John Berger reads Ghassan Kanafani's 'Letter from Gaza'

Рет қаралды 80,042

The Palestine Festival of Literature

4 ай бұрын

In an address to the inaugural Palestine Festival of Literature in 2008, John Berger gave a moving reading of Ghassan Kanafani's "Letter from Gaza", written in 1956.
Film: Perry Ogden
Photographs: Stefano Massimo & Rula Halawani
Title Cards: Yves Berger
English Translation originally published by The Committee for a Democratic Palestine, New York, 1972 & The Tricontinental Society, London, 1980.

Пікірлер: 384

@khubza8999 4 ай бұрын

SOLIDARITY with GAZA and the long suffering PEOPLE OF PALESTINE. We are ALL NADIA now.

@karakus19 4 ай бұрын

Вы так правильно написали, МЫ ВСЕ теперь НАДИЯ, но не с ампутации ноги, а с ампутации души.......................

@cometmoon4485 4 ай бұрын

Palestine will never be silenced. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

@agnikollias6678 4 ай бұрын

Free Free Palestine 🇵🇸 ♥️

@tamaliaalisjahbana6849 4 ай бұрын

Never! Never silenced!

@sarajabeen1965 4 ай бұрын

Ghassan was so young and handsome when he was murdered.

@mumsow 4 ай бұрын

And his young cousin too 💔

@ryf3658 3 ай бұрын

😭😭😭😭😭

@jeannecairns1485 3 ай бұрын

You know why they assasinated him when you hear his words 😢

@anwarbalim6516 4 ай бұрын

I am crying, actually howling.67 years later and thousands of Nadia's yet nothing has changed

@momorsey9112 4 ай бұрын

Me too

@brilliantmalcolm1544 4 ай бұрын

There will be a Judgement Day according to the Bible & Koran. In 150yrs from today all who are alive right now will be standing before his/her Creator to be judged the way they lived their lives. So Natanyahu, your supporters, and IDF know what's coming to you!!

@user-px3nc2qs5e 4 ай бұрын

May Justice and humanity prevail on this small planet 💞 for us All. Palestinians ought to be Free

@roudribagchi4019 4 ай бұрын

So true.. Nothing has changed

@halakurshov1380 4 ай бұрын

The only thing that has changed it's that it's gotten much worse.

@masalatee5531 4 ай бұрын

Weeping profusely. Weeping for all the collective pain that Ghazza and Palestine are going through in the bloodthirsty hands of the Zionists for many many decades. Thank you for lending your voice here and introducing me to Ghassan Kanafani’s beautiful, poignant, heart wrenching writing still so so relevant, and highlighting the plight of many many more Nadias. May we all live to see a Free Palestine!!

@jamilakibrahim9128 4 ай бұрын

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭إن شاءالله

@Waitingformarty 4 ай бұрын

❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸❤🇵🇸

@QueenKhalifa-iw1iu 4 ай бұрын

InshAllah, Ameen. 🤲

@faiza63676 4 ай бұрын

Insha Allah Ameen 🤲🤲🤲. YA RABB I am sitting here in my small house, in Cape Town, South Africa, Heartbroken 💔😭💔, Listening to the Asr Athaan some distance away and I Beg YOU YA RABB, in THIS WAQT to SPREAD YOUR LOVE and MERCY OVER the HUMBLE, FAITHFUL SUFFERING PALESTINIANS and GRANT THEM VICTORY and the FREEDOM they ALL DESERVE TO LIVE in PEACE in the FREE LAND of PALESTINE that YOU ALLOCATTED TO THEM INSHA ALLAH AMEEN 🤲👆🇵🇸❤️🇵🇸❤️🇵🇸❤️👆🤲

@omegatheofficial-7528 4 ай бұрын

Ameen

@StandforHAQ 4 ай бұрын

The long long long decades of suffering and oppression. How the world allowed the longest injustice against the humanity of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Heart breaking 😢😢😢

@lyakartika7576 4 ай бұрын

Heartbreaking Free Palestine

@user-ry6xf1kv8g 4 ай бұрын

So beautifully read. Can’t stop the tears. Gaza, I weep for you. Please live! Free free Palestine.

@mohammedfouad148 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for adding your voice to the Palestinian cause / against the militaristic and criminal occupation of Israhell.

@janetdonald9801 4 ай бұрын

❤❤❤

@charshill2978 4 ай бұрын

Israelies lies and lies. Even to themselves, especially to themselves. They have "gained the world and lost their souls".

@serpentines6356 4 ай бұрын

What is the "Palestinian cause"?

@mohammedfouad148 4 ай бұрын

@@serpentines6356 It's is getting all of the homeland back and replacing present-day Israel and the territories occupied in 1948.. The Palestinian cause is not a cause for Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary..✌

@serpentines6356 4 ай бұрын

So, you support terrorism, and genocide as long as it's terrorism, & genocide against J's? Muslims have a right to 49 states in the world, but you don't think the J's have a right to one teeny, tiny, little one? Sounds like J h--8tred to me. Why do you think it's okay to ann*hilate Israel, while Muslims have all their states? The partition of Pakistan (which happened in '48) wiped out hundreds of thousands, and displaced millions. You care nothing about THAT partition. The J's have an ancient history in ME too - and it pre-dates Islam. So, why do you think Israel has no right to exist in peace? Too bad the Arabs didn't acccept their partition in '48. There could have been peace, but the Arabs wanted war. Now, Egypt, Jordan etc., are afraid of violent Palestinians too. It's not Israels fault they accepted their partition. That was a smart move for the Zionists. The world would be worse off without Israel. Since Israel is the only democracy in the ME. Why do you want the world to be worse off?

@adelinedelriego2294 4 ай бұрын

Bless you Kanafani and John wherever you are 🙏🌟🙏. Our hearts ache for our brothers and sisters of Gaza, for all the injustices Palestinian people have suffered. Zionism is evil! May humanity prevail over it🙏🙏🙏

@BayarEsraa 4 ай бұрын

I can’t stop crying. So much suffering for so long… How on Earth we are hearing about this now? How deaf and blind we were, for so long.

@shamim621 4 ай бұрын

We were blinded by the same evil that lingers today. I can't stop crying too

@faiza63676 4 ай бұрын

NOT your Fault the World was Knowingly and Deliberately kept in thr Dark by the Western Media and Propaganda. You just believed what you heard through the Media so NOT your fault.

@karakus19 4 ай бұрын

Мир теперь воочию наблюдает миллион Надие сегодня, и что-то разве меняется? Прямо сейчас от голода умирают 300 тыс Надие 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

@bakloulaya789 3 ай бұрын

We been trying to say this for 75 years yet we well called terrorists

@KeiPalace 4 ай бұрын

keep going, don't let Palestinians be silenced

@mariagarcia4160 4 ай бұрын

I don't understand how Humans can be ok with the Gaza Genocide. I don't understand!😢

@aliashahbaz9257 4 ай бұрын

You should not be okay with the occupation of Palestine for 75 years and counting.

@SB-dg8hq 4 ай бұрын

The Zionists have been itching to attack the Palestinians again, as they have done on many occasions over the last 75 years. The event of 7th Oct was the most recent excuse to commit more murdering of the Innocent. We know that from the fabricated stories about Hamas atrocities that the Zionists were building up their excuses for their upcoming genocide of the Palestinians. Only one side is responsible for the genocide in Gaza and that's the Zionist State of Israel, aided and abetted by the European Union and the United States of America.

@user-mr9jm5fy3l 4 ай бұрын

Because of zionist lobbies and money

@yuzan3607 4 ай бұрын

What can we do. We are so so helpless. All those hero and fairy tale stories we grew up with taught us what's right, what a hero would do, as kids we imagined ourselves to be the good guys to be the heros, but we're waking up to a reality where evil is rampant and there's no hero to save the day, no "good guys" and we're completely helpless. 😔

@Dingo3039 4 ай бұрын

Well read Mr Berger, that brings nothing but tears of rage within me, wish i could be less bitter but i cant.

@ryf3658 3 ай бұрын

You are not alone. We are hundreds of thousands. One day our Rage will transform in Freedom of Palestine.

@KJSullivan4601 4 ай бұрын

Deeply moving and profound from such deep suffering. Written 7 years before I was born and yet so many Nadias this day

@Amr_Cinema 4 ай бұрын

how many Nadias every day losing their dreams how many child is much much older its heartbreaking but this struggle will end with victory and freedom

@Kwame-yw9kz 4 ай бұрын

“The only way to defeat injustice is to expose it. To let people know what it is." Ghassan Kanafani

@faiza63676 4 ай бұрын

Yes and it started with Social Media thanks to Advanced Technology 👍✊🙏

@hasnaashaalan9083 4 ай бұрын

My tears run down, as they have been for the past 4 or 5 months, and the bulging burning lump in my throat and chest grows bigger as I think of Nadia and all the thousands of other Nadias in Gaza right now while the rest of this cruel world either stands by silently or supports the criminals

@jonstclair3290 4 ай бұрын

I am not a religious man but recently i find myself stifling prayers for the people of palestine, god help them, please.

@falteredbeauty8563 4 ай бұрын

So raw. Real. Emotional. The utter despair Kanafani wrote and in which you brought to life can be felt by all of us through our screens watching this. We need a free Palestine because this oppression and injustice cannot live on forever 🇵🇸

@faridacasmally1978 4 ай бұрын

This letter should be read on all media around the world,m in every palaces, every government building, every politician house and offices , then asked for “Do you Condemn “ so many Nadia’s , Nadia’s has been quadrupled by the thousands Ya Allah, Ya Allah, Ya Allah, we are suffering and ashamed of our inability to reach out and help them, please accept our forgiveness and we pray for freedom of Palestine and the just judgement

@matldn2697 4 ай бұрын

This is so relevant today.

@stansquires4069 4 ай бұрын

I am from Vancouver,Canada and i wanted to say that Ghassan Kanafani will be remembered for his good articles that he wrote for many decades to come. People all over the world has read his books and continue to read them. People that read his books got a good knowledge of Palestine. His books will be read a hundred years from now. His memories will live for ever.

@hectorlamptey7526 4 ай бұрын

Before I was blind but now I see. We are all Palestinians. Bless all that fight for justice and freedom.

@nicolaablett7790 4 ай бұрын

Quietly weeping here Thank you for sharing this amazingly beautiful reading of such beautiful words PALESTINE will be free RIP all PALESTINIANS

@fibanacci8 4 ай бұрын

This is exceptional....thank you..

@Mir_Aakib 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for reading this Brilliantly vivifying letter to us. this is the first time I hear of Ghassan Khanafani; thank you for introducing me to him and the gaza of his time. i will most certainly ditch all other writers for now and turn all of my attention on the works of Mr Ghassan Khanafani. I am from Kashmir India and Mr Khanafani's discription of Gaza looks somewhat familiar. Wishing freedom, peace and blessings to Palestine alongside the whole world.

@LightBlue-uq6yv 4 ай бұрын

We pray and cry at the horror Gaza is going through every day. I hope the cries of the oppressed are heard by this world.

@samspahich5493 4 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for a heart felt reading from such a beautiful man, a Palestine Gaza expression of sadness and sorrow and love for his family members of Gaza strip moment in time, where he heart would not let him live the hardship of his life in Gaza for a life in a country far away from his home land of Palestine people living there in Gaza, his heart and love won't let him leve his soul to a place where he would live with out the safering and inhuman treatment by the Zionists Israel, it is very real words of expression from one beutfull man of Gaza Palestine, the most important writing of a wonderful gift to the world, shame on Zionists Israel for the murder of man as him and thousands more like him, what a great loss to the world, freedom for Palestinian people who need all our support to rid themselves of the injustice that Zionists Israel genocide has been able to get away with for long time now, must stop killing Palestine people know, ❤❤❤❤

@mohammadrayyan7851 4 ай бұрын

This was beautiful sir, thank you very much

@nzk9962 4 ай бұрын

I’m crying the world is hearing them at last Free Palestine

@moawiehhamad4453 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for your heartfelt reading of this story from Ghassan Kanaffan's writings It is as If he wrote it today ! How unjust our world is!!

@azzyazzy9293 4 ай бұрын

Free Palestine 🇵🇸 😢😢😢😢

@marsamos5071 4 ай бұрын

John Berger is alife and Gassan Kanafani too. Thank you for this video to be listened to by millions of humans. GrAcias!

@tonyg7848 4 ай бұрын

OMG. I was beamed for a few minutes into a different world, a different Era, a different dimension. What a tragically beautiful letter, especially in the light of what we know 70 years later.

@tubaambreen3740 4 ай бұрын

What a shame .. this all has been happening for so long . So many innocent children like Nadia have gone through so much . Israel and west are cruel with their power.

@Abdi.Yamotahari 4 ай бұрын

Thank you, John Berger, for this Awesome performance, you are truly a Superb Artist. Listening to this, now I am broken in 10,000 pieces. May God Bless and keep all the children in Palestine. No one group of people should go through this much suffering. Humanity is inflicted with this suffering. I implore the Universe for some balance.

@zanabanci1943 4 ай бұрын

Powerful story makes me cry the reality of the Gaza hasn’t changed got worst and damn our Society USA and western are watching that slaughter has been watching and still watching now happening to Palestinians children. It’s sad upsetting and disgusting shameful we let the genocide going on

@user-bu8vk9lo5z 4 ай бұрын

You can see how much it hurt Mr.John🙏💔😭😔

@eamar0509 4 ай бұрын

🤲🌿🕊️🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🕊️🌿🤲 من القدس المحتلة

@sand..7616 4 ай бұрын

We pray for all of you. Allah is closed to you and inschallah you will have the best live for ever🤲🤲🤲❤️💯☝️

@reemsaif3105 3 ай бұрын

If you drop the word occupied you will manifest freedom faster 🇵🇸 ✨️

@eamar0509 3 ай бұрын

@@reemsaif3105 Blah blah blah... We have no access to Al-Aqsa during Ramadhan, we are arrested , tortured, they steal our houses, they kill... and we are still Soumoud!!! Don't give me this Westerner bollox. And believe me I'm not young.

@eamar0509 3 ай бұрын

@@reemsaif3105 New age stupidity. WE FIGHT FOR 75 YEARS AGAINST THE OCCUPATION, little sister

@scottharrison812 4 ай бұрын

Literature has an impact far deeper than media coverage and statistics which can blunt our capacity to process the horror. And this compassionate man’s voice … dear God I - who never knew the child - find myself weeping. If there is a God he must have a tear jar the size if an ocean.

@user-ne7cf6nr6y 4 ай бұрын

So Heartbreaking and the suffering is still going on 💔💔💔

@asmaburney2028 4 ай бұрын

Beautiful and heart wrenching. Nothing has changed and yet all they talk about is October 7th. Uncivilized beasts!!

@bsahmed1 4 ай бұрын

Growing up fascinated by Arabic poetry, a collection of Ghassan Kanafani poems was always in my immediate possession. It was such a traumatic event when I heard that he'd been assassinated.

@carolynjawad9614 4 ай бұрын

He was such a powerful writer. Mosad were afraid of his power and so they executed him. I am sad that it is only today that I am learning about Ghassan. FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸❤️

@user-bu8vk9lo5z 4 ай бұрын

Thank you Mr.John🙏❤️

@jacksonk.swaffardiii7820 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for this reading ❤❤❤ IT was awesome 💯💯💯

@micheledarmoul5023 4 ай бұрын

Heartbreaking 💔 beautifully read 🥲

@1deenforme 4 ай бұрын

Beautiful. Thanks, John. 75 yrs after the Nakba and the struggle is still intense. Palestine will be free.

@jessiej5765 4 ай бұрын

I cant tell you how emotional this made me, so many complex emotions,I teared up, and I felt sad and helpless, I wanted to scream for Nadia, I wanted to scream for the author, I wanted to scream for all the Palestinian people, the elders, the young, the children, the women, the men. Thank you, Sir, for the beautiful reading

@debtilley8496 4 ай бұрын

What is existence worth? That's what got me. 😢

@user-br9nv8vw9i 4 ай бұрын

This is the story of almost every Palestinian who lives out of historical land of Palestine . Wherever this palestinian is, deep in his soul, he hears the cry of the land: come back.

@motasis1 4 ай бұрын

The story left me in tears.

@andypitt2848 4 ай бұрын

Thank you ❤🕊️

@gotcha4054 4 ай бұрын

Weeping. I did not expect tears, but they are falling, streaming non-stop, and my heart breaks.

@San-Foor 4 ай бұрын

He started with a smile & ended with tears .. Gazza is the story of Nadia in the eyes of the martyrs

@suhasiam 4 ай бұрын

I was not expecting to sit there and watch the whole thing. It was amazing. The story is amazing. The reading was amazing. I was mesmerized. Thank you for it.

@sajeethagill434 4 ай бұрын

Thank you.... So much suffering. So many, many years. How can we go on being silent when children are continuously traumatized? Elders abused and humiliated. Does the same blood not flow through everyone?

@staticcouch135 4 ай бұрын

Ghassan has a famous interview with a British journalist here on youtube, I recommend watching such beautiful words.

@tazileila4828 4 ай бұрын

Thank you so much John for your reading. Sincerity, compassion, tenderness

@farahroble9961 4 ай бұрын

Heartbroken story

@zackr9070 4 ай бұрын

Very Powerful 🙏 amazing text & read beautifully

@rashidlukanga3923 4 ай бұрын

.‘.. when you turned to me again I could see your tears' that broke me!

@Mario-wq5ic 4 ай бұрын

I heard this story 26 years ago but by listening for the whole clip i couldn’t even pause as if hear it for the first time😢 May God have Mercy on the Palestinians souls taken by the new Nazis of zionism

@SarahYounes-il9gk 4 ай бұрын

Heartbreaking !! How many other Nadia have to endure these atrocities!! This genocide must be stopped!! Free Palestine 🇵🇸

@thinkactwisely1618 4 ай бұрын

Thank you every sad and same time tell what Palestinian go through 😢

@nazk5558 4 ай бұрын

Heart wrenchingly beautiful. Thank you John Berger

@rehnumakarim3857 4 ай бұрын

True hero who didn’t abandon Gaza even when he had a chance. His character to stand by his people overwrote all his need to help his bruised self. These are the people who can bring changes. Praying this unfolding strategy is the beginning of the end to a nightmare that started 75 years ago. Thanks for sharing such lovely thoughts and words. May you both be together in heaven sending your light into this dark world.

@yaqoutah1 4 ай бұрын

Thank you Mr John Berger with much respect and appreciation for reading in memory of our great writer G. Kanafani Kindly accept my sincere admiration to you ❤️ May Allah grant you all what you wish for 🤲 Long Live 🇵🇸 with dignity, equality & justice ✌️

@leeshamare 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for this...such a profound story of the heart, of the heart of the people. Read from the heart, to the heart. May all those who have chosen to remain insensible to the suffering of the Palestinian people be awakened by this reading of this story.

@aichael326 4 ай бұрын

Heartwrentching. Palestinians are all heroic martyrs

@drthomason7043 4 ай бұрын

Such beautiful children then Such beautiful children now. So prepared to live but accept they could be matrys

@SadiaM1960 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for your reading never get tired of learning Palestinian struggle

@azarullizaabdulkarim3436 4 ай бұрын

It is so touching . I wish more of you to share such stories .

@teardrop720 4 ай бұрын

Thank you, John Berger, for such a heartfelt reading of Ghassan Kanafani's letter. It broke my heart into a thousand pieces: such a surreal account .. nothing has changed. You and Ghassan have left a mark on my heart. Rest in peace, both of you 🙏

@sarafodha6362 4 ай бұрын

Dear Ghassan Kanafani, even after countless years, your voice continues to echo in the ongoing struggle for the liberation of Gaza and Palestine. You are not alone, the people of Palestine are not alone, Free Palestine

@tahsinozgur8694 4 ай бұрын

Are you the same John Berger who wrote "Ways of Seeing", which was required reading when I was studying Visual Arts in Canada? Thank you for continuing to open the eyes of the public to yet another "way of seeing"- perhaps the most important !

@yhamilajojo8847 4 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for this beautiful voice for beauty

@CostasBouyioukos 4 ай бұрын

As long as there are Ghassan Kanafanis and John Bergers Palestine will never cease to exist!

@andewjordan1515 4 ай бұрын

Thank you beautiful man for finding the strength to write those words and thank you beautiful man for the strength to read his words. I believe in people because of such men and the strength they give us to wipe our tears and go again. 🕊️

@abdulansari4719 4 ай бұрын

May Allah SWT make us understand the true reason behind these atrocities we as a human race inflict upon each other.. Let the divine Qadr unfold with the best recompense for the ones who demonstrate this beautiful patience - the As'Sabireen..!

@Cranky_Crone 4 ай бұрын

God have mercy on the rest of us

@greattune4894 4 ай бұрын

Thank you, it's a great lecture

@shafiqshafiq6737 4 ай бұрын

Who has the heart to hear this

@salwaali-nn5yv 4 ай бұрын

Powerful. Poignant. Thank you so much for carrying his words

@contemplatively 4 ай бұрын

So many feelings. All I can say is thank you for making this video.

@naimaabubakar6179 4 ай бұрын

How many Nadias have been born to the same fate since then? In his mind and with his pen Ghasan Kanafani fought these wars in Gaza . One day there will be no defeat and freedom will prevail. InshaAllah

@prsimoibn2710 4 ай бұрын

Every politician should read this, out loud, so his soul may listen to his voice, if souls exist in the west

@Bobby0505 4 ай бұрын

💔

@Genocide2024 4 ай бұрын

30 years ago i read a book journey to Jerusalem. I was younger then but I remembered crying from the beginning to the end. Must have had stories like this one.

@gulliegulliver4546 4 ай бұрын

wonderful story, wonderful reading, thank you

@TheHadiye 4 ай бұрын

So much truth for those of us who have immigranted

@julesbaxter7221 4 ай бұрын

I wish so much that I had the words to express how my heart felt each word of this utterly beautiful, yet profoundly heartbreaking the reading of this letter is.. Where have we been Gaza, how have we not seen, or not wanted to see the horrific abuse your people have experienced. No matter how much I read, or I see of these people, even in the most desperate of circumstances, their beautiful essences, their love for each other, their beautiful hearts shine so vividly. These are Gods children, the chosen people, shining the become of humility for the entire world to see.. Free Palestinian, Free her and her beautiful inhabitants ❤

@ashma1830 Ай бұрын

🥲🥲🥲🥲 Tears keep pouring , what a legend Ghassan Kanafani ❤️🙏🏽🇵🇸 we miss you but your legacy will inspire millions . Thank you John for sharing the story 🙏🏽

@himood 4 ай бұрын

Wow. Thanks tons. Those who support colonization in Palestine should not get away with this ! Free Palestine 🇵🇸

@user-pm9wh8gu3j 4 ай бұрын

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for transmitting these words from the post Ghassan Kanafani. I am crying my eyes out. Posted and wrote, "The saddest and most beautiful words I have ever posted." I have dear friends in Gaza, chased out of Jabalia, now in a tent in Rafa, and I am living this tragedy with them hour by hour. I can't believe the world is letting it happen.

@user-pm9wh8gu3j 4 ай бұрын

The POET Ghassan Kanafani ...

@marianseren9137 4 ай бұрын

💔💔💔😭😭😭so many Nadia today

@dianehghzn7670 3 ай бұрын

May God Bless You Sir and Thankyou may this letter from Gaza TEAR AWAY the veil of ignorance for all of humanity thankyou again 💟☮️☸️🕉️🌹🌻🍀🌈☔️🇦🇺🦘🙏🙏🙏⭐️🌸

@erminiadegregori3138 4 ай бұрын

POWERFULL...God bless the amazing palestinian people...JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE

@henricusvangool7785 4 ай бұрын

Thank you John for speaking out for the suffering of the Palestinian people. ❤️❤️❤️We know all at the end love and kindness will survive everything. May Allah ( SWA) bless you with his kindness.