Ghassan Kanafani

Ghassan Kanafani is regarded as one of the most well-known Arab writers and journalists of the past century. Born in Palestine in 1936, Kanafani and his family were forced to flee his homeland during the Nakba – after which he lived and worked in Damascus, Kuwait and finally, from 1960, Beirut. Kanafani was assassinated in 1972 by a car bomb planted by Israeli agents. His writings have inspired entire generations of Palestinians and those standing in solidarity with their cause. Louis Brehony is an award-winning researcher on political culture, musician, writer and activist. He is the author of Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance and director of the documentary film Kofia: A Revolution Through Music.  Tahrir Hamdi is a Professor of Resistance Literature at the Arab Open University, Jordan. She is author of the prizewinning Imagining Palestine: Cultures of Exile and National Identity, assistant editor of Arab Studies Quarterly and publishes widely on resistance literature and decolonial studies.

Introduction: The Revolutionary Journey of Ghassan Kanafani - Louis Brehony and Tahrir Hamdi

Part I. Revolutionary routes: Arab Nationalism and Socialism

1. On Childhood, Literature, Marxism, the Front and al-Hadaf (1972) - Introduction by Hania A. M. Nashef

2. Yemen and Iraq: One Story or Two? (1964) - Introduction by Patrick Higgins

3. Fares Fares: This is the Famous Professor (1965) - Introduction by As'ad AbuKhalil

Part II. War, Defeat and Revolutionary Critique

4. Resistance is the Essence (1967) - Introduction by Louis Brehony

5. Thoughts on Change and the 'Blind Language' (1968) - Introduction by Rabab Abdulhadi

6. Will the September Settlement Surprise Us? (1969) - Introduction by Louis Brehony

Part III. 'The Target.' Building the Marxist-Leninist Front

7. Excerpts from Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine (1969) - Introduction by Khaled Barakat

8. The Resistance and its Challenges: View of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (1970) - Introduction by Max Ajl

9. The Underlying Synthesis of the Revolution: Document on the Organisational Weapon (1971) - Introduction by Wissam Rafeedie

10. On the PFLP and the September Crisis (1971) - Introduction by Thomas Hofland

Part IV. Kanafani and the Media

11. "A conversation between the sword and the neck" (1970) - Introduction by Romana Rubeo

12. Denmark: A Study in Media Experience (1972) - Introduction by Ibrahim Aoude

13. Concerning the Case of Abu Hamidu: Issues of Media 'Exchange' with the Enemy (1972) - Introduction by Asma Hussain

Part V. Intifadas of Thought: Looking to the Future

14. The Secret Alliance Between Saudi Arabia and Israel (1970) - Introduction by Nafez Ghneim

15. Towards a Constructive Dialogue on Palestinian National Unity (1969) - Introduction by Tahrir Hamdi

16. The Armed Action Unit: In Light of Recent Developments (1969) - Introduction by Tahrir Hamdi

Appendix: Reflections on the Early Works of Ghassan Kanafani - Amira Silmi, Romana Rubeo, Ramzy Baroud and Malek Abisaab, Introduction by Louis Brehony