The following compendium lists books dealing with multiple aspects of the Palestine-Israel situation—from politics, to culture, to peace negotiations, to the US-Israel relationship. Although it is by no means exhaustive, the list should be useful to those newly involved in the issue, as well as to those who know the situation but wish to delve into it more deeply.
Realizing that readers often have their own favorite booksellers, we do not recommend any one source but list here several online sources where books may be ordered. In addition to Amazon and other corporate booksellers, these include: Bookshop; Indiebound; Middle East Books and More; Powell’s; and Thriftbooks.
Budrus (78 minutes) 2009. Budrus is a good follow-up to Little Town of Bethlehem, listed below, as it deals with the story of a small West Bank farming village that uses nonviolent resistance to get the route of the Israeli Wall changed. The DVD documents what many people believe to be unlikely, if not impossible: the bringing together of various, often contentious, ideological camps, including Fatah and Hamas; engaging Israeli supporters and welcoming them as they crossed into Palestinian territory to join the effort ; and encouraging leadership by women. Website: http://www.justvision.org/en/budrus
Encounter Point (85 minutes) 2006. This is a documentary film that follows a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother, and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to confront hatred within their communities. The film explores what drives them and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief to work for grassroots solutions.Website: http://www.justvision.org/encounterpoint
5 Broken Cameras (90 minutes) 2013. Directed by an amateur Palestinian videographer and an Israeli filmmaker, this is a personal first-hand account of years of nonviolent resistance in the Palestinian West Bank village of Bil’in, threatened by an expanding Israeli settlement. Palestinian villager Imad Burnat filmed the village’s weekly protests against the encroachment of the Israeli settlement and the Separation Wall being built through village land and, in the course, of filming lost five video cameras to Israeli military violence. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2013.
