He was also the first to talk about the so-called 'resistance literature', written by a group of Palestinian writers about a people expelled from their land, displaced by the Occidental colonialism. Along with A World that is Not Ours, published two years later, it is one of the most representative and famous works of his 'first period', written symbolically and characterised by pessimism, when he could not see a solution for his people. Two years later he took over the editorial responsibility of another newspaper, al-Muharrir (The Liberator).ĭemonstrating not only that he was a journalist but also a talented writer, in 1963 he published his novel Men in the Sun to widespread praise. In 1960 he moved to Beirut, becoming even more involved with MAN and editing its newspaper al-Hurriya. There he became interested in Marxism and began his career as a journalist. However, because of his affiliation with MAN (the Movement of Arab Nationalists), he was expelled from University before being able to graduate and experienced his second exile, this time moving to Kuwait. It oriented his interests and solidified his commitments to the 'Palestinian cause'. This was a very important and formative period for him. He studied in Damascus, concluding his secondary school and enrolling in the Arabic Literature faculty at university, and worked as a teacher in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools for Palestinian refugees. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the consequent creation of the state of Israel (known as the Nakba, 'the catastrophe' to Palestinians), his family was forced into exile.Īt first they stayed in Lebanon, hoping to be able to return soon to their homeland, but later they moved to Damascus, Syria, living there as refugees along with many other Palestinians.ĭuring the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the consequent creation of the state of Israel (known as the Nakba, 'the catastrophe' to Palestinians), his family was forced into exile Ghassan Kanafani was born in 1936 in city of Acre, in Palestine. As a novelist he felt compelled to write about what he saw around him, more or less symbolically. 'I became politically committed because I am a novelist, not the opposite,' he once stated. But above all, he was a writer, one of the most important in modern Palestinian literature. Kanafani was a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) he was also a famous journalist, committed to various political and social causes.

Ghassan kanafani translated cake