Bethlehem – Ma’an – Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the assassination of the great Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, who was assassinated by a car bombing in the Lebanese capital Beirut, which turned his body into pieces, in an operation whose echoes still reverberate every time the anniversary of his martyrdom comes.
Kanafani was assassinated on July 8, 1972, in a car bombing in the Hazmieh area near Beirut, along with his niece Lamis.
Ghassan Kanafani lived through the Nakba as a child, and experienced its suffering with all its political and social realities. He established the idea of ??resistance in his literature, and kept pace with the lives of the Palestinians and wrote about their tragedies out of his loyalty to his great humanitarian cause, Palestine, and to other humanitarian causes.
Ghassan Kanafani was born on April 9, 1936 in Acre to a middle-class family. His father was a lawyer.
Kanafani was interested in literature when he was young, and wrote short stories at the age of 19. After
moving to Beirut, he found a place for himself among intellectuals and writers, obtained Lebanese citizenship, and his name shone in the world of writing.
During a relatively short literary career, he wrote 18 books, including short stories, novels, plays, and research.
Ghassan Kanafani devoted his writings to conveying the suffering of the Palestinians in the diaspora, and he emphasized in them that seeking refuge in camps is not a solution for the Palestinian people. In his novel ‘Death in Bed No. 12,’ he wrote how strangers turn into numbers in exile, and live in a state of loneliness without thinking about a collective solution of returning, ‘for they did not feel a sense of belonging, and others did not make them feel that they were Arabs.’
The Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani was also known as a satirical writer and critic of short stories and poetry, something that many people do not know. This was evident in a collection of his newspaper articles that came out in the book ‘Faris Faris’. He said
that writing resistance literature does not mean that the literature should be filled with weapons, slogans and speeches. He explained, ‘To write a successful short story is resistance literature.’
Ghassan Kanafani was not only a writer, but he was also a fighter for his cause, Palestine. The resistance orientation appeared in him since his childhood, and accompanied him in all his literary works and personal life.
Kanafani was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad on July 8, 1972, in a car bomb explosion in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. According to the results of the investigation committee formed by the Popular Front, the explosion was caused by an explosive device estimated to weigh nine kilograms, which was placed under the car seat and exploded when it was activated.
Kanafani left behind his Danish wife, who joined the caravan of fighters for Palestine, and two children, Fayez and Laila.
Source: Maan News Agency
