Democratic Palestine : 18 (ص 32)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 18 (ص 32)
- المحتوى
-
tool, going beyond the general to exa-
mine the specific. He was courageous in
terms of discarding old methods of
thought and introducing new ideas.
There are many examples of his analy-
tical ability in his writing about the
1936-9 revolt in Palestine, which
brought new understanding of this
turning point in the Palestinian
national struggle. For example, he
compared the role of the feudalist class
to that of the urban bourgeoisie,
noting:
«It is significant that Palestinian
Arab advocates of conciliation, who
became outspoken during the thirties,
were not landlords or rich peasants, but
rather elements of the urban upper
bourgeoisie whose interests gradually
coincided with the expanding interests
of the Jewish bourgeoisie. The latter,
by controlling the process of industria-
lization, was creating its own agents.»
This is an interesting point which
might not be discovered by the casual
observer. One might automatically
assume that the feudal class would be
the most reactionary, but due to the
specifics of the Palestine conflict,
where the Zionists focused on grabbing
the land, the classes with attachment to
the land were threatened and their
political position was molded accor-
dingly. Of course, this applied even
more to the peasants who were a main
force in the revolt.
Ghassan’s historical writings, as in
the analysis of the 1936-9 revolt, were
not merely academic exercises. Ghassan
once said, «The goal of education is to
correct the march of history. For this
reason, we need to study history and
apprehend its dialectics in order to
build a new historical era...» Ghassan’s
political writings illuminate the dialec-
tics of history in order to provide gui-
delines for future strategy and tactics.
His analysis of the 1936-9 revolt was, in
fact, intended as the first part of a
study of the history of the Palestinian
national movement in its successive
phases. This project was cut short by
Ghassan’s untimely death.
INTRODUCING THE POETS
OF RESISTANCE :
Another one of Ghassan’s contribu-
tions. -was. introducing the poets of
resistance in occupied Palestine, to the
Palestinians in exile and to the Arab
world in general. He worked to spread
the poems of Mahmoud Darwish,
Samih Al Qassem and others. Today
they are famous, but this was not
always the case. Samih Al Qassem
‘noted Ghassan’s role, saying, «With
the existence of Ghassan, we felt that
someone cared about us.» Since then,
the writings of these poets of resistance
have played an important role in con-
veying the Palestinian situation to the
international audience, as have the sto-
ries of Ghassan which have been trans-
lated into several languages.
Ghassan also thought that it is
important to know the Zionist litera-
ture in order to better understand the
nature of the enemy. He was the first
Arab writer to interprete Zionist litera-
ture published in occupied Palestine.
NATIONALISM AND
INTERNATIONALISM
Ghassan was a Palestinian nationa-
list because it was in this way he could
serve the cause of internationalism. He
said: «Imperialism has layed its body
over the world, the head in Eastern
Asia, the heart in the Middle East, its
arteries reaching Africa and Latin
America. Wherever you strike it, you
damage it, and you serve the world
revolution... 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.»
Poster by Ghassan Kanafani - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 18
- تاريخ
- أغسطس ١٩٨٦
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Not viewed