Palestine reading list
I am in no way an expert on this topic but me and my reading circle has been meaning to incorporate more Palestine Genocide relevant books in our readings.
created by Mofteratu
last updated May, 2026
Comments
also: PalĂ€stina und die PalĂ€stinenser by Muriel Asseburg. I don't know if there's an English translation, but I would think so đ Thank you for this list!!!!!
I would recommend Gaza Writes Back!! Itâs a collection of short stories by Palestinian authors
Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique is also good! It delves into the issue of pinkwashing quite a bit! For fiction, I'd also recommend checking out Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa and Salt Houses by Hala Alyan!
seconding all of these :)
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i personally haven't read it yet, but I've seen a lot of people recommending The Eyes of Gaza: a Diary of Resilience by Plestia Alaqad!
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This is a great list and resource as someone who has also been trying to read more about Palestine.
I just picked up "We Are Not Numbers" which is an essay collection written by young Palestinian authors between 2014 and 2024 which also shines a light on events prior to Oct 2023 that many people aren't aware of. One of the authors included is actually Mosar Abe Toha who wrote "Things You May Find Hidden in my Ear" that you have on the list already. On my shelf I also have "Against the Loveless World" by Susan Abulhawa which is a historical & literary fiction novel about a Palestinian refugee.
I'm not sure if you're including books that are not authored by Palestinians as well, but if you are I have a few recs: "The Message" by Ta-Nehesi Coats, "One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" by Omar El Akkad, "Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza" by Peter Beinart, "Freedom is a Constant Struggle" by Angela Y. Davis, and "Except for Palestine" by Mac Lamont Hill. (Personally I have only read the first two and the others are TBR for me as of now) but they largely focus on intersectionality and the ways the west perceives the genocide in Gaza for better and for worse.
hey, thank you so much for all of these recommendations, I will be sure to add these when I get the chance. I am honestly just adding anything and everything I can find because given how things stand, Palestine as well as its culture and history is actively being erased.
My goal was to contribute to their preservation in whatever limited capacity I am able to
I completely agree, I've been trying to buy physical copies of as many as I can afford to and find. I feel like I need to, to make sure their stories are heard, remembered, and saved.
was about to put a comment for âThe Messageâ by Ta-Nehesi Coats (about to finish it, excellent read) and see it here so I will throw in that I second that suggestion
Please donât add One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. He âvigorously condemnsâ Palestinian resistanceâeven âdespisesâ it (and all other âgoverning entities in the Middle Eastâ) for its âviolent ethos.â
A better book, imo, for discussing journalism and the genocide in Gaza from the perspective of a Western journalist is A Genocide Foretold by Chris Hedges. He doesnât condemn Palestinian resistance (understanding and uplifting Palestinian resistance is a big part of the book) and he discusses Palestinians in a much more humanizing way than El Akkad (who only discusses Palestinians as dead bodies)âprobably because Chris Hedges has been reporting from within the Palestinian Occupied Territories for decade (whereas El Akkad has never been there) â€ïž
Oh, didn't know that about Omar el Akkad. Will be removing his work and adding your recommendations!
aw no :(((( this has been on my library holds for weeks
Thank you for this comment!
Thank you for this list, I also recommend anything written by Ghassan Kanafani. I don't know if all his writings are translated though since I read them in arabic.
Recommending The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem!
Came here to recommend this. Itâs a really great choice for those who primarily read fiction
books i can recommend by palestinian authors: forest of noise by mosab abu toha, [...]: Poems by fady joudah, against the loveless world by susan abulhawa, minor detail by adania shibli
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Voices of Resistence is a recently published one that is a collection of four women's diary entries from October 2023 through to I believe January 2025. Harrowing but very important
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Popping in to say it's Read Palestine Week! (29 Nov - 5 December) and you can get free books to read here at Publishers for Palestine â€ïžđ”đž
would you consider adding books by mizrachi authors?
As in the zionist organisation or oriental Jews?
as in middle eastern jews
I don't see why not
let me know if you want a list of books!
Sure! Mizrahi Jews were just as Palestinian as the Arabs
On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements by Ella Shohat. this book challenges the eurocentric, binary view (which i think is unfortunately very present in this list) of the israel/palestine conflict.
It's not a 'conflict' it's illegal occupation and colonialism of Palestine. You insisting on referring to it as 'conflict' is very telling.
case in point! your eurocentric view of the conflict is an issue.
You keep saying eurocentric as if it matters where zionists and occupiers came from. Anyone that supports the existence of the illegal entity on Palestinian land is complicit and therefore a zio. It doesn't matter what their religion or origin is whatsoever.
âillegal entityâ and its jews who have lived in israel for thousands of years.
look up the history of the middle east (and what the definition of colonization is).
First of all Israel (the illegal entity) hasn't existed for thousands of years. Israel is an illegal entity built on stolen Palestinian land. Second, I actually live in a city where there are Palestinian jews and we have absolutely no problem with one another you know why? Bc they aren't trying to kill us. We had no problems with the jews living in the reign bc we lived together peacefully until zionists decided NO they had other plans. Maybe you should better study history.
youâre telling me to better study history yet fail to acknowledge the history of the middle east.
Youâre literally doing exactly what you typed. You have failed to acknowledge the history that youâre not a fan of hearing which Pali has given you. Instead you continue to be defensive, twist words and creating straw hat arguments to derail the conversation and calling a Palestinian âEurocentricâ is not a good look. Israel is an occupying entity that is not even 100 years old, the main reason people think itâs older is due to Zionist propaganda and cultural appropriation of Palestinian history to make it sound like their own. Which is a fact by the way that you can find in many decolonial works. I doubt you are willing to listen seeing how you continue to treat Pali in the comments. Have the day you deserve.
where have i failed to acknowledge the history?
here is my question for you: how are you, someone who isnât jewish, going to tell me, a middle eastern jew, that my (familyâs) history (which is documented!) is wrong?
Yeah that is not what I said in any way, shape or form which is so clear itâs as glaring as a beam of sunlight. Iâm not entertaining you with a response.
except that is actually what you are doing. i have repeatedly been stating my own family's history which you are continuously denying because it doesn't fit your narrative.
Exactly this!! Every single word! đđŒđđŒ I hope you have the absolute best day đ
and before you throw around the word zionist, maybe look up what the word actually means. thanks!
this is not a black and white issue
and i would be more than happy to have a conversation with you about it (so that we can hear each otherâs perspectives)
Exactly this is a very clear issue. There are oppressors and oppressed, occupiers and occupied, colonizers and colonized. If you don't see that our oppressors are zionists then you live in privilege that we Palestinians don't have access to.
except itâs not. its hundreds of years of history in a region that is considered to be one of the most important ones in the world.
and it was the palestinians who oppressed my family (and their entire village)
Pick a struggle here! In a previous comment which for some reason is deleted you said ur family fled Iran and "radical Islam" now it's the Palestinians who oppressed your family!?
Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakin. this book focuses on islamic fundamentalism (which is very prevalent in middle east) and how it affects mizrachi jews
Hey, am I wrong to assume that this list is about the occupation, oppression, colonialism, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and not about Muslims, Christians or Jews within Palestine? Not sure how books specifically focusing on Mizrahi Jews are relevant to the ongoing genocide in Gaza or the illegal colonization of Palestine as a whole by Zionists.
mizrachi jews are very much a part of the culture and are also victims of the conflict.
Don't mizrachi jews serve in the IOF and are also killing Palestinians as we speak? Are you being discriminated against by other zionists bc that I could definitely believe. But using that victim card of yours on us Palestinians won't work.
youâre acting like palestinians are entirely innocent in this. which they arenât.
Palestinians NEVER went to anyones land and killed its people. Zionists came to ours and killed us in our homes. What do you expect us to do? Just continue to be killed and oppressed so you guys can be happy?
palestinians have never went to anyoneâs land and kills its people? are you serious?
my family has faced discrimination from palestinians, actually.
Hmmm let's see maybe bc your family is living on stolen Palestinian land!?
my family has lived in the area for over two hundred years.
there was no evidence of the area being lived in prior (and there was an archeological dig done which further proved this)
palestinians serve in the idf. in fact, there is an entire unit that is just palestinian soldiers.
Again, it seems you're not understanding I DON'T CARE WHERE THEY'RE FROM IF THEY ARE ZIONISTS THEY ARE OPPRESSORS AND ILLEGAL. It's as easy as that.
so if palestinians serve in the idf, they are oppressors and illegal?
i love the little mask off full on zionist moment u had towards the end of the thread. its always the usual suspects with those " but what about radical islam" takes.
100% if they support the genocidal, zionist, and illegal occupation they're oppressors and don't represent Palestinians in any way.
I got some odd energy from the initial question too which implied that there was some sort of an anti semitic angle here and my reply was meant to diffuse that implication, I decided to include the arab jew thing specifically because I saw it being praised in how Zionism divorced the Arabness of the Mizrahim in an attempt to further demonise the arab other but I stopped interacting with her when I realised their dishonest zionist trojan horsing
It's always ironic to me how they decide to include themselves as the victims in the ongoing oppression and ethic cleansing of Palestinians. I haven't read the recently added book, but I have talked to the Samaritans (diff sect of Judaism) within my city and they stated how the Zionists tried/still trying so hard to make them anti-arabs which they refuse and they identify as Arab Palestinians. I also refuse to further interact with her, bc I know it's pointless. Thank you for all your efforts with this list đ€ hope you have a wonderful day my friend đ€
Yeah I decided to remove the book not because I found anything particularly problematic about it online but because I do not trust this person at all. I am glad you called them out on the dishonest hasbara talking points.
I was aware of samaritans but wasn't aware of how they refused the zionist project that's actually so cool. I hope you have a wonderful day too, friend!
Good call! I also have nth to say about the book as I haven't read it, but I don't understand the reasoning behind recommending this book in this list specifically. The user can make a list dedicated to Mizrachi Jews books to share their experiences if that was the goal.
Definitely, Samaritans take offense in even being associated with the IOF in any sort of way. I know my Samaritan community will actually protect me from the zios if they could.
Good thank you for doing that! Iâm also ignoring this person at least if anything they provide the perfect example of a Zionist who completely derails the entire conversation into things that are just propaganda talking points. đ« I hope everyone here who has been present in all this that sees how ridiculous this all is has a fantastic day. đ„°
I love that we all took the same approach at the end bc we knew exactly what this person was trying to do!! đđ it seems they deleted their account, right? lol đ
I hope everyone on the right side of humanity always has wonderful days ahead đ
As far as I can tell I believe they did delete their account đ€Ł
And same! đ„°đ„°
Genocide Bad by Sim Kern was published by a Palestinian-American publisher. It goes into the history and debunks myths :D
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Hey, I would also recommend Genocide Bad.
Hi! I would like to recommend "The Destruction of Palestine is the Destruction of the Earth" by Andreas Malm, if you're also adding books from non Palestinian authors :).
On another note, I don't know if this is the place to ask, but I also don't know where else to do it: I'd like to read more about the more ancient history of the territory and its people (both the middle east in general, which I know is a lot, and more specifically Palestine), and I don't know which books are better or even if there are any books covering this properly. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Should I ask this somewhere else like the Pagebound Club? Thank you anyways!!
I havenât read it yet but found a book called Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History by Nur Masalha. Also, check out books on Palestine from Haymarket Books and Interlink Publishing.
thank you a lot!! I'll check it out :) and you're right, I have so many Haymarket books pending to read too, I guess I could start with those haha
looks good
thank you for these. i had a personal collection too, but i feel like learning more now. thank u
Iâm somewhere between actively reading through this list and preserving my mental health. Itâs both extremely important and extremely heartbreaking and infuriating to read about Palestine. I think my sweet spot is to read 1 book on Palestine to 2 fiction novels as my ratio.
Anyway⊠FREE PALESTINE TILL ITâS BACKWARDS đ
Hell yeah, big thank you for making this list âđ»đđđ»
Forensic Architecture by Eyal Weizman is a great read if youâre interested in the legalities and history of documenting acts of genocide. The second part, focuses specifically on Palestine, and the rigorous documentation needed to prove acts of violence committed against civilians. Iâm only halfway through, but it is incredibly informative!! The book really highlights the nuances that Palestinians and human rights groups have to face in the pursuit of legal justice, with modern case studies.
The author also discuss the significance of using his privileges as an israeli citizen to work against and oppose the state regime when international forces are unable to; and to my knowledge, still works with human rights groups in support of the Palestinian cause.
I so deeply love seeing how much engagement this list has gotten. I'm new to this app, and seeing this makes this seem like such a genuine and safe spaceđđ”đž
Thanks for the list!!
Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much for this!
'Decolonizing the Palestinian Mind' by Haider Eid is something I would recommend
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great list! may i suggest these, all by female palestinian authors:
Art of Palestinian Embroidery - Leila El Khaldi: non fiction on tatreez
Mother of Strangers - Suad Amiry: a novel set in 40's Jaffa
The Lord - Soraya Antonius: on british colonialism and on palestinian life before the nakba
Everything Grows in Jiddo's Garden - Jenan Matari: a children's book about a palestinian diaspora girl learning about palestine while gardening with her grandfather
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highly suggest Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Davis!
thanks for this list, and for supporting a free Palestine â€ïžâđ©čđđ€
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Love this!
Thank you for the list, I have seen 'Letters from Gaza' people haven't read it personally. Just a suggestion. I have read Minor detail, and A woman is no man, a novel about women from conservative family living abroad.
Would love to recommend The Trinity of Fundamentals by Wisam Rafeedie if youâre still adding to this! The backstory to how it came to be is remarkable
I would like to recommend 'All That's Left to You' by Ghassan Kanafani. A series of short stories following siblings in Gaza who are separated from their family.
Also 'Sharon and My Mother-in-Law' by Suad Amiry. It's based on diaries and emails that author kept and their life in Ramallah. The writing is amazing, and she somehow is able to write with some humor and elegance while portraying their daily struggles.
I also have some suggestions from Israeli authors which explores the perspectives of soldiers and residents of Israel who are grappling with taking responsibility for the atrocities their illegal state is committing, but not sure if they would fit in this list. Esp since one of them is a topic of debate. I wouldn't want them to take away from the conversation but they can be interesting for people who want to look at things from all angles. Let me know if you'd be interested in looking into them too.
