Can words bring us together? Building understanding of the Israel-Hamas war through books
Art is powerful as it helps people work through complicated emotions. It can bring people together and help us question our existing beliefs.
What might we learn about the Israel-Hamas war if we turn to novelists, playwrights, and poets? CBC Radio's Blue Sky brought together a diverse group of creators to talk about how writers and artists are processing the conflict.
The show's guests and listeners contributed to this list of books to better understand all sides of the war and the people affected.
Regina playwright Arthur Milner holds a copy of his book of plays tackling life in Israel/Palestine. (Nichole Huck/CBC)
Suggested reading (in alphabetical order):
Arabesques by Anton Shammas
Decolonizing the Study of Palestine: Indigenous Perspectives and Settler Colonialism after Elia Zureik by Ahmad H. Sadi & Nur Masalha
From Haven to Conquest: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem until 1948 by Walid Khalidi
Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury
Imagining Palestine: Cultures of Exile and National Identity by Tahrir Hamdi
Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis
Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossie Klein Halevi
Lords of the Land: The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007 by Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar
Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani
Minor Detail by Adania Shibil
Neither Settler Nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities by Mahmood Mamdani
Palestine: A four Thousand Year History by Nur Masahla
The Arab Israeli Cookbook by Robin Soans
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians Don't Want to Know About Each Other by Raja G Khouri and Jeffrey J Wilkinson
To the End of the Land by David Grossman
WATCH| Turning to the playwrights and poets to better understand the Israel Hamas war:
Some of this poem was shared on CBC Radio's Blue Sky. Read below for full version:
