notes

The book doesn’t have footnotes or references. Numerous books, podcasts and websites fed into it.

But it does have a section called ‘Next’ with suggestions for further reading. Six books are mentioned specifically. The first three are histories.

So here they are. Ilan Pappe’s book is the shortest, David Hirst’s is the longest.

Pappé, Ilan A Very Short History of The Israel-Palestine Conflict (London: OneWorld, 2024)

Khalidi, Rashid The Hundred Years’ War On Palestine (New York: Metropolitan, 2020)

Hirst, David The Gun and the Olive Branch (London: Faber, 2003)

The other three are a novel, an autobiography and a book of essays. Mornings In Jenin is a modern classic - a multi-generational account of the nakba and after. Israel-born Miko Peled tells the fascinating story of his own turn away from Zionism, and finally there is Edward Said, one of the most respected Palestinian scholars, with a very influential book of essays.

Abulhawa, Susan Mornings In Jenin (London: Bloomsbury 2010)

Peled, Miko The General’s Son: Journey Of An Israeli In Palestine (Ithaca: Just World Books 2012)

Said, Edward The Question Of Palestine (New York: Random House 1992)

A History Of Palestine In Five Fruits doesn’t have some of things you might expect to find in a history.  There are no footnotes, no references and only a very brief bibliography (important books that informed the author’s thinking).

But below are a few suggestions for further reading - around the issue of olives, dates, oranges, eggplants and watermelons in Palestine. This was background material which fed into the ‘fruit’ part of each chapter (the sections where the text is in italics). Click the links to read the articles.