Kamal Nasser

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Kamal Nasser (1925–April 9/April 10, 1973) was a Palestinian writer, poet and militant.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Nasser was born in Gaza to a family from Bir Zeit near Ramallah. He was educated at Bir Zeit school (now Bir Zeit University) and the American University of Beirut. Later he worked as a teacher while studying law in Jerusalem. In the period following Israeli independence Nasser worked as a journalist.

[edit] Political life

He was responsible for producing the al-Ba‘ath newspaper from Ramallah and also set up al-Jil al-Jadid, a literary periodical. In 1956 he was elected to Jordanian parliament as Ba‘ath member for Ramallah district. He did not serve out his term as a result of his expulsion from Parliament during the subsequent martial law period in Jordan. Expelled from West Bank by Israel in 1967, Nasser became editor of PLO newspaper, Filastin al-Thawra. In addition, at that time he became a member of PLO Executive Committee from February 1969 through July of 1971 serving as an official with the office of National Guidance.

[edit] Exile

Nasser was assassinated by IDF commandos in the 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon (Operation Spring of Youth), on the night of April 9/April 10, 1973. One of the assassins was reportedly Ehud Barak, dressed up as a woman, who later became prime minister of Israel [1].

[edit] Trivia

The main auditorium of Bir Zeit University is named after him.

[edit] Writings

Jirah Tughanni (Singing Wounds) 1960

From the poem "Letter to Fadwa":

If my songs should reach you

despite the narrow skies around me,

remember that I will return to life,

to the quest for liberty,

remember that my people may call on my soul

and feel it rising again from the folds of the earth.