuelaish, “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity”, 2012.
Penina Eilberg-Schwartz & Sulaiman Khatib, “In This Place Together: A Palestinian’s Journey to Collective Liberation”, 2021.
Ghada Karmi, “In Search of Fatima”, 2004.
Raja Shehadeh, “Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape”, 2008.
Susan Abulhawa, “Mornings in Jenin”, 2011.
Noam Chomsky & Ilan Pappe, “Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the US-Israeli War Against the Palestinians”, 2013.
Fida Jiryis, “Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home”, 2022
Susan Abulhawa, “Against the Loveless World”, 2020.
Sahar Khalifeh, “The End of Spring”, 2007.
Mourid Barghouti, “I Saw Ramallah”, 1997, published in English in 2000 and again in 2005.
Angela Y Davis, “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement”, 2016 (not exclusively about Palestine)
Omar El Akkad “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”, 2025.
Adania Shibli, “Minor Detail”, 2017
Any poetry by the ultimate Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
Wadad Makdisi Cortas, “A World I Loved: The Story of an Arab Woman”, 2009(this book is not exclusively about Palestine – most of it is about Lebanon but there are references to Palestine and it draws upon a lot of the same things that are prominent in Palestinian history – the oppression of colonialism, the desire to forge an Arab identity based on religious tolerance, Western interference and growing up in a region torn apart by conflict)
Hope you enjoy and I promise, I’ll be back soon with a new post!
✨Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free Yemen, Free Congo✨
Alexandra x
p.s I’m on Twitter (I know its X but it’s still twitter to me!!) talking about politics and Palestine and period dramas and history all the time so feel free to follow me over on there.
The Monstrous Regiment of Women 