Hiba[a]Kamal Abu Nada (Arabic:هبة كمال أبو ندى,listenⓘ; 24 June 1991 – 20 October 2023) was a Palestinian poet, novelist, nutritionist,[2] women's rights activist andWikimedian.[3] Her novelOxygen is not for the dead won second place in theSharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2017.[4][5] She was killed in her home in theGaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike in theGaza war.
Biography
Abu Nada was born inMecca, Saudi Arabia, on 24 June 1991 to a family ofPalestinianrefugees displaced by the depopulation of the village ofBayt Jirja by Israeli forces during theNakba.[6] She received a bachelor's degree ofbiochemistry fromIslamic University, Gaza, and a master's degree inclinical nutrition fromAl-Azhar University.[7] Abu Nada was a contributor toWikipedia. In 2021 she volunteered at Wikipedia through the distance learning program WikiWrites and she was a linguistic proofreader of articles before they were published by students.[8]
She worked for a time at the Rusul Center for Creativity, associated with the al-Amal Institute for Orphans.[9] According toAl-Ayyam, she was "preoccupied with justice, the uprisings of the Arab Spring, and the realities of Palestinian life under occupation."[10]
She published a number of collections of poetry, and a novel, titledal-Uksujīn laysa lil-mawtā ("Oxygen is not for the dead",Arabic:الأكسجين ليس للموتى). The novel centers the Palestinian experience under occupation within theArab Spring. Her work was also published in three anthologies:أبجدية القيد الأخير (Alphabets of the Last Manacle), العصف المأكول (The Eaten Straw), andشاعر غزة (The Poet of Gaza).[11]
In 2017, she won second place in the 20th annual Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity, held by the United Arab Emirates, for her novel.[12][13] The book was republished by Dar Diwan in 2021.[14] She was posthumously awarded the Anwar Salman Award.[11]
Death
Some of her posts in the first days of the war were shared and translated, becoming better known after her death. In her post onX written on October 7, at the start ofHamas-led attack on Israel, she wrote (in Arabic):[15]
Someone wanted to walk in the streets of his occupied city. Why is everyone so surprised? We also "see it far away and see it soon".
In her last post on X, written next day, on October 8, she wrote:[1]
Gaza’s night is dark apart from the glow of rockets, quiet apart from the sound of the bombs, terrifying apart from the comfort of prayer, black apart from the light of the martyrs. Good night, Gaza.
WriterAnthony Anaxagorou translated a poem that he reported was her last writing.[1] Physician and poetFady Joudah translated one of her posts from 18 October:[16]
Each of us in Gaza is either witness to or martyr for liberation. Each is waiting to see which of the two they'll become up there with God. We have already started building a new city in Heaven.
Doctors without patients. No one bleeds. Teachers in uncrowded classrooms. No yelling at students. New families without pain or sorrow. Journalists writing up and taking photos of eternal love. They're all from Gaza.
In Heaven, the new Gaza is free of siege. It is taking shape now.
On 20 October 2023, she was killed by anIsraeli airstrike while at her home inKhan Yunis in southern Gaza. She was 32.[17][18]
Works
الأكسجين ليس للموتى [Oxygen is not for the dead: a novel] (in Arabic).دائرة الثقافة، حكومة الشارقة،,al-Shāriqah. 2017.ISBN978-9948-23-314-5.OCLC1032289333.
"I Grant You Refuge".Protean Magazine. Translated by Fakhreddine, Huda. 3 November 2023. Retrieved4 November 2023.
^abc"Read the last words of writer Heba Abu Nada, who was killed last week by an Israeli airstrike".Literary Hub. 24 October 2023.Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved25 October 2023.We find ourselves in an indescribable state of bliss amidst the chaos. Amidst the ruins, a new city emerges—a testament to our resilience. Cries of pain echo through the air, mingling with the blood-stained garments of doctors. Teachers, despite their grievances, embrace their little pupils, while families display unwavering strength in the face of adversity.
^"Gaza: Muerte de una poeta" [Gaza: Death of a poet].ContraPunto (in Spanish). 21 October 2023.Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved23 October 2023.
