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Ghassan Kanafani: Selected Political Writings
Ghassan Kanafani (1936 – 1972) is perhaps the greatest Palestinian novelist, whose books including Men in the Sun and Returning to Haifa documented the horrors of war and occupation. His literature was deeply inspired by his life as a political thinker, strategist and revolutionary. Here, his writings on theory and contemporary politics are collected for the first time.
From reflections on his readings of Marxist theory, to historical studies and blazing analyses of contemporary geopolitical developments, this collection shows a fascinating intellectual evolution and a commitment to the fight for liberation.
Containing new commentary from leading contemporary writers, this collection is a testament to Kanafani's continuing relevance. Like many of his peers, Kanafani was assassinated by agents of Israel, but the impact of his work remains a testament to the power of revolutionary Palestinian struggle and anti-Zionist Arab thought.
From reflections on his readings of Marxist theory, to historical studies and blazing analyses of contemporary geopolitical developments, this collection shows a fascinating intellectual evolution and a commitment to the fight for liberation.
Containing new commentary from leading contemporary writers, this collection is a testament to Kanafani's continuing relevance. Like many of his peers, Kanafani was assassinated by agents of Israel, but the impact of his work remains a testament to the power of revolutionary Palestinian struggle and anti-Zionist Arab thought.
328 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 2024
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About the author
Ghassan Kanafani
94 books2,136 followersGhassan Kanafani (Arabic: غسان كنفاني)
Ghassan Kanafani was a Palestinian journalist, fiction writer, and a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Kanafani died at the age of 36, assassinated by car bomb in Beirut, By the Israeli Mossad
Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani was born in Acre in Palestine (then under the British mandate) in 1936. His father was a lawyer, and sent Ghassan to a French missionary school in Jaffa. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Kanafani and his family fled to Lebanon, but soon moved on to Damascus, Syria, to live there as Palestinian refugees.
After studying Arabic literature at the University of Damascus, Kanafani became a teacher at the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. There, he began writing short stories, influenced by his contact with young children and their experiences as stateless citizens.
In 1960 he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he became the editor of several newspapers, all with an Arab nationalist affiliation. In Beirut, he published the novel Men in the Sun (1962). He also published extensively on literature and politics, focusing on the the Palestinian liberation movement and the refugee experience, as well as engaging in scholarly literary criticism, publishing several books about post-1948 Palestinian and Israeli literature.
Ghassan Kanafani was a Palestinian journalist, fiction writer, and a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Kanafani died at the age of 36, assassinated by car bomb in Beirut, By the Israeli Mossad
Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani was born in Acre in Palestine (then under the British mandate) in 1936. His father was a lawyer, and sent Ghassan to a French missionary school in Jaffa. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Kanafani and his family fled to Lebanon, but soon moved on to Damascus, Syria, to live there as Palestinian refugees.
After studying Arabic literature at the University of Damascus, Kanafani became a teacher at the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. There, he began writing short stories, influenced by his contact with young children and their experiences as stateless citizens.
In 1960 he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he became the editor of several newspapers, all with an Arab nationalist affiliation. In Beirut, he published the novel Men in the Sun (1962). He also published extensively on literature and politics, focusing on the the Palestinian liberation movement and the refugee experience, as well as engaging in scholarly literary criticism, publishing several books about post-1948 Palestinian and Israeli literature.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 18, 2024
“The Palestinian cause is not a cause for Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary, wherever he is, as a cause of the exploited and oppressed masses in our era.”
— Ghassan Kanafani
— Ghassan Kanafani
May 28, 2025
An excellent collection of Kanafani's political writings, spanning from essays, speeches, and journalistic work to revolutionary ideas regarding the Palestinian liberation. Kanafani connects the latter with overall destruction of Zionism, imperialism, and colonialism.
As Kanafani puts it: "The Palestinian cause is not a cause of Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary, wherever they are, as a cause of the exploited and oppressed masses in our era."
His texts reveal what type of a great thinker Kanafani was for which he was killed by Golda Meyer's Mossad. His socialist ideas are enchanting to say the least.
The editors have provided some context to understand his text but I should say that for a full comprehension, one needs to be a step further into that filed. That is to say, researchers of this cause would benefit more from this collection than an ordinary reader.
As Kanafani puts it: "The Palestinian cause is not a cause of Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary, wherever they are, as a cause of the exploited and oppressed masses in our era."
His texts reveal what type of a great thinker Kanafani was for which he was killed by Golda Meyer's Mossad. His socialist ideas are enchanting to say the least.
The editors have provided some context to understand his text but I should say that for a full comprehension, one needs to be a step further into that filed. That is to say, researchers of this cause would benefit more from this collection than an ordinary reader.
January 27, 2025
This is way overdue, I can't believe it took this long to be published.
I've frustratingly been seeing covers of PFLP publications posted on social media for years but none of the text, so this volume is very welcome. I'm really glad to see it being made more accessible, along with the ideas.
I've frustratingly been seeing covers of PFLP publications posted on social media for years but none of the text, so this volume is very welcome. I'm really glad to see it being made more accessible, along with the ideas.
January 7, 2025
"History is not produced by a magic wand but is transformed by the masses who understand it and are determined to change it." -Ghassan Kanafani
February 13, 2025
It's hard to overstate the authority, prescience, and conviction present in Kanafani's writings. Truly one of the greatest to ever do it.
July 8, 2025
pro pal activism in west should look to kanafani's writings to find there the blazing, guiding star it desperately needs.
October 27, 2025
Wie sich endlich mit dieser verdienstvollen Sammlung herausstellt, war Kanafani nicht „nur“ ein großer Literat sondern auch ein sehr starker politischer Denker und Theoretiker, der uns noch heute wichtige Hinweise geben kann. Stark von der chinesischen Revolution und Mao, dem vietnamesischen Volkskrieg und dem Lukács von Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein beeinflusst sind für ihn die Massen, Praxis, Demokratie, Organisation, das Denken der gesellschaftlichen Totalität und die strategische Perspektive zentral.
Die Kritik, die er an der arabisch-palästinensischen Befreiungsbewegung äußert, liest sich mehr noch wie eine Kritik an der gesamten kommunistischen Bewegung, wie wir uns heute in ihr wiederfinden. Jede:r denkende Marxist:in wird hier Erkenntnismomente erleben. Und wenngleich es verfehlt wäre, konkrete Antworten von Kanafani zu erwarten (die können wir nur selbst erarbeiten, im einheitlichen Prozess von Theorie und Tätigkeit), gibt er uns doch wichtige allgemeine Hinweise in methodologischer wie prinzipieller Hinsicht.
Für mich ist der Band wirklich ein bedeutendes Erlebnis. Er macht uns meines Erachtens einen Theoretiker zugänglich, der ähnliche Potentiale birgt, wie wir sie etwa bei Cabral, Gramsci, Luxemburg und Mariategui (neben den bekannteren Großköpfen) finden. Zugleich muss man auch sagen, dass sich gerade die spannendsten Texte recht sperrig und schwammig lesen. Es ist für mich nicht ganz klar, ob das an der Übersetzung liegt, oder ob Kanafani sich bei der Vermittlung höherer Abstraktionsebenen schwertat.
Neben den Texten selbst wurde der Band auch mit viel Liebe und Mühe erarbeitet. Es gibt eine allgemeine Einleitung, zusätzlich zu kurzen, kontextualisierenden Einleitungen zu jedem Text. Mehrere Anhänge, in denen auf frühe Texte von Kanafani eingegangen wird sowie ein Register ergänzen die Ausstattung. Die Herausgeber haben sich nach eigener Aussage vorgenommen, so etwas wie Kanafani-Studien zu begründen. Sie haben hier durchaus eine gute Grundlage dafür gelegt, wenngleich klar sein sollte, dass man ihm durch die Weiterführung der Revolution am ehesten gerecht wird.
Die Kritik, die er an der arabisch-palästinensischen Befreiungsbewegung äußert, liest sich mehr noch wie eine Kritik an der gesamten kommunistischen Bewegung, wie wir uns heute in ihr wiederfinden. Jede:r denkende Marxist:in wird hier Erkenntnismomente erleben. Und wenngleich es verfehlt wäre, konkrete Antworten von Kanafani zu erwarten (die können wir nur selbst erarbeiten, im einheitlichen Prozess von Theorie und Tätigkeit), gibt er uns doch wichtige allgemeine Hinweise in methodologischer wie prinzipieller Hinsicht.
Für mich ist der Band wirklich ein bedeutendes Erlebnis. Er macht uns meines Erachtens einen Theoretiker zugänglich, der ähnliche Potentiale birgt, wie wir sie etwa bei Cabral, Gramsci, Luxemburg und Mariategui (neben den bekannteren Großköpfen) finden. Zugleich muss man auch sagen, dass sich gerade die spannendsten Texte recht sperrig und schwammig lesen. Es ist für mich nicht ganz klar, ob das an der Übersetzung liegt, oder ob Kanafani sich bei der Vermittlung höherer Abstraktionsebenen schwertat.
Neben den Texten selbst wurde der Band auch mit viel Liebe und Mühe erarbeitet. Es gibt eine allgemeine Einleitung, zusätzlich zu kurzen, kontextualisierenden Einleitungen zu jedem Text. Mehrere Anhänge, in denen auf frühe Texte von Kanafani eingegangen wird sowie ein Register ergänzen die Ausstattung. Die Herausgeber haben sich nach eigener Aussage vorgenommen, so etwas wie Kanafani-Studien zu begründen. Sie haben hier durchaus eine gute Grundlage dafür gelegt, wenngleich klar sein sollte, dass man ihm durch die Weiterführung der Revolution am ehesten gerecht wird.
August 7, 2025
Brilliant, essential.
There's his stirring advocacy of resistance in the famous "Conversation Between the Sword and the Neck." When a Western journalists remarks that being starved and in camps is better than being dead, Kanafani retorts: "Maybe to you, but to us, it is not. To us, to liberate our country to have dignity, to have respect, to have our mere human rights is something as essential as life itself" (198).
And moments of analytic suppleness. For instance, when talking about a state Kanafani clarifies that "The demand for 'land,' in my view, should be accompanied by a demand to create new relationships among Palestinians, as well as between them and Arab states." Then he goes on to speculate on the possible dangers of a Palestinian state: "[I]t will be an excuse for the international public opinion to liquidate the Palestinian cause, based on the erroneous understanding that the Palestinian cause is a refugee issue." When we say things like 'Free Palestine,' he demands we think hard about what that must mean, that slogans not be empty or language blind.
Anyway, read it.
There's his stirring advocacy of resistance in the famous "Conversation Between the Sword and the Neck." When a Western journalists remarks that being starved and in camps is better than being dead, Kanafani retorts: "Maybe to you, but to us, it is not. To us, to liberate our country to have dignity, to have respect, to have our mere human rights is something as essential as life itself" (198).
And moments of analytic suppleness. For instance, when talking about a state Kanafani clarifies that "The demand for 'land,' in my view, should be accompanied by a demand to create new relationships among Palestinians, as well as between them and Arab states." Then he goes on to speculate on the possible dangers of a Palestinian state: "[I]t will be an excuse for the international public opinion to liquidate the Palestinian cause, based on the erroneous understanding that the Palestinian cause is a refugee issue." When we say things like 'Free Palestine,' he demands we think hard about what that must mean, that slogans not be empty or language blind.
Anyway, read it.
December 2, 2025
Ghassan Kanafani is one of the most influential and important voices within Palestinian literature. As a key figure within the PFLP's information sector, Ghassan is a unique voice. He wrote fervently, dedicating his every action to revolutionary zeal, his soul to revolutionary prose, his imagination to materially conscious fiction, and his ultimate assassination by the IOF is another tally to their list of unforgiveable crimes. This collection contains a wonder selection of his texts, including a considerable section from the Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine, which is a must-read. For anyone conscious of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, reading the work of Ghassan Kanafani, one of Palestine's foremost martyrs, is a must.
November 7, 2024
I'm slowly reading this right now, but I felt it was necessary to leave an early rating and review for the GOAT, Ghassan Kanafani. I remember watching his famous 'sword and the neck' interview and being absolutely mesmerized by the lucidity of his analysis.
The assassination of Palestinian figures by the settler-colonial apartheid regime of 'Israel' is no secret. In recent months since its genocidal escalation on the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, we have seen countless personalities assassinated. These figures were killed due to the culture of resistance which they have helped to cultivate. Ghassan was assassinated due to his leading role in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (then one of the largest resistance groups apart from the PLO) as its spokesperson, Refaata Alareer was killed after he correctly called the Oct. 7 Campaign as the Gaza Ghetto Uprising, and Ismail Haniyeh was targeted and killed on foreign soil, despite the fact that he was the loudest proponent in the resistance who called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage exchange.
What the regime fails to understand is that martyrdom is the greatest honour any person can ever hope to achieve. For even in death, Ghassan's words continue to ring as ammunition for the resistance.
The assassination of Palestinian figures by the settler-colonial apartheid regime of 'Israel' is no secret. In recent months since its genocidal escalation on the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, we have seen countless personalities assassinated. These figures were killed due to the culture of resistance which they have helped to cultivate. Ghassan was assassinated due to his leading role in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (then one of the largest resistance groups apart from the PLO) as its spokesperson, Refaata Alareer was killed after he correctly called the Oct. 7 Campaign as the Gaza Ghetto Uprising, and Ismail Haniyeh was targeted and killed on foreign soil, despite the fact that he was the loudest proponent in the resistance who called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage exchange.
What the regime fails to understand is that martyrdom is the greatest honour any person can ever hope to achieve. For even in death, Ghassan's words continue to ring as ammunition for the resistance.
January 21, 2025
Great book that shows the evolution of Kanafani's political thought. I especially appreciated the insights on the Palestinian struggle during his life, and more specifically it's relationship to the surrounding Arab countries and their government. With that in mind, there were a few essays where it was a little hard to parse what exactly he was saying, and I think readers would have benefited from a little more background in the introductions.
Only other thought is that, given the availability of "Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine," I would have preferred that space have been used for another of his pieces not as widely known and translated. But, that's a small thing overall.
Only other thought is that, given the availability of "Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine," I would have preferred that space have been used for another of his pieces not as widely known and translated. But, that's a small thing overall.
June 16, 2025
Essential for anyone who wants to properly understand the Palestinian liberation struggle. A great man who writes clearly. I will certainly be reading his fiction and non-fiction whenever i have the chance.
January 29, 2025
The best part of this collection were Kanafani's political analysis writings on specific events as well as his interviews. His theoretical writings were a bit harder to get through.
October 23, 2025
I mean obviously he’s a genius and this book was really well curated!
December 19, 2025
Some of the contributors’ introductions fail to provide unbiased context
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews