Louis Allday’s introduction to the newly reissued biography of Ghassan Kanafani outlines the choice Kanafani made between being an organic participant in the resistance and his life as a writer. Kanafani chose, and in doing so, chose his fate.
What role does literature play in the Palestinian liberation movement? Though the question itself isn’t subversive, it feels that way. There are many considerations, but it’s hard to imagine what a poem can do in the barrel of a gun.
Writer Isabella Hammad discusses her approach to history as a novelist, her sense of political commitment as an artist, and her thoughts on the prospects for Palestinian liberation.
Complicated themes of exile, marginalization, death, and history recur throughout (post)colonial fiction. It is no surprise that Palestinian students in Gaza connect with them on a personal level.
To honor Ghassan Kanafani’s memory, we must demand freedom “from the river to the sea”
July 8, 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani, a towering figure in Palestinian cultural and political life. Haidar Eid writes that Kanfani’s fiction remains essential because it is characterized by a realism that moves us towards a new perception and understanding of art, revolution, and, of course, Palestine.
Yara Hawari’s “The Stone House” is a story of unending Palestinian trauma rooted in the Nakba. However, it is also an expose of steadfastness, resistance, and I dare say – hope.
July 8, 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani, a political and cultural icon of the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian people. We urge all groups, organizations and communities working on Palestine to mark this important anniversary that highlights the immortality of Palestinian resistance and creativity, despite the deliberate policy of targeting and assassination used by the colonizer against Palestinian leaders, freedom fighters and visionaries.
As the current disastrous phase of Anglo-American colonialism sinks even deeper into chaos and anarchy, causing untold suffering in the Arab and Muslim worlds and elsewhere, thoughtful reflection and careful analysis become more urgently needed. Heeding Edward Said’s call, Haider Eid uses literature to “de-orientalize the orient” in Gaza.
Thousands of stories are out there are waiting to be told. Thousands of agonies are screaming to be heard. Every Palestinian story is worth being told.