Omar Abu Shawish

Omar Fares Abu Shawish
عمر فارس أبو شاويش
Born
Omar Fares Omar Abu Shawish

(1987-03-22)22 March 1987
Nuseirat Camp, Gaza Strip
Died7 October 2023(2023-10-07) (aged 36)
Nuseirat Camp, Gaza Strip
Occupation(s)Poet, novelist and social activist

Omar Fares Abu Shawish (Arabic: عمر فارس أبو شاويش; 22 March 1987 – 7 October 2023) was a Palestinian poet and novelist. He was a well-known social activist at the Nuseirat refugee camp. He was killed at the refugee camp by an Israeli airstrike in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[1]

Biography

Abu Shawish was born in the Nuseirat refugee camp on 22 March 1987.[2] His family are refugees from Barqa, Gaza, which was occupied and depopulated on 13 May 1948 during Operation Barak, a Yishuv offensive in southern Palestine just prior to the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[3] He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Al-Azhar University, Gaza.[2] He was a member of the General Union for Palestinian Writers and the People's Committee for Refugees.[4] He was a co-founder of the Palestine Youth Cultural Network. He also wrote a number of patriotic and humanitarian songs, which spread widely during the Gaza War (2008–2009).[2]

He won several local and international awards, including:[2]

  • “Best National Song of the Year 2007” award at the International Festival of National Song and Heritage in Jordan
  • “Distinguished Volunteer and Ideal Young” award in 2010 within the National Festival honoring Palestinian volunteers, at the initiative of the Sharek Youth Forum in Palestine and sponsored by the Palestinian Supreme Council for Youth and Sports
  • “Distinguished Arab Youth in the Field of Media, Journalism and Culture” award for the year 2013 by the Arab Youth Council for Integrated Development of the Arab League.[5]

He published a number of collections of poetry, and a novel, titled 'Alā qayd al-mawt (Arabic: على قيد الموت), which was published by Bayt al-Yasmin in 2016.[6] His novel was critically received in Palestine.[7][8] The book was republished by Al Manhal in 2018.

On 7 October 2023, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike which hit his home in Nuseirat Camp during the Israel–Hamas war.[9][10]

Works

  • ‏على قيد الموت (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Bayt al-Yāsmı̄n lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzı̄ʼ. 2016. ISBN 978-977-6402-97-3. LCCN 2016357899. OCLC 1026644340. OL 44527504M.

References

  1. ^ "رفقاءُ على درب الريشة والكلمة والصورة والشهادة.. إنهم يخرجون من غزّة فقط ليرتقوا إلى السّماء". el-Ayem News (in Arabic). 24 October 2023. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "فوز الشاعر عمر فارس أبو شاويش بجائزة الشباب العربي المتميز". Al Watan Voice (in Arabic). 14 November 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  3. ^ Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 83. ISBN 0-88728-224-5. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  4. ^ "الامن الداخلي يستدعي أحد العاملين باللجنة الشعبية للاجئين من مخيم النصيرات". Mezan (in Arabic). Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. 1 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. ^ "منح الناشط الفلسطيني عمر ابو شاويش جائزة "الشباب العربي المتميز" فى مجال الاعلام الالكتروني". Falestinona (in Arabic). 12 November 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  6. ^ ""على قيد الموت" رواية جديدة للكاتب عمر فارس أبو شاويش". Real Media (in Arabic). 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. ^ "توقيع رواية "على قيد الموت" للكاتب والشاعر عمر فارس أبو شاويش". Maan News (in Arabic). 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. ^ ""على قيد الموت" رواية جديدة للشاعر عمر فارس أبو شاويش ". Amad (in Arabic). 6 November 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Authors and translators trapped in Gaza Strip". Comma Press. 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  10. ^ "National Press Club Statement on Journalist Safety in Gaza/Israel". PR Newswire. National Press Club. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.