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- Country of residence: Palestine
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Literature in all its forms - poetry, theatre, stories, novels, as well as literary criticism - is in itself considered one of the pillars of the Palestinian national identity that has been embodied throughout the long history of Palestine. In this context, we bring to mind the biographies of two Palestinian models in poetry and literary criticism, namely the late poet Youssef Al-Khatib and the late critic Hossam Al-Khatib. Youssef Al-Khatib
The Palestinian poet Youssef Al-Khatib was born in the city of Dura, Hebron District, in 1931. He received his primary education in its schools, then moved to complete his secondary studies in the city of Hebron. He then worked for a short period in a local newspaper in Jordan before heading to Damascus in 1951, where he joined the Faculty of Law at the Syrian University and graduated from it in 1955 with a degree in law and a diploma in public law. During his university studies, Youssef Al-Khatib joined the Arab Socialist Baath Party. In the year 1955, the students of the Syrian University published his first collection of poetry entitled Eyes Thirsty for Light, which is the title of the poem that won first prize in the Literature Magazine Competition, which was organized throughout the Arab world at that time.
He worked on Jordanian Radio until 1957, when he left Jordan following the crisis of Suleiman al-Nabulsi’s government and joined the Syrian Radio. During this period, he published his second collection of poems, titled Returning, in 1959. Following the persecution of the Baathists during the Syrian-Egyptian unity, he took refuge in Beirut, and from there to the Netherlands, where he worked in the Arabic section of Radio Netherlands International. But he returned to Iraq following the February 8 revolution and from there to Syria, where he settled permanently.
Shortly after his return, he published his third collection of poems, entitled One Hell, in 1964, and in 1965 he assumed the position of Director General of the General Authority for Radio and Television. But he gave up his government job permanently in 1966, to establish the Palestine House for Culture, Media and Arts, from which he issued a number of publications, the most important of which was his issuance of the Palestinian Memorandum between the years 1967-1976.
In the same year that Al-Khatib left government work, he participated in the work of the founding body of the Arab Writers Union in Syria, and contributed to drawing up its bylaws and bylaws. In 1968, he was chosen unanimously by the Palestinian national forces and activities at that time as a member of the Palestinian National Council (representing the independents), and he maintained this position until his death. He also participated in the founding general conference of the Palestinian Writers and Journalists Union held in Beirut and was elected to represent the Union’s General Secretariat.
In 1988, Youssef Al-Khatib published two collections of poetry, one entitled “In the Levant, My Family” and “Al-Hawa Baghdad” and the other entitled “I Saw God in Gaza.” They are the last written collections published by the poet. It should be noted here that in 1983, the poet published the first audio collection in the Arab world on four cassette tapes under the title “The Crazy of Palestine.” He died in Damascus in 2011, and a funeral was held for him at Dar Al-Saada in Damascus on 17-19/2011.
Among his collections are: Eyes Thirsty for Light - published by a group of Syrian University students in 1955. Returning - published by the Lebanese House of Arts, 1959. Oasis of Hell - published by the Lebanese House of Vanguards in 1964. Crazy Palestine: an audio collection - published by Dar Palestine, 1983. I Saw God in Gaza - For Dar Palestine in Damascus in 1988. In the Levant, My Family and Al-Hawa, Baghdad - for Dar Palestine in Damascus in 1988. The late poet also published in 1968 a book entitled Diwan of the Occupied Homeland, which includes a collection of poems and collections by poets of occupied Palestine in 1948, such as Mahmoud Darwish, Samih Al-Qasim, and Tawfiq. Ziad, in addition to a study by the poet about the poetic movement in occupied Palestine.
The poet published a single collection of short stories entitled Subversive Elements in 1964 by the Modern Library in Lebanon, in addition to a literary scenario entitled The Kafr Qasim Massacre. Al-Khatib was keen to translate this scenario into English, French, and German. The Palestinian Notebook is considered the most prominent, most influential and well-established publication of Dar Filastin. in the memory. Al-Khatib recorded a diary of the Palestinian issue in it, based on a number of important references on this issue. He continued to issue it for nine years (from 1967-1976) in five international languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and German.
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