On Oct. 7, the military arm of Palestinian political organization Hamas spearheaded a surprise attack on Israel following decades of ongoing occupation. Israel responded with a deadly bombardment on the heavily blockaded Gaza Strip, declaring war, leaving over 1,000 civilians dead and more than 5,000 children, women, and men severely injured on both sides, according to figures reported by the Palestinian health ministry and Palestine Red Crescent society. Now, more than ever, with the flooding of misinformation and unsubstantiated claims that are falsely shaping and changing narratives, it is imperative to tap into the power of knowledge and to make an active effort to understand the context and history as to how years of military occupation has led to this very moment. In light of staying informed and navigating the current landscape, we have curated a list of resources about Palestine to listen to, watch, and read in order to gain a better sense of what is going on.
Read
The Palestinans: from Peasants to Revolutionaries by Rosemary Sayigh
Rosemary Sayigh provides an extensive look into understanding the history of Palestine through in-depth interviews with Palestinans in refugee camps.
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi
Through pivotal events and family history, the foremost US historian of the Middle East offers a deeper look into one hundred years of war against the Palestinians.
Footnotes in Gaza written and illustrated by Joe Sacco
Through a comic book narrative combining art and investigative reporting, Joe Sacco delves into two long-forgotten mass killings of Palestinans in Gaza.
Stone Men: The Palestinians Who Built Israel by Andrew Ross
With a title that speaks for itself, Andrew Ross details how the West Bank settlements are built by Palestinans forced off the land.
Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke
Palestine Speaks provides insightful testimonies from men and women from the West Bank and Gaza describing in their own words how their lives have been shaped by the conflict. This includes eyewitness accounts of the most recent attacks on Gaza in 2014.
The Question of Palestine by Edward W.Said
Among the first books to raise Palestine as a serious topic of debate, The Question of Palestine remains relevant as ever today. 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.
On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé
Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky discuss the road ahead for Palestinians and how the international community can pressure Israel to end its human rights abuses against the people of Palestine.
Freedom is Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
Political activist and author Angela Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world through a series of essays, interviews, and speeches.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé
Ilan Pappé unveils the hidden and systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948, and its relevance to resolving the conflict.
Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the Claims of Memory by Ahmad Sa’di and Lila Abu-Lughod
“The book’s essays consider the ways in which Palestinians have remembered and organized themselves around the Nakba, a central trauma that continues to be refracted through Palestinian personal and collective memory. Analyzing oral histories and written narratives, poetry and cinema, personal testimony and courtroom evidence, the authors show how the continuing experience of violence, displacement, and occupation have transformed the pre-Nakba past and the land of Palestine into symbols of what has been and continues to be lost,” details the book’s description.
Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement by Wendy Pearlman
Why do some national movements use violent protests while others use nonviolent protests? In her book, Wendy Pearlman shows that many of the answers can be found within the movements themselves.
Israel’s Occupation by Neve Gordon
In this first comprehensive history of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, we can see beyond the smokescreen of politics in order to understand the dramatic changes that have taken place on the ground. From water and electricity control to health care and education as well as surveillance and torture, Neve Gordon examines a variety of topics.
The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-Development by Roy Sara
“In the new expanded edition of The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development, Sara Roy takes her meticulous study of the political economy of the Gaza Strip since the Israeli occupation in 1967 through to the impact, one year after, of Israel’s massive summer 2014 assault known as Operation Protective Edge,” as stated on the Institute of Palestine Studies website.
Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick
In this book, American academic and writer Marc Lamont Hill calls for US liberals and progressives to include Palestine in their politics.
Listen
Independent radio station Radio Al Hara and Palestinian record label Majazz Project teamed up on an educational 12-hour program to help listeners gain a better understanding of the conflict.
Israel/Palestine and Trauma with Gabor Mate
Holocaust survivor, author, and physician Gabor Mate offers his views on the situation.
Watch
Al Nakba by Rawan Damen
In 2008, Al Jazeera made a four-part documentary on the Nakba. Spread out across four episodes, the series is thoroughly researched providing extensive insight.
1948 by Mohammad Bakri
1948 features testimonials from eyewitnesses of the Nakba, including villagers who escaped the massacres of Deir Yassin (near Jerusalem) and Al Dawayima (near Hebron) and former inhabitants from destroyed towns in Tiberius.
Farha by Darin J Sallam
The film tells the true story of the forced evacuation of Palestinians from their homes by nationalist militia in 1948, otherwise known as the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing and displacement of about 800,000 Palestinians that eventually led to the creation of the Israeli apartheid state.
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Photo: Mike Goldwater/Middle East Archive
