The following are books we reccomend, we will update this page all the time, so please visit and take a look. All of these books are available to at the Calderdale Libraries.

‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’Ilan Pappe (2006)
Halifax Library Reference No:956.9405PAP
Ilan Pappe, a prominent Israeli academic, argues passionately for the international recognition of the Nakba – the “catastrophe” –when around a million people were expelled from their homes at gunpoint, civilians were massacred, and hundreds of Palestinian villages deliberately destroyed during the 1948 Palestine-Israel War.His groundbreaking and controversial work sheds new light on the origins and development of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – asking questions to reveal the real story behind the events of 1948. His account demonstrates conclusively that ‘transfer’ – a euphemism for ethnic cleansing – was from the start an integral part of a carefully planned strategy, and lies at the root of today’s ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“Ilan Pappe is Israel’s bravest, most principled, most incisive historian.” (John Pilger)

‘Hamas: A Beginner’s Guide’
Khaled Hroub
2006
Halifax Library Reference No:322.42
HAR
Khaled Hroub, a leading Al-Jazeera journalist and acclaimed Cambridge-based scholar, analyses Hamas’s history and its controversial agenda. This book provides the first essential steps towards a better understanding of the challenges and surprises that the future may hold.
“Hroub expertly answers every important question about Hamas and insightfully explains is ideology, organisation and appeal……concise, lucid [and ] invaluable.”

‘Speaking the Truth: Zionism, Israel, and Occupation”
Edited by Michael Prior
Forward by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
2005 
Halifax Library Reference No:956.9405 TUT

Arranged in 3 sections: Historical Perspectives; Contemporary Moral Perspectives; The Future, this book contains contributions from Israel, Palestine, the US, the UK and Ireland, women and men, Jews, Christians and Muslims.

“In our struggle for justice and peace in South Africa we had to learn to speak – and listen to – hard truths. Our experience should encourage all who strive for justice and peace in the Holy Land. I welcome this book that exposes some of the hardest truths about Israel-Palestine.” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu)

‘Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews – Volume 1’
Alan Hart
2005 Halifax Library Reference No: 320.54
HAR
The Zionism of this book’s title is Jewish nationalism, the creating and sustaining force of the modern state of Israel. And this Zionism, political Zionism, is not to be confused with the spiritual Zionism of Judaism. The title reflects two terrifying truths: 1. anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and America and 2. that the behaviour of political Zionism’s child, Israel, where only a minority of the world’s Jews live, is the prime cause of the re-awakening of anti-Semitism.

This book is a must read for all who wish to understand why, really, the count down to Armageddon is on. And how it can be stopped.

“The Myths of Zionism”
John Rose
2004 Halifax Library Reference No: 320.54
ROS

Provides a critical account of the historical, political and cultural roots of Zionism. John Rose shows how this powerful political force is based in mythology; ancient, medieval and modern. He argues that as Zionism is a living political force, these myths have been used to justify very real and political ends – the expulsion and continuing persecution of the Palestinians.

He shows that, if there is ever to be peace and reconciliation in the land of Palestine, this intellectual dishonesty must be addressed.

“I Saw Ramallah”
Mourid Barghouti
2000 Halifax Library Reference No: 892.7860
BAR

In 1966, Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti, then 22, left home to return to university in Cairo. Then came the Six Day War and Barghouti, like many other Palestinians living abroad, was denied entry into Palestine. 30 years later he was finally allowed back. Lyrical and impassioned, ‘I Saw Ramallah’ is a profound reflection and lamentation on the condition of exile. This is one of the most beautifully written explorations of the Palestinian predicament we have.

The last three pages are one of the most concise and profound summaries of what the Israelis have done to the Palestinians.  

“The most eloquent statement in English of what it is like to be a Palestinian today.” 

“Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel / Palestine” Joel Kovel 2007
Halifax Library Reference No: 956.9405 KOV

Joel Kovel is a well-known writer on the Middle East conflict, as well as being a political activist, media commentator and editor-in-chief of ‘Capitalism Nature Socialism’. This book draws on his detailed knowledge to show that Zionism and democracy are essentially incompatible. He offers a thoughtful account of the emergence and disintegration of Zionism that integrates psychological, political, cultural, economic and ideological levels. Ultimately, Kovel argues, a two-state solution is essentially hopeless as it concedes too much to the regressive forces of nationalism, wherein lie the roots of continued conflict.

“From Oslo to Iraq and the Roadmap”
Edward W. Said 2004
Halifax Library Reference No: 327.7305
SAI

A final collection of essays written between December 2000 and July 2003. Edward Said writes about the second Intifada and the peace process. He condemns the ‘roadmap’ as a plan not for peace but for the pacification of the Palestinians. This collection is filled with the eloquence, anger and the uncompromising integrity for which he was so much admired.