Hiba Abu Nada

Hiba Abu Nada
هبة أبو ندى
Portrait of Abu Nada
Born	Hiba Kamal Saleh Abu Nada (1991-06-24)24 June 1991 Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Died	20 October 2023(2023-10-20) (aged 32) Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip
Cause of death	Israeli airstrike
Alma mater	Islamic University of Gaza; Al-Azhar University – Gaza
Occupation(s)	Poet, novelist and nutritionist

Hiba^[a] Kamal Abu Nada (Arabic: هبة كمال أبو ندى; listen^ⓘ; 24 June 1991 – 20 October 2023) was a Palestinian poet, novelist, nutritionist,^[2] and Wikimedian.^{[3][additional citation(s) needed]} Her novel Oxygen is not for the dead won second place in the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2017.^[4][5] She was killed in her home in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.

Biography

Abu Nada was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on 24 June 1991 to a family of Palestinian refugees displaced by the depopulation of the village of Bayt Jirja by Israeli forces during the Nakba.^[6] She received a bachelor's degree of biochemistry from Islamic University, Gaza, and a master's degree in clinical nutrition from Al-Azhar University.^[7]

She worked for a time at the Rusul Center for Creativity, associated with the al-Amal Institute for Orphans.^[8] According to Al-Ayyam, she was "preoccupied with justice, the uprisings of the Arab Spring, and the realities of Palestinian life under occupation."^[9]

She published a number of collections of poetry, and a novel, titled al-Uksujīn laysa lil-mawtā ("Oxygen is not for the dead", Arabic: الأكسجين ليس للموتى). In 2017, she won second place in the 20th annual Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity, held by the United Arab Emirates, for her novel.^[10][11] The book was republished by Dar Diwan in 2021.^[12]

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 on X written on October 7, at the start of Hamas-led attack on Israel, she wrote (in Arabic):^[13]

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.

Writer Anthony Anaxagorou translated a poem that he reported was her last writing.^[1] Physician and poet Fady Joudah translated one of her posts from 18 October:^[14]

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 an Israeli airstrike while at her home in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. She was 32.^[15][16]

Works

• الأكسجين ليس للموتى [Oxygen is not for the dead: a novel] (in Arabic). دائرة الثقافة، حكومة الشارقة،, al-Shāriqah. 2017. ISBN 978-9948-23-314-5. OCLC 1032289333.
• "I Grant You Refuge". Protean Magazine. Translated by Fakhreddine, Huda. 3 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

Footnotes

1. Sometimes transliterated as "Heba" in accordance with Palestinian Arabic pronunciation and regional Arabizi romanisations of Kasra see Levantine Arabic#Orthography and writing systems^[1]

References

1. "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. Retrieved 25 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.
2. "Wazāra 'ṯ-ṯaqāfa tanẓimu umsīa šiʿrīa bi-'t-taʿāun maʿa baladīa Ġazza" وزارة الثقافة تنظم أمسية شعرية بالتعاون مع بلدية غزة [Ministry of Culture organises poetry evening in cooperation with the Municipality of Gaza]. Alwatan Voice (in Arabic). 29 August 2017. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
3. "Gaza: Muerte de una poeta" [Gaza: Death of a poet]. ContraPunto (in Spanish). 21 October 2023. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
4. ""aṯ-Ṯaqāfa" tukkarrimu ar-riwāʾīa "Abū Nadā" li-fauz-hā bi-ǧāʾiza aš-šāriqa li-'l-ibdāʿ al-ʿarabī" "الثقافة" تكّرم الروائية "أبو ندى" لفوزها بجائزة الشارقة للإبداع العربي [“ath-Thaqafa” [ie the Palestinian Ministry of Culture] honours novelist “Abu Nada” on her winning of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity]. Alray (in Arabic). 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
5. "al-Uksiǧīn laysa lil-mautā" الأكسجين ليس للموتى [Oxygen is not for the dead]. Department of Culture, Sharjah (in Arabic). 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
6. Najm, Najlaa (6 September 2023). "Hiba Abū Nadā.. ʿIndamā lam tuʿaǧǧiba-hā nihāyatu 'l-Ḥikāya" هبة أبو ندى.. عندما لم تُعْجبها نهايةُ الحكاية [Hiba Abu Nada.. When she did not enjoy the end of the story]. Banafsaj (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
7. al-Saʿāfīn, Razān (12 March 2017). "Ḥiwār ṣaḥafī maʿa al-adība Hiba Abū Nadā" حوار صحفي مع الأديبة هبة أبو ندى [A journalistic interview with female author Hiba Abu Nada]. Women for Palestine (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
8. Al-Daour, Aisha (Spring 2021). "Heroes for Change or Systems for Change?". Masters thesis, Malmö University. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
9. Zaydān, Badīʿa (24 October 2023). "Hiba Abū Nadā .. "al-Uksiǧīn laysa lil-mautā"!" !"هبة أبو ندى .. "الأكسجين ليس للموتى [Hiba Abu Nada .. "Oxygen is not for the dead"!]. Al-Ayyam (in Arabic). Ramallah, Palestine. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
10. "al-Ḥadaṯ aṯ-Ṯaqāfī: Filasṭīn taksibu ǧāʾizatayn fī 'š-šiʿr wa-'r-riwāya" الحدث الثقافي: فلسطين تكسب جائزتين في الشعر والرواية [al Hadath Culture [newsroom]: Palestine wins two awards in poetry and novels]. Al-Hadath (in Arabic). 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
11. "Wazāra 'ṯ-ṯaqāfa tušīdu bi-fauz Ḥiǧǧāui wa-'bū Nadā fī ǧāʾiza 'š-Šāriqa li-'l-ibdāʿ al-ʿarabī" وزارة الثقافة تشيد بفوز حجاوي وابو ندى في جائزة الشارقة للإبداع العربي [Ministry of Culture praises the victory of [Aref] Hijjawi and [Hiba] Abu Nada in the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity]. Palestinian Ministry of Culture (in Arabic). 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2023.^{[permanent dead link]}
12. "al-Uksiǧīn laysa lil-mautā" الأكسجين ليس للموتى [Oxygen is not for the Dead]. Goodreads. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
13. "October 7, 2023". 7 October 2023.
14. "A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation". Literary Hub. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
15. Ramadan, Alsayid (21 October 2023). "Ḥāṣila ʿalā ǧāʾiza 'š-Šāriqa li-'l-ibdāʿ al-ʿarabī.. Wafa 'l-adība 'l-filasṭīnīa 'š-šābba Hiba Abū Nadā ḍaḥīa qaṣf Ġazza" حاصلة على جائزة الشارقة للإبداع العربي.. وفاة الأديبة الفلسطينية الشابة هبة أبو ندى ضحية قصف غزة [Winner of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity.. Death of the young female Palestinian author Hiba Abu Nada, a victim of Gaza bombardment]. Al-Bayan (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
16. Al-Kardousi, Elham (21 October 2023). "Maʿlūmāt ʿan aš-šāʿira 'l-Filasṭīnīa Hiba Abū Nadā.. Qatala-hā al-iḥtilāl fī Ġazza" معلومات عن الشاعرة الفلسطينية هبة أبو ندى.. قتلها الاحتلال في غزة [Facts about the Palestinian poetess Hiba Abu Nada.. She was killed by the occupation of Gaza]. El Watan News (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.

External links

• Hiba Abu Nada on Facebook
• "Our Loneliness": A Poem by Hiba Abu Nada, in Arabic and English translation by Salma Harland