The Literal Least We Can Do.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Stacks & Spoons, a weekly substack for bookish girls, gays and theys, written by author Jen Wilde. If you enjoy it, make sure to subscribe here.
“No matter how dark it feels right now, liberation is amidst us.
We owe Palestinians our attention, we owe them our diligence, and our willingness to fight for justice and for truth. There is an information war happening, they’re using all the old tricks in the book, but during the Iraq War and post 9/11 we didn’t have the internet to catch your lies in real-time. Now we do, now we have an entire global society witnessing and ready to fight.
Palestine will not only live, she will be free.”
We are being called to change. We know we have been on a dangerous path for a long time – we therapize about it and make self-deprecating memes about it and buy books about how to fight it – this is the time to actually do something about it.
It’s easy to say, ‘I don’t know enough about this to speak on it,’ or, ‘it’s too complicated,’ and turn away. But when Palestinian people are filming the destruction of their homes, their families, their lives, just hoping the rest of the world will notice, to turn away is to deny their humanity and our own.
I’m a white Australian living in the USA. I come from a country built on genocide and colonialism and now I live in a country built on genocide and colonialism. The literal least I can do is stay engaged. Apathy and hopelessness are not options. How can I sit idly by and do nothing while both my countries aid and abet war crimes? Especially when the people in Gaza are asking me to bear witness, share their stories, and HELP.
And there are ways we can help. We can contact our reps to demand a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine. We can protest. We can boycott. We can donate. We can check our sources before sharing information. We can follow the people risking everything to share their stories. We can educate ourselves.
Propaganda is a weapon of war. Being educated, staying engaged, and speaking truth to power are our defenses.
From Booktok to Bookstagram to the Bookshop.org weekly bestsellers list, these are the titles that people are turning to for insight, history, and knowledge about Palestine.
The books listed below link to Bookshop.org to support Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, a bookstore, coffee shop, and community space in Philadelphia. Uncle Bobbie’s is owned by Marc Lamont Hill, an author, journalist, and activist who has publicly advocated for Palestinians for years.
(Note: if you click on a link and it doesn’t say ‘Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books’ in the top left corner, use this link to choose it as your bookstore to ensure it receives profits from the sale.)
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017
by Rashid Khalidi
Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine
by Noura Erakat
Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics
by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
by Angela Y Davis
Salt Houses
by Hala Alyan
Against the Loveless World
by Susan Abulhawa
Evil Eye
by Etaf Rum
The Beauty of Your Face
by Sahar Mustafah
They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom
by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri
In My Mother's Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home
by Mona Hajjar Halaby
Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique
by Sa'ed Atshan
Love Is An Ex-Country: A Memoir
by Randa Jarrar
A Woman Is No Man
by Etaf Rum
Something More
by Jackie Khalilieh
You Exist Too Much
by Zaina Arafat
Minor Detail
by Adania Shibli