A monthly community newsletter: The Altar Within—notes on life, magic, and liberation.(Exclusive offering for paid subscribers: learn more here)

You can explore all of these books in my Bookshop collection:
Palestinian Voices – Juliet’s Recommended Reads HERE

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Why Reading Palestinian Voices Matters

Reading the words of Palestinians is an act of witness, resistance, and solidarity. These books are more than stories—they are living records of resilience, displacement, memory, love, and survival. They preserve culture, confront injustice, and remind us that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools of liberation.

Every book I recommend here is one I’ve personally read and thoughtfully researched. These are not just trending titles —I share what has moved me, taught me, and stayed with me. I used to post curated book lists on Instagram, but since I no longer support Meta platforms, you’ll now find my recommendations right here on my newsletter.

In addition to exploring these books, I encourage you to support a Palestinian publisher.

One I highly recommend is Interlink Books —an independent publisher amplifying Palestinian and international voices. Supporting them directly helps sustain the work of those telling the stories that need to be heard.

A Small Offering

To honor Palestinian culture and its enduring beauty, I’m giving away a copy of Palestine on a Plate by Joudie Kalla—a stunning celebration of Palestinian food, memory, and home.

To enter, simply leave a comment below this post. I’ll choose one person at random.

Did you know I have a virtual book club? Learn more about Book Coven

Book Coven

Book Coven is a free virtual book club dedicated to empowering members through literature as a tool for both personal and collective liberation.

By Juliet Diaz

Start Here: Essential Reads

These are foundational and powerful works I suggest beginning with if you’re new to Palestinian literature, history, or resistance.

• The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine
• If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose
• Against the Loveless World
• Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire
• Salt Houses
• Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza

•Voices of the Nakba

Poetry & Prose
• If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose
• Rifqa
• Blood Orange
• The Sea Cloak and Other Stories
• Book of Gaza: A City in Short Fiction
• Gaza Writes Back
• Minor Detail
• Trees for the Absentees

Fiction & Novels
• Salt Houses
• Against the Loveless World
• Evil Eye
• Inara: Light of Utopia
• Minor Detail
• The Sea Cloak
• Book of Gaza

Memoir & Personal Narrative
• In My Mother’s Footsteps
• They Called Me a Lioness
• We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders
• Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine
• Tracing Homelands
• Rifqa

History, Politics & Resistance
• The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine
• The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
• Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History
• Gaza: An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom
• Voices of the Nakba
• The Palestine Laboratory
• Palestine: A Socialist Introduction
• A Land with a People
• Understanding Palestine & Israel
• Black Power and Palestine
• The Trinity of Fundamentals

Cookbook / Cultural
• Palestine on a Plate

The Full List

1. If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose – Refaat Alareer
2. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 – Rashid Khalidi
3. In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home – Mona Hajjar Halaby
4. Salt Houses – Hala Alyan
5. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine – Ilan Pappé
6. Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire – Edited by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Mike Merryman-Lotze
7. Against the Loveless World – Susan Abulhawa
8. They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom – Ahed Tamimi & Dena Takruri
9. Inara: Light of Utopia (Ceasefire Edition) – Yaffa As
10. We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance – Linda Sarsour
11. Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History – Nur Masalha
12. Evil Eye – Etaf Rum
13. Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color – Michael R. Fischbach
14. Voices of the Nakba: A Living History of Palestine – Edited by Diana Allan
15. Tracing Homelands: Israel, Palestine, and the Claims of Belonging – Linda Dittmar
16. The Trinity of Fundamentals
17. The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World – Antony Loewenstein
18. Understanding Palestine & Israel – Phyllis Bennis
19. Gaza: An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom – Norman Finkelstein
20. Book of Gaza: A City in Short Fiction – Edited by Atef Abu Saif
21. The Sea Cloak: And Other Stories – Nayrouz Qarmout
22. Rifqa – Mohammed El-Kurd
23. Palestine: A Socialist Introduction – Edited by Sumaya Awad & Brian Bean
24. A Land with a People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism – Edited by Esther Farmer, Rosalind Petchesky, and Sarah Sills
25. Minor Detail – Adania Shibli
26. Trees for the Absentees – Ahlam Bsharat
27. Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine – Edited by Refaat Alareer
28. Blood Orange – Yaffa As
29. Palestine on a Plate: Memories from My Mother’s Kitchen – Joudie Kalla
30. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine – Hannah Moushabeck

Tell Me…

Have you read any of the books on this list?
Are there any titles by Palestinian authors that you’ve read and would recommend?

I’d love to hear what moved you, challenged you, or stayed with you.

Let’s keep sharing and learning—together.

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