Ghassan Kanafani...The Eternal
Written by Mahmoud Shukair
Tamer Institute for Community Education published the book "Ghassan Kanafani... Forever", text and writing by Mr. Mahmoud Shuqair, in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Culture and the Palestine Forum for Arabic Fiction on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of the creator Ghassan Kanafani. The book tells part of Ghassan's life story, addressing young men and women.
The biography tells about Ghassan Kanafani through the words and eyes of Mahmoud Choucair, and it tells us snapshots of his life, in which he deals with how Ghassan believed that children are our future, reviewing his positions with children and how he cares about them and their opinions and the importance of their voice in life. The novel reviews several stories about Ghassan, in which he stresses the importance of taking stances and meanings that explain his phrase, "Don't die before you become a rival," in addition to various snapshots of his life.
The events of the story coincide with and around Ghassan, and about Jerusalem and Beirut and his journey, and tell it all in a narrative literary manner suitable for girls and boys, so that they live in it the stories of Ghassan and with him, without the boring direct teaching side. As Choucair uses the dialogue with the child inside him and all of us to simulate the life and stories of Ghassan. Shukair tells the story simply and smoothly, directing the readers' eyes to Greater Palestine, which includes all of Palestine, and that Palestine is the past and the present, and the most important thing to come is the Palestine of the future, which is made by young men and women together. This biography brings Ghassan Kanafani closer to the youth and addresses them directly to remember him and review him in a manner that suits them and opens horizons for thinking, questioning, and continuous research about Palestinian creators, their work, their daily attitudes, and their methods of dealing with the situations they went through.
After the issuance of this book, the Tamer Foundation will launch the book in the presence of its writer, Mahmoud Shukair, and multiple readings by specialists and critics of this biography and Kanafani's works in general, as well as artistic productions by youth groups. The project also includes the issuance of a special issue of Taif magazine, issued by the Tamer Foundation, bearing these articles and artworks. The biography will also be translated into English and a comic book inspired by Ghassan's writings will be published. The youth teams will also produce podcasts to discuss Ghassan's biography and work. This biography will be distributed to community libraries in Palestine, and it will be read and discussed with young people in these libraries and with youth groups and with female librarians and librarians, to open the door to questioning and continuous research for a deeper reflection on his life and career, to build on it ideas and new areas of work, and to return and read Ghassan more and more.
