The US’s first-ever Palestinian bookstore opened in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Watermelon Books LA opened in the Holy Ground community gathering space, and holds about a thousand books on art, food, poetry, history, fiction, and political books on Palestinians.
There is also a Watermelon Books branch in Amman.
The store describes itself as “a cultural act of resistance” and “a powerful way to leverage the momentum from the last two years.”
The space will also feature tatreez embroidery, traditional crafts, and artwork by contemporary Palestinian artists. Proceeds from these offerings will reportedly directly support Palestinian artists and artisans.
Palestinian bookstore features anti-Israel, antisemitic books
On February 27, the LA store will host its Inaugural Reading & Conversation with Randa Jarrar and Nancy Kricorian, titled “Literature During Genocide.”
Many of the titles shown in the new store are books that contain content that denies the existence of the Jewish people and promote radical anti-Israel narratives.
Among the texts are The Invention of the Jewish People, a controversial historical analysis arguing that the idea of a single, ancient Jewish “nation” with continuous descent from biblical times is a modern construction.
There is also Selected Political Writings by Ghassan Kanafani, who was the spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was assassinated by the Mossad in Beirut in 1972 over his involvement in the Lod Airport massacre, which killed 26 civilians.
Videos of the store also show These Olive Trees, a children’s book that teaches that Palestinians have been chased out of their land but will return, as “the occupying state” is temporary, and anti-Israel and antisemitic texts such as Richard Falk’s Palestine’s Horizon, Sim Kern’s Genocide Bad, and Norman Finkelstein’s The Holocaust Industry.
The store also platforms fringe Israeli anti-Zionist voices (often known as the new historians) such as Ilan Pappé, Benny Morris, Jeff Halper, and Shlomo Sand.