Who are the People of the Land?

The Palestinian delegitimization of Jews

Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American scientist and bestselling author - the most widely read Palestinian author of all time. Her novels about Palestine have been translated into 32 languages and have sold millions of copies. According to her Wikipedia biography, Susan Abulhawa is also a human rights activist and animal rights advocate. Last week, this acclaimed human rights activist wrote a series of posts calling for the genocide of all Jews worldwide:

You might think it odd for a human rights activist — or even an animal rights advocate — to be explicitly calling for the complete genocide of a nation. And even more odd that she can openly say this without fearing backlash. But we live in interesting times, in which exterminating an indigenous people of the land is the Original Sin of the West, and thus those in the West who attain moral redemption by condemning its sins will leap at the chance to do so, without any critical evaluation of whether the charge is actually correct. And especially when you get a two-for-one deal of being able to feel virtuous about hating on the Jews at the same time.

With her strength as a global bestselling writer, Abulhawa accompanies this call for genocide with some poetry:

Abulhawa further explains that the reason why the cancer of Jews must be exterminated from the world is not only because Jews are exterminating the indigenous people of the land they stole, but because they threaten to do the same to all mankind:

I first became aware of Susan Abulhawa last year when she spoke at a packed Oxford Union debate about the alleged profound connection between the Palestinians and the Land. During her speech, she claimed, “We are its very soil. We are the rivers and her trees and her stories.” I asked Abulhawa on X if she can actually name any of the rivers and trees in Palestine, along with some other criticisms, and she responded by blocking me.

In my new book, The Lions of Zion: Biblical Natural History and the Significance of Israel, I discuss the claims by Abulhawa and others like her about Palestinians being different from Jews in having an intimate knowledge of, and connection with, the land. This is music to the ears of Westerners who have a romantic view of indigenous societies living in harmony with nature versus the horrible exploitative colonialists. And I discuss why it's all a load of piffle.

There are numerous animals and plants of the Land of Israel that are deeply embedded in Jewish culture, and have been so for thousands of years. The very few animals and plants that are uniquely part of Palestinian culture (as opposed to general Levantine Arab culture) have held this role for a very short time indeed, and have no symbolic value whatsoever beyond how they represent the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians - in some cases, falsely.

Furthermore, Israel generally takes very good care of the land and its flora and fauna (within the limitations of there now being a huge population of both Jews and Arabs). Arabs, on the other hand - much to the dismay of the few Arab conservationists - often do not. This is contrary to numerous slanderous accounts spread by Palestinians and their Western supporters, as I investigate in detail in the book.

You can buy The Lions of Zion on the website of The Biblical Museum of Natural History (it should arrive at our US warehouse for shipping this week). If you’re in Israel, you can visit the museum for the official book launch next week, and hear me give a full presentation on this topic, complete with props!

• Monday, September 8th, 2025 at 8:00 PM

• 20 NIS per person (advanced booking only - click here)

• At the Biblical Museum of Natural History, Har-Tuv (facing Beit Shemesh)

(Note that most of the museum will not be open for touring during this event. But you can book a tour and visit this week, and also get the book!)

“The Lions of Zion will add another fascinating layer to the existing discourse on the intersection of Jewish cultural heritage and the natural world. This important subject holds the potential not only to deepen attachment to the natural world for the many who hold the Land of Israel in great love, but also to broaden recognition of this dimension of the historic relationship between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel.” - Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel

“The Lions of Zion is engaging, accessible, and upbeat. It is a page-turner for anyone with a love of our Land. Still, once the author has the reader hooked and smiling, he shows how knowledge of the Land can be a serious tool in fighting on a new front that has opened up in the war to delegitimize the Jewish State.” - Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein, Director of Interfaith Affairs, The Simon Wiesenthal Center