Ghassan Kanafani

Ghassan Kanafani was born in Acre, Palestine - while it still was Palestine. His father was a lawyer. Right before the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli War the whole family fled north. After living in a Lebanese village just by the border, in hope of a possibility of returning they moved to Syria after the borders were closed due to the cease fire agreement, and finally settled down in Damaskus. Young Ghassan had to help feeding his family of eight. By taking part of evening classes he graduated in 1955.

He then moved to Kuwait, like many Palestinians before him. It was there he began to write. His writing illustrated the life of the Palestinian people. Their miserable lives. Their exile. And later on; their struggle. In 1961 he moved to Beirut, Libanon. Their he wrote his most famous novel; Men under the sun. It was later made to a movie by the name al-Makhdu'un, or The Dupes.

Alongside his writing career, he was a activist for the Palestinian cause. He was a member of dr. George Habash's Arabic Nationalist Movement (ANM) faction, which later became Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). 1963 Kanfani became editor in chief of ANM's newspaper, al-Muharrir. In 1967 ANM became PFLP. They made Marxism-Leninism their official ideology. Two years later, Kanafani founded the new movements official newspaper, al-Hadaf (The Target). al-Hadaf still exists, as the official voice of PFLP.

The 8th of July, 1972 Kanafani entered his car as he was headed for the office for al-Hadaf. The car was rigged with a bomb, and he died instantly. His pen was as threatening to Israel as the guerrillas rifles, if not more. His legacy lives on among the Palestinians, and he is considered one of the greatest modern Arabic authors.