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One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Omar El Akkad
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From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values.
On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet:
“One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.”
This tweet has been viewed more than 10 million times. As an immigrant who came to the West, El Akkad believed that it promised freedom—a place of justice for all. But in the past twenty years, reporting on the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more, and watching the unmitigated slaughter in Gaza, El Akkad has come to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie.
That there will always be entire groups of human beings it has never intended to treat as fully human—not just Arabs or Muslims or immigrants, but whoever falls outside the boundaries of privilege. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is a chronicle of that painful realization, a moral grappling with what it means, as a citizen of the U.S., as a father, to carve out some sense of possibility in a time of carnage.
This is El Akkad’s nonfiction debut, his most raw and vulnerable work to date, a heartsick breakup letter with the West. It is a brilliant articulation of the same breakup we are watching all over the United States, in family rooms, on college campuses, on city streets; the consequences of this rupture are just beginning.
This book is for all the people who want something better than what the West has served up. This is the book for our time.
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Posts about this title from Celestial
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 21
makeup and books tag! | GRWM and chat about reading
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top 10 books of 2025 | my favorite reads from the year
it’s time …. let me tell you all about my favorite books from 2025!
10 books
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💭 what were your favorite reads from 2025?
💭 what were your favorite reads from 2025?
TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2025!! the first of my wrap up posts has ARRIVED! be on the lookout for a long form video where I go into each of these reads in depth, plus some favorites broken out into genres.
📚 books mentioned: - You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White - The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar - The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez - The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko - One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad - Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei - The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones - Model Home by Rivers Solomon - Somadina by Akwaeke Emezi - The Children by Melissa Albert
👗💄: - dress is from Aqua (thrifted) - eyeshadow is: In A Trance Palette from Colourpop, The Lord of the Rings Middle-Earth Palette from Glamlite, and You Make Me Happy Palette from KimChi Chic Beauty - eyeliner is Epiphany Glow Melt-On Eyeliner (Sea Sparkle) from Kaleidos - shimimers are duochrome singles from Ourbella - lip combo is Lip Lingerie Liner Stain (Send Nudes) from NYX Cosmetics and Jelly Job High Shine Gloss (Honey, It’s Jelly) from NYX Cosmetics - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)
thanks to Saga Press, Tordotcom, Tor Books, Amulet Books, Knopf, Flatiron, MCD, Get Underlined, and William Morrow for the gifted copies!
#favoritebooks #readingwrapup #bestbooksof2025 #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @sagapressbooks @tordotcompub @torbooks @abramsbooks @abramskids @aaknopf @flatiron_books @mcdbooks @getunderlined @williammorrowbooks @colourpopcosmetics @glamlite @kimchichicbeauty @kaleidosmakeup @ourbella.us @nyxcosmetics
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top 10 books of 2025 • favorite yearly reads • annual reading wrap up • favorite books of the year • best books of 2025 • best reads of the year • fantasy books • science fiction books • horror books • nonfiction books • diverse books
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • Jul 29
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Let's talk books, crochets, and hobbies!
How was your Q2?
I’ve finally gotten out of my reading slump and it’s been wonderful being able to enjoy books again. I’ve been in a crochet frenzy lately and that’s been so much fun. I don’t have any pictures but I’ve also been taking Spanish classes again and going to language exchange meet ups to practice 😁
@booknetfest was definitely one of the biggest highlights of these last three months and I’m counting down the days till next year 🫶🏾
The World Cup has taken up so much of my summer and these Panini stickers may cause my financial ruin if I can’t get an exchange going soon 🥲
#hobbies #crochet #reading #memorykeeping #worldcup2026
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Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Jul 24
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\ \ Summary\ \ Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation.\ \ How we see Palestine reveals how we see each other; how we see everything else. Masterfully combining candid testimony, history, and reportage, Perfect Victims presents a powerfully simple demand: dignity for the Palestinian.\ \ Review\ \ A book filled with unapologetic candor and wit that makes you come to terms with your own mentality and beliefs in regards to Palestine. This is a must read. \ \ What I learned\ \
- El-Kurd argues that repeated exposure to images of Palestinian suffering has normalized atrocities that would once have shocked the world. I've learned more about this mentality when I read "Regarding the Pain of Others" by Susan Sontag. I have a lot of thoughts on this subject.\
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"Are we too aquainted with the horrific? What was once horrifying, what was once a harbinger of doom, now blends into the terrain of boring scarecrow."\ \
- Something that's discussed in this book as well as a few others on this topic ("One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This"), is the violence of language during this genocide. The headlines we see lack agency. People "die," buildings "collapse," or civilians are "caught in crossfire"instead of explicitly identifying who carried out the violence.\ \
- The thesis of this book is incredibly powerful as it argues that Palestinians have to prove their humanity rather than be perceived as humans. They're held to an impossible standard (by design) to be expected to be patient, peaceful, articulate, and morally flawless in the face of genocide. Any perceived imperfection is used to undermine sympathy for their humanity.\
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"On the contrary, our death is sustenance for the world we live in, necessary to maintain things as they are. Our blood is the price of our colonizers sense of 'security'."\ \ "You need to be polite in your suffering, should you be granted the right to a roof over your head. Crass statements are corrosive to your plight, even when such statements are about those who first steal your home and then loot your tent. The violence inflicted upon our lands and our bodies, we are told, is secondary to the blemishes tarnishing our image, the blemishes that stand between us and justice, it seems. The smears we live to scrub clean."\ \
- Golda Meir is often displayed as a hero or peacemaker. In fact, a library is named after her at my hometown's university. However, her reality was violent and she blamed Palestinains for forcing her to kill their children:\
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"When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to fogive them for having forced us to kill their sons...This was Golda Meir's vile catchphrase, and it has reverberated ever since. But Golda Meir could have spared our children. No one forced her. She chose to kill our children."\ \
- The Palestinian Authority (which were founded as part of the Oslo Accords in the 90's) functions in collaboration with Israeli counterparts. One example is in the killing of Nizar Banat, a dissident political leader. Protests broke out and the PA beat up and used tear gas on the protestors.](https://basementbooks.binderybooks.com/item/0pGyyQ9nrkPlCrNCQuAe/)
Everything I learned from "Perfect Victims" by Mohammed El-Kurd
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 21
makeup and books tag! | GRWM and chat about reading
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • Jun 5
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We NEED to talk about the Hot Girls Read situation
As someone with a master’s in postcolonial literature, I can confirm that this is some colonizer 💩
I usually watch book drama from afar but this is one that truly baffles me. Some of my favorite takes so far have come from @tomesandtextiles @fromthemixedupdesk and @mrs.yang_reads but just know I’m engaging with every picture, video, and think piece that crosses my feed. And yes, she’s blocked
#hotgirlsread #bookstagram #blackreaders
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • May 30
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • May 27
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It’s been a week since @booknetfest and mentally, I’m still at Prom 🥹
I had the loveliest experience attending BNF for the second year in a row. This time, I was on 3 panels and we should have been required to bring tissues because someone kept cutting onions (or maybe that was just us feeling safe enough to release all of our frustrations, but who’s to say)
Thank you @mynameismarines and @thoughtsontomes for organizing this wonderful event with such wonderful people 🫶🏾
(If I didn’t tag you, please let me know so I can add the tag. I couldn’t remember everyone’s usernames 🥲)
#booknetfest #bookcon #bookevent #readercommunity #readtogether
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • May 25
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May Book Club Discussion Dates
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • May 8
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Reading Sprints Monday AND Tuesday @7 PM EST
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • Apr 25
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Happy Independent Bookstore Day + Book Club Announcement!
Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with free standard shipping on all orders made through @bookshop_org on April 25th and 26th!
#ad #bookhaul #indiebookstore #independentbookstoreday #reader
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Kist Reads\ \ Kist\ \ • Apr 20
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Weekly Review/Preview - What I'm Reading/Watching/Playing/Doing!
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • Apr 20
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May Children of Diaspora Book Club Announcement!
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DocoftheDarkArts\ \ Bob Stuntz\ \ • Mar 14
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Member Exclusive: Early Access - February Reading Wrap Up
I had another great month in February. I read some ARCs, did some fantasy, sci fi, nonfiction, and horror, and had a good mix of format as well. Let's talk about my reading month!
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Tattooed Bibliophiles\ \ Zee\ \ • Mar 13
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[Poll:\ \ To summarize or not to summarize\ \ The 13th: A Monthly Brain Dump from the Spite Club, with an important question at the end\ \ Let me tell you something about the 13th. I work in construction. I have been inside every floor of more tall buildings than you have had hot dinners. And I need you to know — with the full authority of someone who has stood on it — that the 13th floor exists. It is there. You are on it. We just renamed it the 14th because somewhere along the line humanity collectively decided that lying about math was preferable to confronting our own superstitions. I can count. You can count. The elevator knows. We're just all agreeing not to talk about it.\ \ \ \ Which is, honestly, a perfect metaphor for how most of us, at least those of you who found your way here, are doing right now. \ \ Welcome to the first installment of my monthly update, dropping on the 13th of every month, only to my Spite Club besties. I'm going to tell you what I've been reading, how I'm actually doing, and what's coming up — with my whole chest and zero apologies. (Actually with only part of my chest because I'm still unlearning everything I've ever been taught and I make mistakes, so if I do, call me out. I probably deserve it.)\ \
- *\ \ What I Finished This Month\ \ \ \ And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer — I wanted to love this more than I did, and I think that's admittedly probably a me problem. The premise is genuinely brilliant: a ragtag group of misfits on a mission to steal back Earth's greatest art from aliens who won't return it — a direct parallel to the very real and very ongoing battles between colonized cultures and the countries that stole from them. That emotional core should have gutted me. I wanted it to. Instead I got some art history, a deeply strange ending, shallow characters, and the dawning realization that I was apparently supposed to know the full story of Orpheus going in. I did not. If you're an art buff or a mythology girlie, you will probably get significantly more out of this than I did. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying it required homework I didn't do. I used to not read novellas because I didn't think they had enough depth. This is the kind of story that made me think that. But hey, 3 stars, would recommend to someone artier than me.\ \ \ \ Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite — Cozy, queer, autistic auntie detective in space solves the case of the impossible baby — the first baby in 300 years on a ship where fertility is supposed to be paused until they get to their new planet. Mystery isn't my genre because it's historically full of old racist grumpy white dudes with a drinking problem who are all somehow Billy Bob Thornton, but if it were all written like this, I would pick up a lot more. I started with book 1 in this series and absolutely plan to continue it as more come out.\ \ \ \ Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur — A bisexual's dream!!! Think: the two sexy lady agents of TSwift and a bisexual Travis Kelce falling in love, but make it gay. Extra gay. Contemporary isn't my genre, but I am OBSESSED with this one. The kind of obsessed that makes me want to pick up everything else this author has ever written. THere is so much character depth and back story and the spice level is friggin hot. And Hallelujah, Alexandria Bellefleur is an established author with lots more books that I will be picking up.\ \ \ \ Amari and the Despicable Wonders and Amari and the Metalwork Menace by B.B. Alston — The inclusive magical world that replaced a certain wizarding world in our household (we don't speak of its author due to her harm to the trans community. If you think your kids can't handle a boycott, I promise you, you're wrong. Kids LOVE raising the middle finger to the establishment. It's basically coded in their DNA. See below notes on 10 to 25, another book I'm currently reading.) My kids and I have loved every minute of this action-packed series, and book four ends on a cliffhanger I will be saying nothing further about except: BB Alston, how DARE you, and also please hurry up with book five. Let Amari be a kid for five minutes. FIVE MINUTES.\ \ \ \ Stuffed by Liz Braswell — My family loved this book, which I say through gritted teeth because I bought this book to personally attack...myself. If you have a child who loves stuffed animals, fair warning: this will make your entire household hold on to them a little tighter and a little longer. I once donated some stuffed animals after our house flooded because I was purging (so I didn't have to pack as much, sue me!) and my son never forgave me. This was after an entire YEAR of him not noticing they were gone. So naturally we read this book together so he could remind me of that, repeatedly, while I sat with my guilt like the masochist I apparently am. Trigger warnings for younger kids: some stuffed animals are harmed by monsters. They get sewn back together. My son handled it. Did I handle the guilt? Only my therapist knows (haha that's hilarious I don't have a therapist. In this economy? I have a best friend who deserves a sainthood is what I have.)\ \ \ \ Space Battle Lunchtime graphic novels 1-3 by Natalie Riess — Cute, cozy, sapphic, and about a TV cooking competition that the main character gets kidnapped from Earth to star in. For some reason the second one is hard to get your hands on. It's on eBay, you can find it if you try. Leave me a comment if you can't because another of my special interests is finding hard to find books. Anyway these are SO fun and cute and heartwarming. Read these. They are good soup and they will not expose your insides. (I refuse to go one single blog without a Gideon the Ninth reference. REFUSE )\ \ \ \ Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland, book 3 in the Broken Blades series — I am a sucker for the "found family group of misfits taking on the fascist regime" trope and this delivered for me in a big way. Multi-POV with short chapters means you will absolutely fly through it, especially if you have as many ARCs as I have waiting for you on Netgalley. (It's a lot. Maybe in another post I'll tell you about allllllllll of the books waiting on me to read them in my Netgalley account.) There are 3 books in the completed series and there were 3 sets of special editions - Broken Binding, Goldsboro, and the first editions of general releases. This image by @cat.book.nook mixes some of them and when I saw it I may or may not have lost the battle to my internalized consumerism and purchased them all. Sigh. All my boycotting and thrifting and I still lose the battle more than I'd like. Cue anti-capitalist guilt, yay!\ \
- *\ \ What I'm Currently Reading\ \ I want to preface this by saying that I have a problem. I admit it. I have an audiobook, a hardcover for my nightstand, a paperback for my kid's baseball practice, fiction for my heart, nonfiction for my brain, a book I'm reading aloud to my dyslexic kid, and an ebook (or two or seven) on my phone for any time I'm waiting somewhere without a physical book. I also requested way too many ARCs on Netgalley and now I have to live with that. This is my life. I have made *choices.*\ \ \ \ The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu — in ARC audiobook format, thanks to the lovely folks at Macmillan. A mechanic who fixes the literal nuts and bolts that hold the universe together, major family trauma, and a himbo sidekick who magically cooks things that are described in ways that made me pause the audiobook to think about food. I am enjoying this immensely and I will report back.\ \ \ \ Platform Decay by Martha Wells — Murderbot book 8. I will always read this series because I relate to Murderbot on a cellular level and I will not be elaborating further. (Autistic over protective robot in space who just wants to watch his shows and not deal with humans: it me. So apparently I WILL be elaborating.) I'll be honest that I haven't loved Martha Wells' other work as much. The sarcastic Muir-like comedic tone that makes Murderbot special doesn't show up the same way elsewhere in her books. But THIS series? Every time. Without question.\ \ \ \ Stuffed Book 2: Into Darkness — yes we are reading the sequel. Apparently one round of emotional self-flagellation was not sufficient. My son has opinions about what we read together and those opinions are "more of this please." I am nothing if not a devoted mother (aka SUCKA) and a glutton for punishment.\ \ \ \ 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager — This is not self help. I want to be very clear about that because I have a well documented hostility toward self help books. This is science. Long term scientific studies done by the author found that young people make risky decisions not because they lack the intelligence to understand long term consequences or the wherewithal for self denial of instant gratification, but because their need to be respected as full members of their community (aka like an adult) far outweighs everything else. On a biological level. As a parent of teenagers and a person with the 'tism m'lord who requires receipts before changing her behavior, this book is a NEED, not a want. Highly recommend for any parent, educator, manager, or person who has ever been or dealt with anyone between the ages of 10 and 25 and wondered what the hizell was happening in their brain. (Can I take this moment to ask the publishing world why nonfic covers are so damn boring? This book is absolutely FASCINATING and that cover is the most boring thing I've ever laid eyes on. Do better Simon & Schuster!)\ \ \ \ The End of Violence by Dr. Gary Slutkin — yes I giggled at the author name, I am not above it, I am a Slutkin for ending violence as well sir! This is a book by a CDC disease doctor who has found, through long term scientific study, that if you treat violence like a transmittable disease you can address it the same way you'd address tuberculosis: educate the community, treat the afflicted, and identify and support those most at risk before they become vectors. I listened to the audiobook and found it so compelling that I preordered a hard copy to annotate, summarize, and highlight for my dyslexic social worker bestie. Free labour in this economy? That should tell you everything. (Again though, another wildly boring cover. What is up with that???)\ \ \ \ One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad — same story. Listened to it, purchased a hard copy, currently annotating it with the fervor of someone who needs everyone she knows to read this immediately. Which brings me to something I want to talk to you about. (Now THAT is a cover! Props to the folks over at Knopf because this cover makes the same statement the book makes in far fewer pages.)\ \
- *\ \ Something I Want To Try (And I Want Your Opinion)\ \ I'm planning a series where I review books with full spoilers. Not every book, but the ones that have something so important to say that I want you to have access to it even if you never pick up the book yourself. El Akkad's book is the first one I have in mind. I've annotated the absolute shit out of this book and I want to share my notes. \ \ I used to do a Discord book club called the Genre Sluts. You may have even been a member. It's still there, but I haven't scheduled a book in a while because I found it consumed a large chunk of my life without providing me the close community I needed from a book club. I don't know if it's my personality or just the autism, but I need to see peoples faces to feel the genuine connection I need from community. The Discord chat just wasn't doing it for me.\ \ I have complicated feelings about this new strategy. I want you to go read the whole book. I want you to support these authors. But I also know that some of you will never read certain books no matter how hard I recommend them (nonfiction especially) and I think hearing me talk through the whole thing might actually send some of you to the book anyway. And for the ones who genuinely won't get there, I'd rather you have the ideas than not. We have one short life. I've done the math. We cannot read everything. I genuinely want to know what you think about this in the comments.\ \ Footnote: I've actually done the math. I'm 41 and if I read 100 books a year - though my average tends to be closer to 90 so I'm being optimistic here - until I'm retired at 60, that's approximately 1850 books after subtracting about half a year as I'm counting from my birthday. After I retire I hope to read twice that. And if I live till 81.4 like the average woman in America, that's 4280, plus the original 1850 is 6,130 books left. And at the average rate I add to my TBR - 10 books per month of which I get to only about 3, I'm looking at a deficit of 3,360 books I want to read and won't ever get to. If there is an afterlife, it damn well better have books.\ \ \ \
- *\ \ How Am I Actually Doing\ \ Fucking terrible, if I'm honest, but I don't know how anyone who isn't actively choosing delusion can be doing much better right now. The world is burning, democracy is dead, and my TikTok views are in the gutter. And maybe that's because I'm a bad creator — only you, dearest gentle reader, can tell me. Don't tell me, it will hurt my feelings. (Jk, I suppress those so hard if I have them you'll never know anyway.) And every time I hear Aaron Parnas say "breaking news" I have a visceral stress response that makes me want to throw my phone into the sun, which is a problem when TikTok is currently my main way of bringing people here, to what I have lovingly decided to call the Good Place. (And let's be real here - if my unhinged sarcastic badly written excessive parentheses sci-fi Bindery page is a Good Place, what does that say about the state of the world?)\ \ \ \ But here's the thing. Sci-fi has always been our proof that we have a future worth imagining. That things can be better. That humans, at our absolute worst, still contain people who dream of something more. So I will keep showing up on the 13th — on the floor that definitely exists, that we all just agreed to lie about — and I will keep reading books and talking about them, because in our darkest hours the most radical thing I know how to do is keep hoping.\ \ See you next month. Probably still terrible. Definitely still reading.\ \ — Zee\ \
- *\ \ If you liked this and want more of whatever THIS is — unhinged book analysis, barely contained rage at the state of the world, and occasional Tamsyn Muir references and em dashes that I will never apologize for — consider subscribing for $5/month. Every cent goes to people who actually need it, because I have a day job and a cause, not a brand deal. This is my middle finger to Big 5 publishing, dressed up as a book blog. Come hold it up with me.\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://tattooedbibliophile.binderybooks.com/item/LYWPYgPAgfHBa8rX2u61/)
The 13th: A Monthly Brain Dump from the Spite Club
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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Mar 10
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WINNERS of our 2025 Best of Books
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DocoftheDarkArts\ \ Bob Stuntz\ \ • Jan 25
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top 10 books of 2025 | my favorite reads from the year
it’s time …. let me tell you all about my favorite books from 2025!
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💭 what were your favorite reads from 2025?
💭 what were your favorite reads from 2025?
thanks to Saga Press, Tordotcom, Tor Books, Amulet Books, Knopf, Flatiron, MCD, Get Underlined, and William Morrow for the gifted copies!
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Bien Leidos\ \ tomesandtextiles\ \ • Nov 30 2025
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Read Palestine Week Book Recommendations
What books are you reading for #ReadPalestine week? #booktok #booktokfyp #tomesandtextiles
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Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Nov 23 2025
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[Welcome to my new Syllabus Series. I was a high school English teacher for over five years (before I burned out and changed careers) and nothing gives me more joy than to help others learn something new. As someone who also reads a large amount of non-fiction, I wanted to create a new series where I pick a singular topic that you might want to learn more about. The first edition will be all about Palestine.\ \ First, I’ll take you through books to read through various genres and the order you should read them in to scaffold and layer your learning. But learning isn’t all about reading, so I’ll also share video resources, shorter articles, and give you a list of people to follow on social media in order to stay up to date well beyond today. Finally, learning means nothing without action, so I will also provide you ways that you can do something with what you’re learning.\ \ This isn’t meant to be overwhelming and is laid out in a way that it’s learning you have time for. Therefore, the list isn’t extensive and manageable. Of course, there’s always more learning to be done.\ \ \ \ Books to read\ \ A collection of books read to read. For the best learning experience, try to read the books in this order.\ \ (*note: this section contains affiliate links)\ \
- Non-fiction“Palestine: A Socialist Introduction” edited by Sumaya Award and brian bean\ \ This is a great place to start if you don’t know or understand the history of Palestine. The book is a collection of essays from all different authors exploring various parts of Palestinian history and present. Of course, this book is also written from a socialist lens, but from that it pulls in calls for action as well. Overall, this is a really helpful and easy to understand text that helps you understand historical context.\ \
- Fiction“Minor Detail” by Adania Shibli\ \ Sticking with understanding Palestinian history as well as how that history carries into the present, I recommend reading this incredible piece of fiction next. This is a super short book (144 pages) that is impressive and haunting. It starts in the summer of 1949 during the Nakba (the mass displacement of Palestinians from Palestine) and follows a young girl who is captured by Israeli soldiers. Years later in the present, we follow a young woman who finds the girl’s story that is considered a “minor detail” in this history. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. Check content warnings before reading this book.\ \
- Poetry\ \ " Rifqa” by Mohammed El-Kurd\ \ This is a collection of poetry that looks at Palestinian history, but also addresses the present. It’s both a deeply emotional eulogy and a call to action for the liberation of Palestine.\ \
- Poetry\ \ “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear” by Mosab Abu Toha\ \ This is a really accessible collection of poetry where the author talks about his life living under siege in Gaza. This was published in 2022 and helps paint a picture of what every day life was like for Palestinians. In 2023, Abu Toha was captured and imprisoned by Israeli forces. His newest collection which comes out this November will look at the horror of the last year.\ \
- Non-fiction\
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“The Palestine Laboratory” by Antony Loewenstein\
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This is definitely the most dense book on this which is why it’s at the end of the list. This is an incredible piece of journalism that looks at Israel’s development of occupation-enforcing technologies that they test out in Palestine and then sell to other Western countries to help them enforce their own occupations. It helps showcase the danger of these technologies well beyond Palestine and the dangerous (and deadly) effects it’s had on the rest of the world.\
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Other media to consume\
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- Mixed media\ \ “Not That Complicated” by US Campaign for Palestinian Rights\ \ An incredible resource that plainly lays out history and common misconceptions about Israel’s occupation of Palestine. This provides a general overview of specific topics that makes everything easy to understand while also providing links and videos to learn more about each subject.\ \
- Infographics Visualising Palestine\ \ If you’re more of a visual learner, this is the resource for you. Again, this project breaks down various subjects into interactive infographics that are constantly updated to not only talk about historical facts, but up-to-date information.\ \
- Article“ We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable.” by Mark Perlmutter and Feroze Sidhwa\ \ The deliberate targeting and destruction of hospitals over the past year has been a well-documented war crime through first-hand accounts and videos. This is an example. Written by two doctors from the U.S., this is a primary account on what they witnessed in Gaza.\ \
- Documentary"Investigating war crimes in Gaza” by Al Jazeera\ \ Just published on October 3, Al Jazeera has done an extensive investigation into the war crimes perpetrated by Israel in the last year as well as exposing the individuals behind them. Content warning: graphic images of death and violence.\ \ \ Extra credit \ Since I first wrote this syllabus back in 2024, there have been many new incredible pieces of media published on Palestine and the fight for liberation has continued. If you want to continue learning about Palestine, here are some futher texts for you to read.\ \
- Non-fiction book"One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad\ \ If you or someone you know is new to learning about Palestine or is still not understanding the weight of what is happening, I think this is a great book to read. This book grapples with what it means to live in the West and our role in watching a genocide occur before our eyes.\ \
- Non-fiction book" Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal” by Mohammed El-Kurd\ \ After you read El-Kurd’s poetry collection above, pick up his newest book, a denser exploration as to why it is that Palestinians need to prove their humanity to the Western world and who holds the power to shape narratives.\ \
- Report\
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Latest UNRWA report on the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and West Bank\
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A detailed report that outlines the latest data since Israel broke the ceasefire and the effects this has had on health, food scarcity, civilian protection, and aid.\
(photo by Adam Rouhana) Who to follow \
When learning about a subject where up-to-date information is key, it’s important to find people who are experts and on the ground to help keep you informed. Here are a few people and organisations I encourage you to follow:\
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- Lets Talk Palestine broadcast channel on Instagram shares news every single day about what is happening in Palestine (as well as Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen). This is what I use to stay the most up-to-date.\ \
- Bisan Owda: One of the few freelance journalists still in Gaza (Israel has murdered and targeted 175 journalists in the past year). Bisan reports and posts from the ground every single day.\ \
- Hind Khoudary: Another journalist who has been reporting from Gaza.\ \
- Adam Rouhana: a photographer currently living in Gaza.\ \
- Mosab Abu Toha: The same poet mentioned above is also consistently active on Instagram, often posting breaking news stories before news publications.\ \
- Leen (@vivafalastinleen) : This Palestinian-American content creator is consistently posting about what is happening in Palestine and encouraging calls to action.\ \
- Naz (@bdsbabe): Naz is consistently posting updates on the BDS movement and creating guides to BDS-friendly brands (learn more about the BDS movement below)\
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Take action \
Mutual aid Mutual aid is an incredibly effective way to utilize community in order to directly impact those who need our help. One way that we can do this is by donating to families currently in Palestine where food, shelter, hygiene, and access to healthcare are hard to come by (and in some cases impossible). Our help can make these things more accessible.\
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Here are some families that I have been in contact with that I would encourage you to donate to:\
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- Mahmoud, Tamer, and Tala who lost their mother and wife earlier this year. Tamer has Autism and navigating this cruel world is especially hard for him.\ \
- The Tareq family including Amani who is suffering from multiple medical conditions and needs urgent care\ \
- Mohammed’s family including his wife and three kids as they struggle to survive in Khan Younis\ \
- Rozana’s family including her husband and three-year-old son (Ziad) who used to live in Gaza City and now have no home or clean food and water which is making Ziad’s health deteriorate.\ \
\ Here are organizations on the ground to donate to:\ \ - The Sameer Project: Led by Palestinians, the project hosts multiple campaigns to help families across gaza with medical supplies, food, tents, and other necessities. You can also support their Medical Campaign specifically as they work directly with hospitals.\ \ - North Water Aid: Salah Shabat is raising funds to provide displaced families in the north of Gaza with clean drinking water.\ \ - Amal for Palestine: Organization thats been providing meals in the north of Gaza since 2021.\ \ - Gaza Soup Kitchen: Family-run organization that helps provide meals to displaced families.\ \ - Sulala Animal Rescue: Father and son team who help rescue and rehabilitate stray animals.\ \ \ \ Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions If you’re not financially able to support, here’s a great way to make a huge impact (in my opinion, this is what will make the most impact systemically). The BDS movement is a movement to pressure companies, organisations, and governments that support Israel by withholding money. The ask is that you do not spend money at these organisations and/or pressure organisations. This type of organizing has been proven to be effective in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. To double-check that you’re not supporting companies who support genocide, I highly recommend downloading the Boycat app.\ \ Pressure politicians If you live in a country that is currently funding Israel and/or supporting them through complicity or silence, it’s pertinent that we continue to pressure them. If you live in the United States, you can use 5calls.org to get started (note: not all the information in the script is up-to-date), but could be a good template.\ \ Protest If you are able, protesting helps make our voices louder. It’s a tool meant to disrupt and force those in charge to take action. Here’s the most up-to-date list of world-wide protests that I was able to find.\ \ Educate Use whatever platform you have (whether that be on social media or in-person) to speak up about Palestine and continue to educate others. Share resources, share stories, share news. The more we can make people not turn away from Palestine, the more we can collectively come together to enact change. We need to make sure that everyone in the world doesn’t have the excuse that they didn’t know. We are all complicit.\ \
- *\ \ As I mentioned earlier, learning is an ongoing practice. If you would like more resources, don’t hesitate to reach out. And if you have any resources to add to this list, please add them to the comments below.](https://basementbooks.binderybooks.com/item/UHWce0QZX9fFJTyy604i/)
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Bien Leidos\ \ tomesandtextiles\ \ • Jul 8 2025
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Book recommendations to contextualize Willy Chavarria’s HURON show in Paris last week
Book recommendations to contextualize Willy Chavarria’s HURON show in Paris last week #willychavarria #huron #nonfictionbooktok #historybooktok #bienleidos #tomesandtextiles
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Bien Leidos\ \ tomesandtextiles\ \ • Jul 8 2025
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Replying to @Amanda part: 10 One Day, Everyone will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad #nonfictionbooktok #tiktokshop #tomesandtextiles
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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Apr 30 2025
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\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://skiesreads.binderybooks.com/item/D46yPKXsmt54o5iRIYiu/)
EARLY ACCESS (AD-FREE) | New YouTube Video: Indie Bookstore Day!
Bindery subscribers, please enjoy this ad-free early access of Friday's youtube video!
I spent this Independent Bookstore Day going to as many bookstores in Sacramento as I could and decided to take y'all along with me!
Bookstores (in order): East Village Bookshop Wild Sisters Book Company Underground Books Avid Reader Crawford's Books A Seat at the Table Beers Books
Music Credits: Free Music for Videos 👉 Music by You Me And The Piano - Whispers in the Bed - https://thmatc.co/?l=0C3DBD52
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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Apr 28 2025
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\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://skiesreads.binderybooks.com/item/4YwXavGEbGlIOdLXIpeA/)
Newsletter #14: April 28, 2025
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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Apr 27 2025
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Indie Bookstore Day Haul! (video version)
Indie bookstore day haul!!! I’ll have a full vlog of our bookstore crawl in the place for longer stuff hopefully by the end of the week.
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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Apr 27 2025
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I had two books on my list. T W O. And I ended the day with six (+two picked up for a friend).
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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Apr 15 2025
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POV: the books are less than $10 so you have to buy them all 😭 a book haul
I should not be allowed near a bookstore.
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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Apr 7 2025
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the 13 books i read in march | monthly reading wrapup + reading stats
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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 9 2025
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25 books releasing in 2025 to add to your TBR | anticipated books to preorder ASAP!
Anticipated Releases on my list!
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