Suggested Reading List for Global Health and Related Topics

(Student Contributions from Saadiyah Bilal, Julie Len)

A Reading List on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

(From David McRay, MD at JPS)

Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories - Mike Berry and Greg Philo – Philo and Berry, both at the University of Glasgow, have written an excellent short summary of the conflict with attention to both narratives and the evidence to support or refute them. This is a very good place to start an exploration of this complex subject. 176 pp. Published in 2006.

Sharing the Promised Land: A Tale of Israelis and Palestinians – Dilip Hiro - A very thorough analysis of the history of the conflict written by an internationally acclaimed Indian journalist, “implicated neither by religion nor ethnicity” (London Daily Telegraph). A challenging read but well worth the effort if you have the time. I highly recommend this book. 336 pp. Published in 1999.

Arabs and Jews: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land – David Shipler – Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, this book was first published in 1986 and then in a revised and updated edition in 2002. It is well-written, very readable, comprehensive in its scope, and unbiased in its perspective. 531 pp.

A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East – David Fromkin - This highly acclaimed New York Times Bestseller “reveals how and why the Allies drew lines on an empty map that remade the geography and politics of the Middle East” during the formative years of 1914 to 1922. This is a very detailed but highly readable comprehensive view of a critical period in Middle East history. 576 pp. Published in 1989 and 2009.

The Evasive Peace: A Study of the Zionist-Arab Problem – John H. Davis – No longer in print, this book was written in 1968 by a former Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. It provides a very insightful examination of the early roots of the conflict. If you can find it in a used bookstore (I have located copies through Amazon.), it is well worth reading. 113 pp.

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid – Jimmy Carter – A controversial and very important examination of the issues involved in the search for peace in the Middle East. An easy and worthwhile read. 250 pp. Published in 2006.

We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work – Jimmy Carter - A passionate plea by President Carter that “the present moment is a unique time for achieving peace in the Middle East”. Another easy and worthwhile read. 214 pp. Published in 2009.

I Saw Ramallah – Mourid Barghouthi – Winner of an international award for literature, this is the story of the Palestinian author’s return to his home after a thirty-year exile. It has been described as “The most eloquent statement in English of what it is like to be a Palestinian today … No other book so well explains the background to recent events in Palestine/Israel.” (The Times Literary Supplement) 182 pp. Published in 2000.

Strangers in the House: Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine – Raja Shehaeh - Shehadeh is a Palestinian civil rights activist, attorney, and author who was born in Ramallah, the son of refugees from the coastal city of Jaffa. His first book, Strangers, received international acclaim and was a finalist for the 2002 Lionel Gelber Prize. This “revealing memoir documents the experiences of a prominent Palestinian lawyer and writer as he struggles to live a normal life against the backdrop of more than thirty years of military occupation.” 238 pp. Published in 2002.

When the Birds Stopped Singing: Life in Ramallah Under Siege – Raja Shehadeh - Shehadeh’s second book is a collection of his journal entries during the Israeli siege of Ramallah in 2002. His perspective has been described as “a rare one … angry yet dispassionate, committed yet free.” The New York Times Book Review says of Shehadeh, “Few Palestinians have opened their minds and hearts with such frankness.” 152 pp. Published in 2003.

Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape – Raja Shehadeh - In his third major book, Shehadeh, a passionate hill walker, allows us to accompany him on six walks in the hills of Palestine between 1978 and 2006 as he experiences ever tighter restrictions on his movement in his homeland. This “elegy for his lost footpaths becomes a heartbreaking metaphor for the deprivations of an entire people estranged from their land.” 200 pp. Published in 2007.

A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel – Hatim Kanaaneh – Dr. Kanaaneh is a native of Galilee who received his medical and public health degrees from Harvard University. This memoir chronicles his struggle to work within the Israeli health care system to improve the health of his people, so-called “Palestinian Israelis”, despite the anti-Arab discrimination deeply rooted in the infrastructure in Israel. 267 pp. Published in 2008.

We Belong to the Land: The Story of a Palestinian Israeli Who Lives for Peace and Reconciliation - Elias Chacour – Father Chacour is a Maronite Catholic priest and a Palestinian/Arab Israeli. This book is a memoir of his life as a Christian Arab with citizenship in the Jewish state of Israel and his work as a village priest in a small town in Galilee. We Belong to the Land provides considerable insight into the systemic oppression of the Arab population living in Israel, despite their status as citizens. He is also the author of the bestseller Blood Brothers. 212 pp. Published in 2001.

A few helpful web sites

(From David McRay, MD at JPS)