How Can I Support this Liberation Struggle? Beginner Resources to Learn About Palestine
Special to Arab America / Curated by Dr. Sonia M. Rosen and Dr. Dina Badie
It has been hard to watch events in Palestine over the last few weeks, and while a ceasefire has been agreed upon, we all know too well that grave injustices continue against Palestinians living under occupation, under siege, as refugees, and in the diaspora. There is an opportunity now, in a year of many racial reckonings, to change the narrative to the language of justice and transnational solidarity through public awareness.
In light of these events and this moment of political opportunity, we have been working to create a resource page on Palestinian liberation. It was born out of the question of what I (and we), as Arabs, can do to support this struggle for national liberation. Resource pages are a tactic of grassroots organizing that various groups have used as a means of activism.
Please share with your networks and friends to join efforts to change the narrative in the U.S. and to support freedom for Palestine through visibility and education.
| Websites |
| Visualizing Palestine for helpful visuals and audiovisual resources that illustrate and explain the history and key issues surrounding the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. What You Can Do to Support Palestinians (from the soyouwanttotalkabout Instagram account) for brief framing of the issue, a few resources to learn more, and links to donate to offer material help to Palestinian liberation fighters. Electronic Intifada for news and commentary. Jadaliyya for political and historical analysis and reviews of scholarly resources. BDS Movement for information about the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, including discussion of why this anti-Zionist movement for justice is necessary. If Not Now Movement for information about Jewish-led organizing against Zionism. Jewish Voice for Peace for resources on the history of the occupation and about Jewish-led organizing against Zionism. Standing Together for information about anti-Zionist Palestinian- and Jewish-led organizing within Palestine/Israel. Mondoweiss for ongoing coverage and commentary about the Palestinian liberation struggle. Democracy Now! for ongoing coverage and commentary about the Palestinian liberation struggle. Al Jazeera for ongoing coverage and commentary about the Palestinian liberation struggle. The Guardian UK for ongoing coverage and commentary about the Palestinian liberation struggle. Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) for journalistic and digital resources on Palestine and Palestinians. OCHA: Occupied Palestinian Territory for reports and resources from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Eyewitness Palestine for Virtual Delegations and other resources on justice for Palestinians and Palestinian fair trade shop. |
| Films |
| The Present (available on Netflix, 24 mins, directed by Farah Nabulsi). Palestine Remix (a list of Palestinian films curated by Al-Jazeera). Occupation 101 (available on Prime Video, 90 mins, directed by Abdallah and Sufyan Omeish). The Occupation of the American Mind (available on Vimeo, 84 mins, directed by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp). Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land (available on Thought Maybe, 80 mins, directed by Bathsheba Ratzkoff and Sut Jhally). |
| Articles and Reports |
| There’s Nothing Complicated About What’s Happening in Palestine, by Asia Khatun. Debunking the Myth that Anti-Zionism is Antisemitic by Peter Beinart. Do You Condemn Hamas’ Firing of Rockets at Jerusalem and Other Parts of Israel? by Mitchell Plitnick. The U.S. Must Stop Being an Apologist for the Netanyahu Government by Bernie Sanders. A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, Human Rights Watch. |
| Fiction, Poetry, and Memoirs |
| Mornings in Jenin, by Susan Abulhawa. The Blue Between Sky and Water, by Susan Abulhawa. Against the Loveless World, by Susan Abulhawa. Salt Houses by Hala Alyan. The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azam. Time of the White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah. Velvet by Huzama Habayeb. Sharon and My Mother in Law by Suad Amiry. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli. Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa and Other Stories by Ghassan Kanafani. Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba, edited by Basma Ghalayini. The Butterfly’s Burden, by Mahmoud Darwish. Dreaming of Freedom: Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak, edited by Norma Hashim. |
| Nonfiction Books |
| A History of Modern Palestine, by Ilan Pappe. The Question of Palestine, by Edward Said. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017, by Rashid Khalidi. Palestine, by Joe Sacco. Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine, by Noura Erakat. Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics, by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, by Angela Y. Davis. Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo, by Seth Anziska. Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East, by Rashid Khalidi. Return: A Palestinian Memoir, by Ghada Karmi. Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation, by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke. |
| Other Media Links and Social Media Accounts |
| A Politics and Prose Discussion About Except for Palestine, hosted by Michelle Alexander and featuring Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick. Gaza in Context, created by Noura Erakat. Words MatterThis is Palestine Podcast, created by IMEU, this podcast highlights people and events in Palestine. Palestine Youth Movement, a transnational movement of Palestinian activists dedicated to liberation. Palestinian Feminist Collective |
| What You Can Do |
| Call your representatives to support Betty McCollum’s Palestinian Children and Families Act to stop U.S. funding for Israel’s violence and discrimination against Palestinian children and families. Work with progressive networks to elect leaders who stand up for Palestinian rights participate in the growing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement. Use words that communicate the injustices faced by Palestinians living under occupation, as refugees, and in the diaspora (see below). Check the Global Calendar of Resistance to participate in protests, rallies, and marches to defend Palestine. |
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