Annual Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship

We are proud to continue the Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship for the year 2022 in North America in partnership with Zatoun, olive oil from Palestine.

This year, on the 50th Anniversary of Ghassan Kanafani’s Assassination, we are proud to announce that the scholarship is expanding into Britain, Sweden, and Italy. Stay tuned for submission deadline in your region.

The North America Scholarship is now open!

2022 Scholarship Theme

Wherever We Are: 

Reviving Identity on the New Frontlines

“I’m looking for the true Palestine, the Palestine that’s more than memories, more than peacock feathers, more than a son, more than scars written by bullets on the stairs.” - Ghassan Kanafani, Return to Haifa

“Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative obscurity.” -Frantz Fanon, Wretched of the Earth

The era of the Unity Intifada, the focus of last year’s Resistance Arts Scholarship and the spark of renewed conviction and resistance for Palestinians all around the world, also highlighted another era, one that has existed in the shadows of the disastrous Oslo Accords, which foregrounds our struggle as a new generation.

The loud-ringing and familiar questions of who am I, where do I belong and what is my role in the fight for Palestine took a different form for all Palestinian youth in exile as youth amassed on the frontlines in Palestine and in demonstrations throughout the diaspora. These are questions too often answered by familiar symbols, the clamor of identity crisis and identity politics, in the wake of assimilation, defeatism, and tokenization of “Palestinian-ness”, which we inherit from the severing of our collective society and the pressures of survival. When we grapple with our identities in crisis, it is one drenched in political implications, emotional shrapnel, nostalgia and more than a century of resistance. Reclaiming our rich and vibrant legacy of Palestinian struggle and youth leadership in our national liberation struggle, the courage and ingenuity of our cause, is the very lineage that holds the keys to unlocking necessary answers to these questions in crisis.

Our current generation of Palestinian youth in exile are experiencing increasing level of alienation from our homeland, especially in the Global North or “the West”. Unlike our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, who could participate in Palestinian national politics, our generation is denied the pathway to inform our own struggle and engage in meaningful participation in our national politics from wherever we exist, something that has demarcated our history as Palestinian people and for which we are known throughout the world. Our generation is faced with current questions about who we are and our role in the movement because of the vacuum left by the Oslo Accords. In the pursuit of defining, understanding and grappling with who we are, we are called to create what can be through relearning the history of what was.

This year we ask you, Palestinian youth, where do we go from here?

Full theme can be found here.

The Details

The top 3 submissions win scholarship prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250.

The top 20 pieces will be published in a physical print and online anthology.

The Story

Ghassan Kanafani is a Palestinian novelist and iconic national hero. His writings tell the story of Palestine and Palestinians, creating a human connection to our experiences of struggle, exile, love, and loss. Despite his passing decades ago, his writing is still very relevant to our current condition. He captured the popular imagination, not just of Palestinians and Arabs, but of the world, a feat that would ultimately lead to his untimely death. The Israeli government felt so threatened by the power of his word, that they assassinated him and his niece Lamees, on July 8, 1972, in his home of exile in Beirut, Lebanon. He was only 34 years old. His memory and the legacy of his writings however, live on in the hearts and minds of many around the world. We hope that this scholarship will honor Kanafani's legacy by continuing to speak freely and truthfully about our history, our present, and our future struggle.

This scholarship aims to provide a space to re-engage the Palestinian narrative and explore the complexity of our identity in the shataat,* and how our existence relates and connects to other marginalized communities in this country and beyond. It is these words that have the power to shift perspective and connect us to one another. Without our stories, we have no voice, thus rendering us invisible to society, or worse yet, subject to the harmful stereotypes that are ever present in the general discourse around Palestinians, Arabs, and larger Muslim world. Having a voice is synonymous with the capacity to influence and challenge structures of power. Our narrative should be considered one of our greatest strengths, and for this, we must use our voice to assert our commitment to our memories, imaginations, and just cause.

Few scholarships and grants exist for youth of Arab heritage in the US, which is why want to fill in this gap and provide support for our own community. We want to reward our youth who demonstrate excellent writing capabilities, creativity, a strong commitment to literature and arts, and engagement in their community. Without this support, we lose the opportunity to create change within our communities and others.

The prizes awarded for the competition will be granted toward educational pursuits. The first prizewinner will win a $1000 scholarship, second prize $500, and third prize $250. In addition to this, the top 20 submissions will be published in an anthology that will be distributed far and wide to engage new and different audiences about the Palestinian narrative from youth in the US and Canada.

*The word shataat is used to describe the population of Palestinians who live outside historic Palestine.

The Judges

Applications will be reviewed by:

• Ahmed Mansour

• Dr. Loubna Qutami

• Summer Farah

• Tongo Eisen Martin

• Nusaybah Shahid (2021 1st prize winner)

Application Materials and Requirements

1. Eligibility: open to Palestinian youth (at least one parent must be from historic Palestine, though they might not necessarily have been born there), must be a U.S. or Canadian resident (this includes those who are studying in the U.S. and Canada), and must be between the ages of 18-25 years old.

2. Your writing submission should describe your experience around identity, the shataat, or anything regarding your relationship to Palestine and being Palestinian, while directly responding to the year’s theme. We accept any form of writing--poetry, short story, fiction/non-fiction as well as art and multi-media. Please limit submissions to 3-5 pages; 3,000 word limit. Feel free to include photos, art, or other multimedia to supplement your writing piece. Get creative! There are no borders to this.

3. In order to ensure objectivity in our review process, DO NOT include your name on your submission piece.

4. One entry per person. The submission must reflect work that is previously unpublished.

5. All applicants must fill out this form to complete submission. If submission materials can not be uploaded here, please send to gkscholarshippym@gmail.com

6. Winning pieces will be published and printed in an anthology that will be posted online and distributed to PYM membership and networks internationally.

7. Application deadline is: September 1st.

Any other questions can be sent to gkscholarshippym@gmail.com.

Good luck and looking forward to reading your submissions!