Our Roots Are Still Alive - Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading

Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, ed., The Transformation of Palestine. Contains the best article available in English on the 1948 war, "The Wordless Wish: From Citizens to Refugees," by Erskine Childers. Also contains excellent articles on the mandate period. Some of the better essays are reprinted in pamphlet form and are available from MERIP (see RESOURCES).

Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and Baha Abu-Laban, ed., Settler Regimes in Africa and the Arab World. Contains good articles on Zionism and Palestinian nationalism before and during the mandate.

Yasser Arafat, Palestine Lives!. Arafat's famous speech at the United Nations outlines the history of the Palestinians and their fight against Zionism. It projects a vision of their goal of a democratic secular state in Palestine. Available from Peoples Press.

Arie Bober, ed., The Other Israel: The Radical Case Against Zionism. Contains unique criticisms of Zionism as well as articles on the class nature of Israeli society from the perspective of a small anti-Zionist socialist organization in Israel.

Fuad Faris, "A Palestinian State," MERIP No. 33. Strong argument for the PLO's transitional program.

Samih Farsoun and Walter Carroll, "The Civil War in Lebanon," Monthly Review (June 1976). Good account of contradictions leading up to the war in Lebanon.

Fred Halliday, Arabia Without Sultans. Excellent introduction to the economies and political developments of countries in the oil-rich Persian-Arabian Gulf. Also information on the national liberation movements in the area.

Mahmoud Hussein, Class Conflict in Egypt 1945-1970. Excellent analysis of the structure of Egyptian society and its transformation under Nasser. Also contains good appendix on the structure of Israeli society.

Mahmoud Hussein, "The Lebanese Impasse," Monthly Review (November 1976). Good analysis of role of Arab states in the Lebanese civil war.

Sabri Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel. Best statistical, legal and historical description of the conditions of Palestinians living in Israel.

Ghassan Kanafani, "The 1936 Revolt: Details, Analysis and Background," PFLP Bulletins. Best analysis of the Palestinian Revolt of 1936-39. Unfortunately this has not been reprinted and issues of PFLP Bulletins are hard to find.

Leila Khaled, My People Shall Live. An important and moving autobiography of a dedicated Palestinian woman revolutionary.

Ahmed al Kodsy and Eli Lobel, The Arab World and Israel. Two essays on Arab nationalism and on Zionism and imperialism.

Felicia Langer, With My Own Eyes. Eyewitness accounts of Israeli violations of human and civil rights of Palestinians by a prominent Israeli lawyer.

V.I. Lenin, Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism. The classic Marxist text on imperialism.

Abraham Leon, The Jewish Question. An excellent class analysis and history of anti-Semitism.

Zachary Lockman, "The Left in Israel," MERIP No. 49. A good historical summary of the effects of Zionist ideology and the material benefits of settler-colonialism on movements for social change within Israel. Issue also contains documents on the movements of Oriental Jews within Israel.

MERIP Staff, "Open Door in the Middle East," MERIP No. 31. A good summary of the economic and political developments in the Middle Eastern countries and movements since the 1973 war. Issue also contains an interview with leaders of the Palestine National Front.

MERIP Staff, "The Syrian Invasion of Lebanon," MERIP No. 51. Good background on Syria's role, the United States and other international forces in the Lebanese conflict.

Abdul Waheb al-Messiri, ed., A Lover From Palestine and Other Poems. Anthology of Palestinian poetry of the Resistance and exile. Also contains line drawings by a Palestinian artist.

Palestine Research Center, Palestinian Leaders Discuss: The New Challenges ,for the Resistance. A debate between leaders of different Resistance organizations over the proposed transitional program for the PLO.

Maxime Rodinson, Israel: A Colonial-Settler State?. Good exposition of the colonial and imperialist nature of Israel with clear refutations of Zionist arguments.

Maxime Rodinson, Israel and the Arabs. Good overview of Arab, Israeli, United States and Soviet policy in the region up to 1967.

Sheila Ryan, "Israeli Economic Policy in the Occupied Areas: Foundations for a New Imperialism," MERIP No. 24. Excellent description of the effects of Israeli occupation on the economy of the occupied territories.

Qais Salim, "The Palestinian Resistance," MERIP No. 28. Good short essay on major political questions confronted by the Resistance throughout its history.

Amal Samed, "The Proletarianization of Palestinian Women in Israel," MERIP No. 50. Good analysis of effects of entering the Israeli workforce on Palestinian women from the occupied areas and from Israel. Issue also contains a long interview with a leader of the Palestine National Front.

Abdullah Schleifer, The Fall of Jerusalem. Best English-language account of the 1967 war and the events leading up to it, with special emphasis on the fighting in Jerusalem. Also contains a good overview of Zionism and Palestinian history.

Ronald Segal, Whose Jerusalem? The Conflicts of Israel. The main value of this book lies in its description of the internal class and national conflicts within Israel and the short and accurate descriptions of the class and national contradictions of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Russell Stetler, ed., Palestine: The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Contains many important political documents of the Resistance movement as well as articles about the class nature of Israel and its foreign policy. Also contains the remarkable "Diary of a Resistance Fighter" from September 1970.

Joe Stork, Middle East Oil and the Energy Crisis. Excellent, detailed study of the oil industry, U.S. oil politics, OPEC and the energy crisis.

Fawaz Turki, The Disinherited: Journal of a Palestinian Exile. Moving autobiography of a Palestinian refugee and the story of his and other Palestinians' growth into political consciousness.