A review by evitaveda
A Land with a People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism by Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, Esther Farmer, Sarah Sills

🍉BOOK THOUGHTS🍉

“We will continue to raise our voices and reclaim our stories.” 

A Land With A People - Esther Farmer, Rosalind Pollack Petchesky and Sarah Sills.

A Land With a People is a collection of stories, art and poems from Palestinians and Jews who have endured, fought against, or broken away from the harmful rhetoric of Zionism. 

If you don’t know where to begin when it comes to educating yourself on Zionism and Palestine, this book is a great starter. It begins with a brief history section which is very helpful in explaining terms and things that have happened in the area up until about 2020/2021. Then come the stories. And the stories are so powerful. They include narratives from secular, Muslim, Christian, and queer Palestinians, as well as the journeys of Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, queer, and Palestinian Jews who have rejected the Zionist narrative. Since the narrators are so diverse and their voices are so different, the book will keep you engaged from start to finish. There is also a lot of social commentary that will make you sit with your feelings and think. Reading these stories will make you see the real humans behind the news. People with hopes, dreams and futures they want to experience. 

Overall, this is a very insightful read and I absolutely recommend picking it up! 

Now, I will let these quotes from the book speak for themselves: 

“We are Palestinians, after all. Not belonging is what we do.”

“But as Palestinians, we don’t want anyone to pity us. We want to be treated with humanity, justice, and equality.”