How Do I Keep Learning About Palestine?
Listen to Palestinians Tell Their Stories
Some time ago I re-released an article I wrote early on in my Palestine Bookshelf journey: How Do I Start Learning About Palestine? While the article was generally well received, I did receive some comments noting that I had featured no Palestinian voices in what was a very short list of books. While I explained my choices in the comments, I thought I would do so again here, which will also serve as a good introduction to this list, a sequel to that one.
For those of us who are not Palestinian (or even Arab or Muslim), we have not grown up our whole lives hearing from our loved ones and those close to us about the Nakba, the Naksa, the Intifadas, or the horrors of the post-2006 incursions into Gaza like Cast Lead and Protective Edge. For those of us who have heard anything about this conflict before learning the truth, we had almost always only heard Israel’s side first, last, and always.
When I began this project in October 2023, I knew I had to start with the past in order to understand the present. By that point I had very basic information on 1948 and I had visited Hebron and the Erez Crossing and numerous other important places in Palestine. But I knew I had to go further back, before the so-called Mandate and the dawn of Zionism.
That reading and research gave me a clear understanding of what Zionism was, what Palestine was like before Zionism arrived, what happened in 1947, 1948, and 1949, and what has generally been happening since then. In that first list, I didn’t set out to choose “non-Palestinian” authors. One of many crimes against the Palestinians is that they’ve had their books, art, and archives stolen from them and only Israelis, it seems, are allowed to access them, and even then, only a limited amount of the archives (5%) were opened for research at one point. Those have, unsurprisingly, since been closed.
I found it compelling to be able to argue against Zionists using official IDF records and I built a framework for understanding what had happened in 1948 from those Israelis honest enough to call murder, rape, pillage, theft, and occupation by their proper names. Whatever you wish to say about Tom Segev, Ilan Pappe, and Benny Morris, their work has been invaluable to get a certain perspective on what has been happening in Palestine.
Furthermore, many Palestinian scholars that I love and respect, like Dr. Rashid Khalidi, Dr. Ramzy Baroud, and Dr. Edward Said (RIP), have cited these authors in their works, only underlining that you don’t have to personally like certain authors of Palestinian history in order to take what truths they share to deploy in your arguments against Israel and their would-be defenders.
So, now that you understand a bit about how I started to learn about Palestine, and what I proposed that others do at the beginning of their own journeys, I have created a second, Palestinian-focused list, to keep learning about Palestine, that builds on the framework of that first article. The films and books I share here assume a certain basic knowledge about Zionism, the so-called Mandate, the Nakba, and Gaza. If you don’t have those basics down, you may miss some of the important points these works share.
The “Mandate”
The Revolution in Palestine 1936-1939 by Ghassan Kanafani. Kanafani’s short work examines the 1936–1939 Palestinian uprising against British colonial rule and Zionist settlement as a pivotal mass revolution undermined by internal class weaknesses, reactionary leadership, Arab regime betrayals, and overwhelming British-Zionist force. Buy the book.
The Nakba
1948: Creation and Catastrophe by Andy Trimlett and Ahlam Muhtaseb. This documentary presents the events of 1948 through personal testimonies from both Palestinians and Israelis, highlighting the establishment of Israel as a moment of “national creation” for one people and catastrophic displacement (the Nakba) for the other.
General Overview
The Hundred Years’ War On Palestine by Rashid Khalidi. Dr. Khalidi frames the modern history of Palestine from 1917 to 2017 as a century-long war waged by Zionist settler-colonialism, backed by British and American imperial powers, against the indigenous Palestinian population through successive “declarations of war” that displaced and dispossessed them. Buy the book.
Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd. Mohammed El-Kurd’s collection of eloquent and thoughtful essays explores the Western demand that Palestinians perform as “perfect victims”— nonviolent, morally flawless, and appealing— to be deemed worthy of empathy or justice, while exposing media and institutional mechanisms that dehumanize and silence their resistance and rage. Buy the book.
The Question of Palestine by Edward Said. Dr. Said’s seminal 1979 book (recently reprinted in a new edition) presented the first major English-language articulation of the Palestinian perspective on the conflict, tracing the historical collision between Zionism — framed as a settler-colonial project rooted in European imperialism and Orientalist discourse — and the indigenous Palestinian people, while critiquing Western media distortions, affirming Palestinian existence and dispossession, highlighting the rise of the PLO, and advocating for a secular democratic state as a path to justice and coexistence rather than endless denial of Palestinian rights. Buy the book.
The Occupation
Jenin…Jenin by Mohammed Bakri. This 2002 documentary captures the raw testimonies of Palestinian survivors from the Jenin refugee camp following the Israeli military’s destructive April 2002 invasion during Operation Defensive Shield, presenting their accounts of devastation, loss, and massacre.
No Other Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, & Rachel Szor. This collaborative Palestinian-Israeli documentary chronicles the ongoing forced displacement and home demolitions in the Masafer Yatta region of the occupied West Bank, focusing on Palestinian activist Basel Adra’s resistance alongside his unlikely friendship with Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham amid relentless military oppression. Buy the film.
Palestinian Literature and Memoir
Gaza Writes Back edited by Refaat Alareer. An anthology of short stories by young Palestinian writers in Gaza, edited by Dr. Refaat Alareer (RIP), that creatively depicts the human impact of Israel’s siege, blockade, and military assaults — particularly Operation Cast Lead — through themes of resilience, trauma, daily life, and cultural endurance. If you do one thing today, stop what you are doing and read Refaat’s poem “If I must die” and mourn the loss of one more beautiful Palestinian voice. Buy the book.
I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Al-Barghouti. Poet Mourid Al-Barghouti’s memoir recounts his poignant return to Ramallah after thirty years of exile following the 1967 war, blending reflection on loss, change under occupation, identity, and the bittersweet emotions of homecoming with his observations of a transformed homeland. Buy the book.
Men in the Sun and other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani. This collection features the novella Men in the Sun — a tragic tale of three Palestinian refugees from different generations who, fleeing poverty in Iraqi camps after the 1948 Nakba, attempt an illegal smuggling journey to Kuwait hidden in a water tank on a lorry — alongside other short stories like “The Land of Sad Oranges,” “Letter from Gaza,” and excerpts from the novel Umm Saad, all unflinchingly depicting the alienation, humiliation, despair, and resistance of Palestinians in exile amid displacement and the failures of Arab solidarity. “Letter from Gaza” remains one of the most powerful pieces of Palestinian literature I have ever read. Buy the book.
My Father was a Freedom Fighter by Ramzy Baroud. Dr. Baroud’s book weaves his father’s personal story as a Palestinian refugee and resistance fighter from 1948 onward with Gaza’s broader history of dispossession, survival, and struggle against occupation across generations. Buy the book.
My Life in the PLO: The Inside Story of the Palestinian Struggle by Shafiq al-Hout. This memoir provides an insider’s critical and detailed account of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from its founding in 1964 through al-Hout’s resignation in protest against the 1993 Oslo Accords, chronicling key events like the PLO’s UN recognition, Arafat’s 1974 “gun and olive branch” speech (which he helped draft), factional dynamics, relations with Arab states, the Lebanese civil war’s impact on Palestinians, and his progressive yet independent voice advocating for Palestinian liberation while exposing leadership flaws, betrayals, and the movement’s evolution across decades. Buy the book.
We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza's Youth edited by Ahmed Alnaouq & Pam Bailey. A collection of personal stories, testimonies, poems, and reflections by Gaza’s youth (associated with the We Are Not Numbers project), which humanizes their experiences under blockade and repeated wars by asserting their individuality, dreams, and humanity beyond being reduced to casualty statistics. Buy the book.
Gaza
Are You Ready to Enter Gaza and other stories by Shaza Abu Dayeh. Shaza reached out to me here, through Substack, and I was honored to be able to share her voice through our platform. If you go to her Substack you will learn about her experiences, alongside her family, in enduring the ongoing Israeli genocide and siege, particularly detailing trauma on families and children, dehumanization to mere statistics, and unyielding resilience. Shaza challenges readers with the provocative question of whether they are prepared to truly witness and comprehend the “heart of hell” where death permeates every aspect of life.
The Eyes of Gaza by Plestia Alaqad. This text offers diary extracts from Plestia’s 45 days in Gaza following October 7. Plestia became known as the “Eyes of Gaza” through her social media videos. The book offers a raw, firsthand account of the bombardment’s devastation, displacement, loss, and daily horrors endured by Palestinians, while highlighting their unbreakable resilience, acts of kindness, bravery amid chaos, and the profound human spirit of her people. Buy the book.
The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania. This 2025 docudrama reconstructs the tragic final hours of six-year-old Hind Rajab in January 2024, trapped in a car in Gaza amid Israeli fire and pleading for help on the phone with Red Crescent volunteers, blending her real audio pleas with dramatized elements to highlight humanitarian failure and the child’s voice as a powerful indictment. See the film.
This is not a comprehensive list, but just a primer to get you started. Hungry for more? Check out our ever-increasing list at Palestine Bookshelf where you can also learn about the charities we support and how you can help them.
#EndTheOccupation
yes, me too!!
I like this list! May I also suggest: The Drone Eats With Me by Atef Abu Saif?