Ghassan Kanafani
Born in the British Mandate of Palestine in the city of Acre on 9 April 1936, Kanafani and his family were forced to flee to Beirut, with the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. Afterwards, Kanafani and his family settled in Damascus. Kanafani completed his secondary education, receiving a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) teaching certificate in 1952. In the subsequent year, he crossed paths with George Habash, who initiated him into the realm of politics and left a significant impact on his early endeavors. He was later expelled from Damascus due to his political activity in support of Pan-Arabism. He then moved to Kuwait along with his sister in 1956 and they both took teaching positions there. After spending some time in Kuwait as a drawing and sports teacher, Kanafani eventually returned to Beirut where he joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1967, serving as the spokesperson and editor of its newspaper, al-Hadaf.