Ghassan Kanafani
8th July, 1972. Very few people have managed to inspire generations of Palestinians as much as Ghasan did. To me, he is one of two such individuals who represented the height of cultural and literary input in the Palestinian revolution. The second person, Naji Al-Ali, awaits another post later this month.
He is by far the most progressive of Palestinian writers. He wrote without fear of rejection or criticism. He articulated our thoughts so eloquontly when he posed the ever-unanswerable questions of what is a homeland, in Returning to Haifa. He also identified the way forward in the tragedy of Men in the Sun. Rarely has anyone asked, answered and left open so many questions on a homeland, justice, nostalgia, the revolution as Kanafani did.
He was clear as to what he wanted. Murderers, however, did not allow him to finish what he started. An Israeli hand was playing in Beirut on that summer day.
The picture (edited) is courtesy of http://bethlehemghetto.blogspot.com. an excellent blog from Bethlehem.