Welcome to my new Syllabus Series. I was a high school English teacher for over five years (before I burned out and changed careers) and nothing gives me more joy than to help others learn something new. As someone who also reads a large amount of non-fiction, I wanted to create a new series where I pick a singular topic that you might want to learn more about. The first edition will be all about Palestine.

First, I’ll take you through books to read through various genres and the order you should read them in to scaffold and layer your learning. But learning isn’t all about reading, so I’ll also share video resources, shorter articles, and give you a list of people to follow on social media in order to stay up to date well beyond today. Finally, learning means nothing without action, so I will also provide you ways that you can do something with what you’re learning.

This isn’t meant to be overwhelming and is laid out in a way that it’s learning you have time for. Therefore, the list isn’t extensive and manageable. Of course, there’s always more learning to be done.

Books to read

A collection of books read to read. For the best learning experience, try to read the books in this order.
(*note: this section contains affiliate links)

• Non-fiction
  “Palestine: A Socialist Introduction” edited by Sumaya Award and brian bean
  This is a great place to start if you don’t know or understand the history of Palestine. The book is a collection of essays from all different authors exploring various parts of Palestinian history and present. Of course, this book is also written from a socialist lens, but from that it pulls in calls for action as well. Overall, this is a really helpful and easy to understand text that helps you understand historical context.

• Fiction
  “Minor Detail” by Adania Shibli
  Sticking with understanding Palestinian history as well as how that history carries into the present, I recommend reading this incredible piece of fiction next. This is a super short book (144 pages) that is impressive and haunting. It starts in the summer of 1949 during the Nakba (the mass displacement of Palestinians from Palestine) and follows a young girl who is captured by Israeli soldiers. Years later in the present, we follow a young woman who finds the girl’s story that is considered a “minor detail” in this history. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. Check content warnings before reading this book.

• Poetry
  "Rifqa” by Mohammed El-Kurd
  This is a collection of poetry that looks at Palestinian history, but also addresses the present. It’s both a deeply emotional eulogy and a call to action for the liberation of Palestine.

• Poetry

  “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear” by Mosab Abu Toha

  This is a really accessible collection of poetry where the author talks about his life living under siege in Gaza. This was published in 2022 and helps paint a picture of what every day life was like for Palestinians. In 2023, Abu Toha was captured and imprisoned by Israeli forces. His newest collection which comes out this November will look at the horror of the last year.

• Non-fiction
  “The Palestine Laboratory” by Antony Loewenstein
  This is definitely the most dense book on this which is why it’s at the end of the list. This is an incredible piece of journalism that looks at Israel’s development of occupation-enforcing technologies that they test out in Palestine and then sell to other Western countries to help them enforce their own occupations. It helps showcase the danger of these technologies well beyond Palestine and the dangerous (and deadly) effects it’s had on the rest of the world.
  
  Other media to consume

  • Mixed media
    “Not That Complicated” by US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
    An incredible resource that plainly lays out history and common misconceptions about Israel’s occupation of Palestine. This provides a general overview of specific topics that makes everything easy to understand while also providing links and videos to learn more about each subject.

  • Infographics
    Visualising Palestine

    If you’re more of a visual learner, this is the resource for you. Again, this project breaks down various subjects into interactive infographics that are constantly updated to not only talk about historical facts, but up-to-date information.

  • Article
    “We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable.” by Mark Perlmutter and Feroze Sidhwa
    The deliberate targeting and destruction of hospitals over the past year has been a well-documented war crime through first-hand accounts and videos. This is an example. Written by two doctors from the U.S., this is a primary account on what they witnessed in Gaza.

  • Documentary
    "Investigating war crimes in Gaza” by Al Jazeera
    Just published on October 3, Al Jazeera has done an extensive investigation into the war crimes perpetrated by Israel in the last year as well as exposing the individuals behind them. Content warning: graphic images of death and violence.

  Extra credit

  Since I first wrote this syllabus back in 2024, there have been many new incredible pieces of media published on Palestine and the fight for liberation has continued. If you want to continue learning about Palestine, here are some futher texts for you to read.

  • Non-fiction book
    "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad
    If you or someone you know is new to learning about Palestine or is still not understanding the weight of what is happening, I think this is a great book to read. This book grapples with what it means to live in the West and our role in watching a genocide occur before our eyes.

  • Non-fiction book
    "Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal” by Mohammed El-Kurd
    After you read El-Kurd’s poetry collection above, pick up his newest book, a denser exploration as to why it is that Palestinians need to prove their humanity to the Western world and who holds the power to shape narratives.

  • Report

    Latest UNRWA report on the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and West Bank

    A detailed report that outlines the latest data since Israel broke the ceasefire and the effects this has had on health, food scarcity, civilian protection, and aid.

    

    (photo by Adam Rouhana)
    Who to follow

    When learning about a subject where up-to-date information is key, it’s important to find people who are experts and on the ground to help keep you informed. Here are a few people and organisations I encourage you to follow:

    • Lets Talk Palestine broadcast channel on Instagram shares news every single day about what is happening in Palestine (as well as Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen). This is what I use to stay the most up-to-date.

    • Bisan Owda: One of the few freelance journalists still in Gaza (Israel has murdered and targeted 175 journalists in the past year). Bisan reports and posts from the ground every single day.

    • Hind Khoudary: Another journalist who has been reporting from Gaza.

    • Adam Rouhana: a photographer currently living in Gaza.

    • Mosab Abu Toha: The same poet mentioned above is also consistently active on Instagram, often posting breaking news stories before news publications.

    • Leen (@vivafalastinleen) : This Palestinian-American content creator is consistently posting about what is happening in Palestine and encouraging calls to action.

    • Naz (@bdsbabe): Naz is consistently posting updates on the BDS movement and creating guides to BDS-friendly brands (learn more about the BDS movement below)

      Take action

      Mutual aid
      Mutual aid is an incredibly effective way to utilize community in order to directly impact those who need our help. One way that we can do this is by donating to families currently in Palestine where food, shelter, hygiene, and access to healthcare are hard to come by (and in some cases impossible). Our help can make these things more accessible.
      
      Here are some families that I have been in contact with that I would encourage you to donate to:

      • Mahmoud, Tamer, and Tala who lost their mother and wife earlier this year. Tamer has Autism and navigating this cruel world is especially hard for him.

      • The Tareq family including Amani who is suffering from multiple medical conditions and needs urgent care

      • Mohammed’s family including his wife and three kids as they struggle to survive in Khan Younis

      • Rozana’s family including her husband and three-year-old son (Ziad) who used to live in Gaza City and now have no home or clean food and water which is making Ziad’s health deteriorate.

      Here are organizations on the ground to donate to:

      • The Sameer Project: Led by Palestinians, the project hosts multiple campaigns to help families across gaza with medical supplies, food, tents, and other necessities. You can also support their Medical Campaign specifically as they work directly with hospitals.

      • North Water Aid: Salah Shabat is raising funds to provide displaced families in the north of Gaza with clean drinking water.

      • Amal for Palestine: Organization thats been providing meals in the north of Gaza since 2021.

      • Gaza Soup Kitchen: Family-run organization that helps provide meals to displaced families.

      • Sulala Animal Rescue: Father and son team who help rescue and rehabilitate stray animals.

      

      
      Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
      If you’re not financially able to support, here’s a great way to make a huge impact (in my opinion, this is what will make the most impact systemically). The BDS movement is a movement to pressure companies, organisations, and governments that support Israel by withholding money. The ask is that you do not spend money at these organisations and/or pressure organisations. This type of organizing has been proven to be effective in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. To double-check that you’re not supporting companies who support genocide, I highly recommend downloading the Boycat app.

      Pressure politicians
      If you live in a country that is currently funding Israel and/or supporting them through complicity or silence, it’s pertinent that we continue to pressure them. If you live in the United States, you can use 5calls.org to get started (note: not all the information in the script is up-to-date), but could be a good template.

      Protest
      If you are able, protesting helps make our voices louder. It’s a tool meant to disrupt and force those in charge to take action. Here’s the most up-to-date list of world-wide protests that I was able to find.
      
      
      Educate
      Use whatever platform you have (whether that be on social media or in-person) to speak up about Palestine and continue to educate others. Share resources, share stories, share news. The more we can make people not turn away from Palestine, the more we can collectively come together to enact change. We need to make sure that everyone in the world doesn’t have the excuse that they didn’t know. We are all complicit.

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      As I mentioned earlier, learning is an ongoing practice. If you would like more resources, don’t hesitate to reach out. And if you have any resources to add to this list, please add them to the comments below.