Anjali Joseph of The Independent writes that "Susan Abulhawa's novel, first published in the US in 2006 but since reworked, follows the Abulheja family, Yehya and Basima and their two sons, in Ein Hod, a village in Palestine.

Abulhawa effectively communicates her bubbling joy in what she calls 'the dance' of Arabic, pondering the language’s intricate courtesies and imagistic flair.

"[9] In 2007, a live reading of The Scar of David was later reduced to only a book signing by the Barnes & Noble store in Bayside, New York.

The French author and philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy called Mornings in Jenin "a concentration of anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish clichés masquerading as fiction".

[11] Abulhawa responded by dismissing Levy as a "French pop star of philosophy and intellectual elitism" and accusing him of "name-calling", adding:He simply slaps on the word “antisemitism” to discredit any negative portrayal of Israel.

This word — with its profound gravity of marginalization, humiliation, dispossession, oppression, and ultimately, genocide of human beings for no other reason but their religion — is so irresponsibly used by the likes of Levy that it truly besmirches the memory of those who were murdered in death camps solely for being Jewish...Mr. Levy accuses us of “demonizing Israel”, when in fact, all we do is pull back the curtain, however slightly, to show a dark truth he wishes to keep hidden.

[12]Lawrence Davidson discussed the controversy and defended Abulhawa and praised her book, saying: "It is a stark tragedy that, as of the moment, power is the deciding factor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.