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Middle East & Islamic Studies: Palestine

Introduction

This is a subject/research guide specific to the study of Palestine and Palestinians. 

  (محمود درويش) "على هذه الأرض ما يستحق الحياة

Palestine: Background/Overview Sources

Institute for Palestine Studies. Palestine Chronicle, Explore the day-to-day political and military events surrounding the Palestine Question, from 1982 to the present.

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. 

Decolonize Palestine.

Mondoweiss. News & Opinion about Palestine, Israel and the US. 

Visualizing Palestine.

The Palestine Directory: access a variety of online sources and resources.

Cohen, Hillel. 1919: Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Hahn Tapper, Aaron J., and Mira Sucharov, eds. Social Justice and Israel/Palestine: Foundational and Contemporary Debates.

Nakhleh, Issa. Encyclopedia of the Palestine problem.

Khalidi, Rashid. The hundred years' war on Palestine : a history of settler colonialism and resistance, 1917-2017

Khalidi, Rashid. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness.

Loewenstein, Antony. The Palestine laboratory : how Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world. 

Pappé, Ilan, ed. The Israel/Palestine question: a reader.

Pappé, Ilan. A History of Modern Palestine.

Pappé, Ilan. The biggest prison on earth: a history of the Occupied Territories.

Pappé, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.

Rubenberg, Cheryl, ed. Encyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Shlaim, Avi. The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab world.

Shlaim, Avi. Three worlds: memoirs of an Arab-Jew.

Shohat, Ella. On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and other displacements: selected writings.

Tucker, Ernest. The Middle East in modern world history.

Wind, Maya. Towers of ivory and steel : how Israeli universities deny Palestinian freedom

Journal of Palestine Studies, "Gaza: Nearly Two Decades of Israeli Incursions, Siege, and Blockade.

Politics/History

Hamas (Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmīyah)

Baconi, Tareq. Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. (print, TRLN)

Finkelstein, Norman G. Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.  

Hroub, Khaled. Hamas : political thought and practice

Hroub, Khaled. Hamas: A Beginner’s Guide

Sen, Somdeep. Decolonizing Palestine: Hamas between the Anticolonial and the Postcolonial.

Levitt, Matthew. Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad

Tamimi, Azzam. Hamas : unwritten chapters.

Subject Heading search, "Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmīyah."

PLO (Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah)

Dirāsāt Filasṭīnīyah.

Brand, Laurie. Palestinians in the Arab world: institution building and the search for state.

Hitman, Gadi. The Fatah-Hamas rift : an analysis of failed negotiations.

Khalidi, Rashid. Under siege : P.L.O. decisionmaking during the 1982 war.

Segal, Jerome M.; with a foreword by Noam Chomsky. The olive branch from Palestine : the Palestinian declaration of independence and the path out of the current impasse.

Shafiq Al-Hout; edited by Jean Said Makdisi and Martin Asser ; translated by Hader Al-Hout and Laila Othman. My life in the PLO : the inside story of the Palestinian struggle.

Subject Heading search, “Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah.”

Nakba

American University of Beirut Nakba libguide.

Nakba Archive. The Nakba Archive is a grassroots oral history collective founded in 2002 to record and commemorate the experiences of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who lived through the 1948 Nakba, ‘catastrophe.’

Masalha, Nur. The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory.

Sa’di, Ahmad H. and Abu-Lughod, Lila, Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the Claims of Memory.

Alshaer, Atef. A map of absence : an anthology of Palestinian writing on the Nakba.

Subject Heading search, "Palestine -- History -- 1929-1948."

Intifada

Electronic Intifada.

Hasso, Frances. Resistance, repression, and gender politics in occupied Palestine and Jordan.

King, Mary Elizabeth. A quiet revolution : the first Palestinian Intifada and nonviolent resistance.

Marshall, Phil. Intifada: Zionism, imperialism and Palestinian resistance.

Norman, Julie. The second Palestinian Intifada : civil resistance.

Zachary Lockman and Joel Beinin, eds. Intifada: The Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

Subject Heading search, "Intifada, 1987-1993."

Subject Heading search, "Al-Aqsa Intifada, 2000-."

Gender & Sexuality

Palestine is a Feminist Issue.

Palestinian Feminist Collective. We are committed to achieving Palestinian social and political liberation by confronting systemic gendered, sexual, and colonial violence, oppression, and dispossession.

Union of Palestinian Women Committees. A progressive feminist community organization. Founded in 1980, struggles to build a progressive, democratic Palestinian civil society free of all forms of discrimination in pursuit of justice.

Palestinian Women's Research & Documentation Center.

Joseph ,Suad, ed. Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Countries.

Alqaisiya, Walaa. Decolonial queering in Palestine.

Atshan, Sa'ed. Queer Palestine and the empire of critique.

Cowper-Coles, Minna. Gender and political support : women and Hamas in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Hasso, Frances. Buried in the red dirt: race, reproduction, and death in modern Palestine.

Jād, Iṣlāḥ. Palestinian women's activism : nationalism, secularism, Islamism.

Kayali, Liyanna. Palestinian women and popular resistance: perceptions, attitudes and strategies.

Richter-Devroe, Sophie. Women's political activism in Palestine : peacebuilding, resistance, and survival.

Wick, Livia. Sumud: birth, oral history, and persisting in Palestine.

Archives

Libraries & Archives

Israeli Damage to Archives, Libraries, and Museums in Gaza, October 2023–January 2024: A Preliminary Report from Librarians and Archivists with Palestine.

Amit, Gash."Salvage or Plunder? Israel's "Collection" of Private Palestinian Libraries in West Jerusalem," in Journal of Palestine Studies 40 (4), Summer 2011. 

Doumani, Beshara. Archiving Palestine and the Palestinians: The Patrimony of Ihsan Nimr, in Jerusalem Quarterly 36, Winter 2009. 

Khader, Majed. “Challenges and Obstacles in Palestinian Libraries,” in Libraries in the Early 21st Century: An International Perspective. Volume 2, ed. Ravindra N. Sharma (Berlin: De Gruyter Saur, 2012), 17.

Whitman-Abdelkarim, Chris. "Letters from Jerusalem: On Gaza You Cannot Erase Gaza!" in Jerusalem Quarterly 96, Winter 2023.  

Great Book Robbery film (2012, Al Jazeera)

Resources

Khalidi Library (Al Khalidiyya). The Khalidi Library (Al Khalidiyya), established in Jerusalem in 1900 by Haj Raghib al Khalidi (d.1951), is the first Arab public library established by private initiative in Palestine.

Birzeit University Digital Palestinian Archive. The project, launched in 2011, aims to preserve a large variety of documents, written and audio-visual, relating to the history of the Palestinian people over the past century, and donated by individuals, families and popular organizations. Birzeit, as a national university, is fully committed to placing its technical and academic resources at the service of this project, which continually digitizes, places online and makes available a wide variety of documents.

Palestine Nexus (Zachary Foster et al.): Rare Documents, Manuscripts, Books & Newspapers on the history of Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey & the Ottoman Empire

 Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, Beirut. 

Palestine Liberation Organization. The "activities" of the Hagana, Irgun and Stern bands: as recorded in British Command Paper no. 6873.

American University of Beirut (AUB): Palestine Oral History Project

Library of Congress. Muhammad Ali Eltaher Collection

Eltaher Collection (Library of Congress): The Palestine Arab case, a statement by the Arab Higher Committee, the body representing the Palestine Arabs. April 1947.

Eltaher Collection (Library of Congress): Palestine, the Arab case. Being a statement made...before the first committee of the General Assembly of the United Nation's [sic] Organization on 9th May 1947

United Nations, The Question of Palestine.

Palestine Remembered. 

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP): Documents.

Fusako Shigenobu Archive.  Fusako Shigenobu (1945- ) is a political prisoner, poet, writer, mother, and revolutionary fighter for the liberation of Palestine. She was imprisoned for 21.5 years after dedicating her life to the fight against global imperialism.

Khazaaen. Khazaeen is a voluntary independent assosication, centered in Jerusalem, where it first started as an initiative in October of 2016 as a result of the collective effort of our Arab youth from different parts of the world.

At Duke University

"Frances Hasso collection, 1983-2015." This collection consists of printed materials collected by Hasso in the Middle East relating to gender, feminism, marriage, and women's rights in Egypt, Dubai, Palestine, and Jordan. Most of these items are printed materials from organizations such as the Palestinian Federation of Women's Action Committes, the National Council for Women (Egypt), and the Center for Egyptian Legal Assistance (CELWA).

Palestine Student Films, 2012-2019. Forty-three films by 44 Palestinian student filmmakers, created between 2012 and 2020, documenting or portraying the political context and lived experience in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian Oral History Project, 2017-2020.  Oral history interviews with Palestinian students and artists, created by Duke students for the course AMES 204FS, "Documenting the Middle East," taught by Nancy Kalow.

The Middle East online. Arab-Israeli relations, 1917-1970.

Foreign Office files for the Middle East, 1971-1981.

Human Rights

Accountability Archive is a crowdsourced record of journalists, politicians, and public figures endorsing or encouraging the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and/or defaming pro-Palestinian activists.

al-Mezan, s a non-governmental organization based in the Palestinian Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. 

al-Haq, an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. 

al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network. 

Bisan Centre for Research and Development, is a civil society non-profit, non-governmental organization in Ramallah. 

B’Tselem, is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. 

Columbia Human Rights Web Archive (HRWA), Palestine.

Euro Med Human Rights Monitor.

Law for Palestine: Database of Israeli Incitement to Genocide

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).

Question of Palestine (United Nations): The Republic of South Africa institutes proceedings against the State of Israel and requests the Court to indicate provisional measures

Palestine Ministry of Culture. The Second Preliminary Report on the Cultural Sector Damage: War on Gaza Strip Oct. 7th - Dec. 6th 2023.  

Union of Palestinian Women’s Committee (UPWC).

Blog Series: Genocide in Gaza (Institute of Palestine Studies).

Books

Allen, Lorie. A history of false hope : investigative commissions in Palestine.

Welchman, Lynn. Al-Haq : a global history of the first Palestinian human rights organization.

Subject Heading Searches

SU: Human Rights & Gaza.

SU: Human Rights & West Bank.

SU: Human Rights & Palestine.

Data & Statistics

Arab Barometer. Arab Barometer is a nonpartisan research network that provides insight into the social, political, and economic attitudes and values of ordinary citizens across the Arab world.

Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies. The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies is an independent social sciences and humanities institute that conducts applied and theoretical research seeking to foster communication between Arab intellectuals and specialists and global and regional intellectual hubs and based in Doha. 

Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD). AWRAD is a pioneering research, consulting and development firm and based in Palestine. 

Palestine Centre for Policy and Survey Research. PSR is an independent nonprofit institution and think tank of policy analysis and academic research and based in Ramallah. 

Film & Music

Film

Ginsburg, Terri. Visualizing the Palestinian struggle : towards a critical analytic of Palestine solidarity film.

Yaqub, Nadia. Gaza on screen.

Yaqub, Nadia. Palestinian cinema in the days of revolution.

Subject Heading search, "Motion pictures -- Palestine."

A magical substance flows into me. 2016. 

Bye, Bye, Tiberias. 2023. 

Gaza. 2019. 

Gaza Ghetto: Portrait of a Palestinian Family, 1948-1984. at UNC, VHS, 1984. 

Gaza in Context. 2016. 

Home Movies Gaza. 2013. 

Omar. 2019. 

Palestine Film Institute

Paradise Now. 2005.

Palestinian women: a guide to cultural resistance. 2020.

Tantura.2022. 

Noce en Galilée = Wedding in Galilee. 1987, DVD.

Palestine Film Index. A list of over 400 Palestinian films. 

Additional films click here. 

Music

Radio alHara. Airing from Bethlehem, Palestine, Radio alHara began airing in 2020. 

Society for Arab Music Research (SAMAR): Educational Resources on Palestine.

Kofia: A revolution through music

Brehony, Louis. Palestinian music in exile: voices of resistance.

Kanaaneh, Moslih, Stig-Magnus Thorsén, Heather Bursheh, and David A. McDonald. Palestinian music and song: expression and resistance since 1900.

McDonald, David A. My voice is my weapon: music, nationalism, and the poetics of Palestinian resistance.

Rajieen | راجعين:

Mohammed Assef. Dami Falasteeni.

Daboor & Shabjdeed. Inn Ann

Elyanna. Olive branch

Elyanna. Ala Bali

Elyanna. Al Kawn Janni Maak

47SOUL  "Mo Light", "Don't Care Where You From" and "Jerusalem." (on NPR).

Kofia. Leve Palestina

Marcel Khalife. Ommi.

Marcel Khalife. At the Border

Le Trio Joubran. Dabke.

Omar Offendum. God is Love

Sanaa Moussa. Wea'youneha

Saint Levant. From Gaza, With Love.

Sary Hany Peaceful Night in Gaza

Zeyne featuring Saint Levant. Balak

Memoirs/Literature

Memoirs:

Abu Sitta, Salman. Mapping my return : a Palestinian memoir.

Amiry, Suad. Sharon and My Mother-in-Law: The Ramallah Diaries.

ʻĀyish, Muḥammad. غسان كنفاني : الشاهد والشهيد / Ghassān Kanafānī : al-shāhid wa-al-shahīd.

Barghouti, Mourid. I Saw Ramallah.

al-Ḥājj, Mīshīl Ḥannā. ثمانون : رحلة في ذاكرتي الفلسطينية + العربية والدولية / Thamānūn : riḥlah fī dhākiratī al-Filasṭīnīyah + al-ʻArabīyah wa-al-duwalīyah.

Karmi, Ghada. Return: A Palestinian Memoir

Khaled, Leila. My people shall live : Autobiography of a revolutionary.

Said, Edward W., Out of Place: A Memoir:

Sharabi, Hisham. Embers and Ashes: Memoirs of an Arab Intellectual.

Tuqan, Fadwa. A Mountainous Journey: A Poet’s Autobiography.

Literature:

Abu-Remaileh, Refqa. Country of Words: A Transnational Atlas for Palestinian Literature.

Abu Saif, Atef. The Drone Eats with Me: A Gaza Diary.

Alareer, Refaat, editor. Gaza writes back: short stories from young writers in Gaza, Palestine.

Refaat Alareer & Laila El-Haddad, eds. Gaza unsilenced.

Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, Michael Merryman-Lotze, eds. Light in Gaza: writings born of fire

Darwish, Mahmoud. In the Presence of Absence

Darwish, Mahmoud. Unfortunately, it was paradise : selected poems

Sacco, Joe. Palestine = فلسطين / Palestine = Filasṭīn.

Sacco, Joe. A Child in Palestine : cartoons of Naji al-Ali. 

Sacco, Joe. Footnotes in Gaza

Shibli, Adania. Minor Detail.

ArabLit: A curated list of 20 Palestinian short stories in translation and online

Honoring Dr. Refat al-Areer (CUNY)

This is Gaza: Literary Texts Written Under the Israeli Bombardment of Gaza. Poems and short stories written between 7 October and 20 December, 2023. 

كتابة عبر الابادة / Passages Through Genocide. "We collect, translate and publish texts from Palestinian writers confronting the genocide in Gaza, to lift up their words. We urge you to share, print, publish and distribute these texts by all possible means, in support of Palestinian liberation." 

قصائد لفلسطين  / Poems for Palestine. Publishers for Palestine: Recent poems by nine Palestinian poets & actions you can take to stop genocide now.