Over a month into the attacks on Palestine, and our children have more questions than ever. 

To help you and your family navigate these tough conversations about the state of the world, we have curated a collection of resources tailored for kids. These include engaging books, activities, videos and a compilation of talking points aimed at empowering your family to speak up for truth and justice.

From understanding the significance of Al-Aqsa as the third most sacred site in Islam and the blessings of Palestine, supported by Hadith,  to the importance of standing up in the face of injustice, there’s a lot to cover. These resources are designed to kickstart conversations, allowing you to educate yourself and address your children’s significant questions with confidence.

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Muslim Mental Health: The Services and Organisations You Can Contact | Amaliah

Du’as for Palestine and the Muslim Ummah | Amaliah

Palestine: Resource and Activism Guide | Amaliah 

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Books on Palestine

Ages 3+ 

1. P for Palestine, Golbarg Bashi

The world’s first-ever English-language ABC storybook about Palestine is told in simple rhyme, showcasing the geography, beauty and strength of Palestinian culture.

2. Counting up The Olive Tree, Golbarg Bashi

Little Palestinian football players try to save an olive tree — helping young readers practice counting.

3. Baba, What Does My Name Mean, Rifk Ebeid

When Saamidah, a young Palestinian refugee, is asked by her friends what her name means, she isn’t quite sure what to say. She turns to her Baba for some answers.

4. These Olive Trees, Aya Ghanameh

The story of a Palestinian family’s ties to the land, and how one young girl finds a way to care for her home, even as she says goodbye.

5. Teta’s Thoub, Fatin Badran Kadri

Teta’s Thoub follows the relationship of a little girl and her grandmother, who teaches her about the significance of the traditional Palestinian dress.

Ages 6+

1. Sitti’s Secrets, Naomi Shihab Nye

Mona’s grandmother, her Sitti, lives in a small Palestinian village on the other side of the earth.  They don’t speak each other’s language, so they make up their own. 

2. Olive Harvest in Palestine, Wafa Shami

A story about the harvest traditions that have been shared among Palestinian farmers for centuries. 

3. My Name Is Palestine, Nadine Foty

My Name is Palestine follows a Palestinian superhero who has a magical eye that sees a Free Palestine. 

4. Jenin And The Precious Palestine Pie, Nadine Foty

Jenin And The Precious Palestine Pie is a children’s story about the Nakba. Jenin, a talented baker, is shocked when Sam steals her pie and later her shop. The secret recipe of her homeland Palestine has the power to help her reclaim what is rightfully her pie, her shop, and her land.

5. Easter in Ramallah: A Story of Childhood Memories, Wafa Shami

A story about friendship and holiday traditions that have been shared among Palestinian Christian and Muslim families for centuries. 

6. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine, Hannah Moushabeck

As bedtime approaches, three young girls eagerly await the return of their father who tells them stories of a faraway homeland—Palestine. 

Ages 9+

1. The Boy and The Wall, Amahl Bishara

The wall that led to this picture book was built in 2004 across the West Bank, home to more than a million Palestinians. This wall separates the refugee camp from the children’s old village and the land where their grandparents used to harvest.

2. A Child’s View of Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art And The Fight Against Censorship, Middle East Children’s Alliance

The captioned illustrations in this book were created by Palestinian children who lived through the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2008-09. 

3. Where The Streets Had A Name, Randa Abdel-Fatteh

Hayaat believes a handful of soil from her grandmother’s ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab’s life. 

Ages 13+

1. The Shepherd’s Granddaughter, Anne Laurel Carter

Ever since she was a little girl, Amani has wanted to be a shepherd, just like her beloved grandfather, Sido. But now Amani’s family home is being threatened by encroaching Jewish settlements.

2. Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight For Their Village, Nick Estes

Silwan is a Palestinian village just outside the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. This is a moving story of a village and its people.

3. Outside the Ark, Ellen O’Grady

Outside the Ark is a provocative collection of paintings and stories, a window into the realities of life under occupation and a witness to the enduring human spirit.

4. Ida in the Middle, Nora Lester Murad

Every time violence erupts in the Middle East, Ida knows what’s coming next. Some of her classmates treat her like it’s all her fault—just for being Palestinian! One day, she discovers a jar of olives that came from a beloved aunt in her family’s village near Jerusalem. Ida eats one and finds herself there—as if her parents had never left Palestine!

5. Code Name: Butterfly, Ahlam Bsharat 

In the room she shares with her two sisters, Butterfly keeps her questions hidden in an imaginary treasure chest, questions like why her older sister Zainab cries herself to sleep, or how she can be best friends with both Mays and Haya when Mays dreams of joining the Palestinian struggle and Haya’s father and grandfather are rumored to be collaborators with the Israelis.

6. Tasting The Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, Ibtisam Barakat

In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. 

7. Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine, Ibtisam Barakat 

Picking up where Tasting the Sky left off, Balcony on the Moon follows Ibtisam Barakat through her childhood and adolescence in Palestine from 1972-1981 and chronicles her desire to be a writer.

8. Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha 

In this poetry debut Mosab Abu Toha writes about his life under siege in Gaza, first as a child, and then as a young father. A survivor of four brutal military attacks, he bears witness to a grinding cycle of destruction and assault, and yet, his poetry is inspired by a profound humanity.

9. Let Me Stand Alone: The Journals of Rachel Corrie, Rachel Corrie 

How do we find our way in the world? How do our actions affect others? What do we owe the rest of humanity? These are the timeless questions so eloquently posed by Rachel Corrie, a young American activist killed on March 16, 2003, as she tried to block the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip.

10. Baddawi, Leila Abdelrazaq 

An arrestingly drawn debut graphic novel, Baddawi is the story of a young boy named Ahmad struggling to find his place in the world. It explores the childhood of the author’s father from a determinedly boy’s-eye view. 

11. They Called Me a Lioness, Ahed Tamimi

A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir.

12. Rifqa, Mohammed el-Kurd

Each day after school, Mohammed El-Kurd’s grandmother welcomed him at the door of his home with a bouquet of jasmine. Her name was Rifqa—she was older than Israel itself and an icon of Palestinian resilience. With razor-sharp wit and glistening moral clarity, El-Kurd lays bare the brutality of Israeli settler colonialism. 

Downloadable Books & Activities on Palestine

• Eliyas Explains Palestine, Muslim Children’s Books
• Al-Aqsa & the Land of the Prophets, Learning Roots
• Keys to the Kingdom Reader, Dear Muslim Kids
• MTM History: Teach Your Children about Palestine, Mama Teaches Me

Videos

• How to Teach Kids about Israel Palestine Conflict?, Noor Kids
• Keys to the Kingdom, Dear Muslim Kids
• Palestine 101, Makan
• Israeli Palestinian conflict explained, Jewish Voice for Peace
• A Story of Palestine, Eman Asker: 
• Atouna El Toufoule, Remi Bendali

Talking Points to Discuss Palestine with Children

• How to talk to your children about Palestine, Dr Rania Awaad
• How Do We Talk to  Our Children About Palestine, Babes About Town
• Palestine: Conversations with our Children, Oak Creative Design
• How To Talk To Your Children about Palestine, Muslim Moon
• Discussing Palestine-Israel, Mend

Hadith on Palestine

1. Abu Hurairah RA narrates: “The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Do not deliberately set out on a journey [for the purpose of worship] but to three mosques: the Masjid al-Haram, al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and my Masjid [in Madinah]’” (Bukhari)

2. Abdullah ibn Amr RA narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Sulayman, son of Dawood AS prayed for three things from Allah, the Mighty and Glorious, when constructing Masjid al Aqsa: (i) the ability to decide cases in accordance to the Will of Allah, which was granted to him; (ii) a kingdom the like of which would be given to no one after him, which was also granted; and (iii), after finishing the construction of the masjid he prayed, ‘May anyone who comes to this mosque solely for the purpose of praying in it be delivered from all his sins as on the day his mother gave birth to him’” (Nasa’i)

3. Maymuna RA – the wife of the Prophet ﷺ  – reported, “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, tell us about Jerusalem’. He said: ‘It is the place of Judgement Day where everyone will be called. Come and pray in it, for one prayer in it is like one thousand prayers elsewhere.’ ‘What is one cannot go there?’ I asked. He replied, ‘Send oil for its lamps; for whoever does so, it is as if they went there.’” (Al-Albani)

4. Sayyidina Zayd ibn Thabit RA reports that the Prophet ﷺ said, “How blessed is Shaam!” The companions around them asked: “Why is that?” The Messenger ﷺ replied, “I see the angels of the Most Merciful spreading their wings over it.” (Tirmidhi)

Advice from Mothers

• “I am telling and showing my kids everything of what’s happening. We are talking about it every day. I think Muslim parents need to permanently discard the idea that we do our kids any favors by protecting them from the horrors of genocide, poverty, Western imperialism. Twenty, thirty years ago, the children of Gaza saw up close the reality of this world and grew up to become the men and women of courage and faith that we see on our screens today. They are the lions and we, in our over-coddled, pampered lives are the mice. If my kids possess even an ounce of the strength of the people of Gaza, I’ll feel like I did my duty as a parent. This is the clarity the past 40 days has given me, I no longer want to raise “happy” Muslim kids. I want to raise strong and hopeful and useful Muslim kids, who are clear in their mission, stand for justice and uplift the ummah. For that, they need to know everything.” – Hiba Masood @hibamasood

• “First, ask them what they have been hearing. Take cue from that to craft your response. Use age-appropriate language and avoid giving too much detail of the horrors. Give them the overall perspective with simple examples of good versus evil, and why Palestine is important for Muslims. Validate their feelings, and always talk about Allah’s mercy and the power of prayer. Tell them that Muslims are strong because of their faith, and it is a test for the rest of us as Allah is seeing how we will respond.” – Rabia Abdullah @brownmomdiary

• “-Talk about the Quranic references and Historic importance of Palestine. Talk about how and why the Western leaders aren’t supporting Palestine, and the importance of voting responsibly, especially if we live in the Western world. Be prepared as children might ask follow up questions like, why is Allah allowing it to happen? Why can’t Muslims do anything about it? Or how can I help? Include them in making donations to Gaza relief funds. Encourage them to make a small donation from their allowance.” – Beena Rizvi

By arming our children with the tools of knowledge and instilling in them a commitment to seek truth, we hope to shape strong and resilient Muslim men and women, destined to be pillars of strength in the Muslim Ummah. 

As our children explore these materials, it is our heartfelt prayer that their journey goes beyond the mere acquisition of facts. May they not only gain knowledge but also cultivate empathy for the struggles faced by our brothers and sisters in Palestine. 

May Allah SWT always guide them as they navigate the intricate path of truth and justice. And to our ever-compassionate Creator, we raise our voices in fervent dua — O Allah, the Most Merciful, we earnestly ask for freedom and victory for the people of Palestine and all those oppressed around the world. May your light guide them through the darkest of times, and may justice prevail. Ameen.