Ghassan Kanafani and the Urgent Questions of our Day

be considered the most contemporary of all Palestinian writers.Despite his assassination nearly 52 years ago, his writing, style, analysis, and incisive vision remain as sharp today as ever, and the questions he raises remain the central questions for our Palestinian liberation movement, for the Arab cause, and for internationalists everywhere.This is particularly true of the past seven months, since the great battle of October, amid the ongoing Zionist genocide in Gaza.In his writing, Kanafani returns to Gaza time and again, contributing art and posters, political analysis, novels, and short stories, all inspired by the Palestinian people in Gaza, and by the siege, impoverishment, and occupation they confronted -and the resistance they forged and engendered, and which they continue today.We see in Kanafani's work how his revolutionary political thoughts were relevant then and remain, perhaps, more relevant than ever: when we look at the posters he designed, calling for support for the Palestinian resistance and to break the siege on Gaza; when we see his drawings of the battles of Maghazi; when we read his writings on the active resistance in Gaza and how he perceived it, it is as if any of these could have been designed, drawn or written today.Not just in his political articles and thoughts, but also in his art and novels.Kanafani often expressed political thoughts through literature, and even described himself as a novelist trying to make a political statement.When he wrote his second novel, All That's Left to You, 1 he spoke about the conditions of siege in Gaza.This novel was written nearly 60 years ago, and yet it still powerfully conveyed the presence of siege, the ever-present threat of the occupation, and the resonant dream of liberation.His portrayal of siege was not confined to the military and material aspects, but also to what he called the "psychological siege" imposed on Gaza.Kanafani visited Gaza only once, and realized then how well-known he was, and how widely his writing was known.He wrote on November 29, 1966:I am more well-known here [in Gaza] and I, would almost say, much more "beloved" than I expected, and this is something that usually embarrasses me,