the diaries of palestine.

Ghassan Kanafani

Ghassan Kanafani was born in Aka city north Palestine in the 9th of April 1936, his family lived in Jaffa city until 1948, in which they fled from due to war.

The 12 years old Ghassan grew up as a refuge, first, his family moved to Lebanon then they moved to Syria where he earned his high school diploma in 1952,
He studied Arabic language and literature at Damascus University but only for a couple of years.

Ghassan's father had a big impact on him, he used to edit articles in newspapers and sometimes writers it.

Ghassan joined the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1953, by the recommendation of Jorge Habash.
He later traveled to work as a teacher in Kuwait in 1955, he kept on learning and reading while he was there, and he worked as an editor in a newspaper using the name (Abo Alizz), he then wrote his first short stories (The stolen shirt) and received his first award for it in a literature competition.

Ghassan moved to Beirut Lebanon in 1960, because he found his literature opportunity there, he worked for (Alhorya) newspaper, and he also wrote a weekly article for (Almohrar) newspaper, his articles drew attention and were known by its depth, it also helped by spreading awareness and enthusiasm toward the Palestinian cause, Ghassan Kinifani became a reference for everyone involved and interested in the cause.

Ghassan's work came from people's suffering and he wrote it for them, he went deep into the feelings of the Palestinian refugee before and after the war, in his novel (Returning to Haifa)1970, he wrote about the deep scars caused by the war, and what the people of Haifa saw in their trip to Aka.

The journey to his home in the district of Halisa on the al-jalil mountain evokes the past as he once knew it.
The dissonance between the remembered Palestinian past and the remade Israeli present of Haifa and its environs creates a continuous diasporic anachronism. The novel deals with two decisive days, one 21 April 1948, the other 30 June 1967; the earlier date relates to the period when the Haganah launched its assault on the city, and Palestinians who were not killed in resistance actions fled.
His private journey as a refuge must have affected him as a writer, as when he wrote (the land of sad orange) in 1963.

Ghassan used to be an energetic person, his working hours lasted at least 10 hours a day!
He had been diagnosed with Diabetes and Gout at a very young age, these two diseases made him spend long painful days in a hospital bed, his brain absorbed the experience and his eyes scanned his surroundings and took in every detail of the incident, so he wrote (Death of bed No. 12) novel in 1963.

Ghassan realized that the Palestinian people were feeling lost before anyone else did, when their cause turned into a daily issue matter and they lived for the sake of a piece of bread for their families instead of finding a solution and fighting to get their land back, they were thrown out of the picture and their cause had been overlooked.

Ghassan went back to Syria from Kuwait in an old van through the hot desert, like the rest of his people, he was destined to suffer the hardest journeys, so he wrote (Men under the sun) in 1963 reflecting on his rough journey which later became a movie called the ( the dupes).

Ghassan realized that fighting back was their only hope, and it can only be done by their own hands, after (Men under the sun) he wrote (All that's left to you) ... And in 1965 he wrote (A world that isn't ours).

One of Ghassan's most famous quotes " You own something in this world... So get up"

In Umm Sa'ad (1969), the impact of his new revolutionary outlook is explicit as he creates the portrait of a mother who encourages her son to take up arms as a resistance fedayee in full awareness that the choice of life might eventuate in his death.

On 8 July 1972, Kanafani, age 36 at the time, was assassinated in Beirut when he turned on the ignition of his car, detonating a grenade which in turn detonated a 3-kilo plastic bomb planted behind the bumper bar. Kanafani was incinerated, together with his seventeen-year-old niece, Lamees Najim. Mossad eventually claimed responsibility.