I began posting on Substack after reading Salma Abdelnour’s book ‘Jasmine and Fire’. I had recommended music in that post.
Here are some recommendations for learning more about Israel and Palestine. I make no pretensions to creating a comprehensive list. In fact, this is merely a partial list of content that I have consumed recently (~ past decade) and does not include many more books, especially on military history that I’ve read. Note that some of these are books related to neighboring countries since the politics described in them affect Israel/Palestine. The links in the titles lead to the reviews.
Sharon and my mother in law by Suad Amiry.
How to understand Israel in 60 days or less, graphic novel by Sarah Glidden.
Footnotes in Gaza & Palestine, graphic novels by Joe Sacco
Jerusalem- chronicles from the holy city, graphic novel by Guy De Lisle.
I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity, by Izzeldin Abuelaish, a doctor who worked in an Israeli hospital. His home was bombed by the Israelis due to an error, killing his teenage daughters.
Jews From Cochin Bring Their Unique Indian Cuisine to Israeli Diners, Dana Kessler, Tablet Magazine article.
Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East, Kim Ghattas
Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria, Sam Dagher
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations, Ronen Bergman.
My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace, Ehud Barak.
The Day the Leader Was Killed, Naguib Mahfouz, Malek Mashem (Translator)
The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel, Uri Bar-Joseph
Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, Sarah Glidden
A Woman of Egypt, Jehan Sadat
Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team, George Jonas
The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East, Abraham Rabinovich
The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984, Riad Sattouf
Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel, Dan Ephron.
A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return, Zeina Abirached, Edward Gauvin, (Translator), Trina Robbins (Introduction)
I Remember Beirut, Zeina Abirached
Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David, Lawrence Wright
Jerusalem: A Family Portrait, Boaz Yakin, Nick Bertozzi (Illustrator)
The Property, Rutu Modan, Jessica Cohen, (Translator)
Exit Wounds, Rutu Modan
Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Scott Anderson
Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, Harvey Pekar, JT Waldman, (Illustrator), Joyce Brabner, (Epilogue)
Substack is displaying a “post too long for email” warning. I’ll stop now and will continue in another post if I have the energy. :-)