Reading Is Resistance.

And we resist because we must, because we have the responsibility to aid the cause in whatever capacity we can. Words have weight in the world of matter and each of the following narratives dismantles the Israeli propaganda by simply being starkly honest, yes, but also to read a Palestinian story is to be changed forever. The resilience and anger shake you to the core and snatch the floor from beneath you. And reading, cognizing, and remembering are all revolutionary acts in themselves. In all of these are reflections of stories so many of the Palestinians do not get to tell before leaving, so many of them do not get to tell because of the Israeli imposed suppression on freedom of speech, so many of them do not get to read even because of the intense censorship. All because the enemy knows of the might of the pen.

1. I Saw Ramallah - Mourid Barghouti

Mourid Barghouti’s prose is beautifully lyrical and entirely engulfs you. It is raw and compelling and eloquent and it is a rare kind of memoir where the past, present and future all flow into each other.

“The homeland does not leave the body until the last moment, the moment of death. The fish, Even in the fisherman’s net, Still carries The smell of the sea.”

In many ways, it is an elegy where he mourns all the lost time; time spent away from his land and people. And through this intertwining of deep-rooted loss and the nostalgia of joy, such tender portraits of mothers, brothers, fathers, neighbors, relatives, and friends have been painted. And although it fills you with awe, it is all the more gutting each time the epiphany hits you that this is NOT fiction. It is an account haunted by ‘the absent ones’ and by the possibility of what could have been-

2. Rifqa - Mohammed El-Kurd

This remarkable collection of poetry felt like deeply personal ruminations put into words that I was intruding. Titled after the author’s grandmother, she embodies every poem and is the forefront here. It is an unflinching debut, with metaphors both relentless and stunning.

“I am but my love for my land, by the way, I have chosen you, my homeland, in love and in obedience in secret and in public.”

Each verse is alive with his words of thunder, both sharp and soft, unambiguous and obscure. And Aja Monet’s foreword says more than I ever could. So: digest his poems a day at a time if you must, but make sure to.

3. Palestinian Walks — Raja Shehadeh

It is a love letter to the land itself. A resolute effort at preserving the beautiful Palestinian topography, as Israel continues to ravage and flatten it. The great contradiction of colonialism is that it is built to destroy that which it prizes most, as the author makes the point of -

“And yet the very people who cultivate the ‘green olive orchards’ and render the landscape biblical are themselves excluded from the panorama.”

The chronicles of the author’s walks tell both his story and the stories of the hills he traverses. And the accounts sort of put it under a magnifying lens that how the settlements came about and how the beloved hills became gradually inaccessible. I can only hope sometime in my life I tread these hills that I have come to love so much.

4. Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear — Mosab Abu Toha

It is a startling poetry collection at the heart of which is beloved Gaza and the torments it continues to endure. He writes about home, about the beautiful Palestinian joy that time and time again keeps being interrupted by the colonizer, and about the struggle of survival. The plain sincerity of his poetry astounds me.

In a way all of these books are testimonies, announcing the same sentiment- they all talk about home and breaking the walls by words, to reclaim their Palestine and they all mourn the person that could’ve been if it weren’t for being stolen from. And what an incredible honor it is to have read them and have borne witness to all these accounts.

Please keep Palestine in your prayers always and boycott Israeli products. Keep talking about them and keep educating yourselves and others.

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