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“Houris” (Virgins, in English) focuses of the victims of what Algerians call the “black decade,” when tens of thousands of people were killed as the army fought an Islamist insurgency.
French-Algerian author Kamel Daoud said Wednesday that he has been sentenced to three years in prison in Algeria for his book “Houris,” a recipient of France’s most prestigious literary award.
The writer, who lives in France, announced on X that the verdict was delivered on Tuesday. He said that he was also fined 5 million Algerian dinars ($38,000).
“Houris” (Virgins, in English) focuses of the victims of what Algerians call the “black decade,” when tens of thousands of people were killed as the army fought an Islamist insurgency. The conflict erupted in 1991 after Islamists won a first round of legislative elections, prompting the military-backed government to cancel the second round of voting.
It was awarded the Goncourt Prize, France’s top literary award, in 2024.
Daoud said that he was convicted under what is known as the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, a text adopted by referendum in 2005 that offered widespread pardons to both armed Islamists and security forces.
“The text punishes any public mention of the civil war,” Daoud said. “Ten years of war, nearly 200,000 dead according to estimates, thousands of terrorists granted amnesty … and only one guilty party: a writer.”
In addition to the legal action brought by the court in the Algerian city of Oran, Daoud is the target of two international arrest warrants issued by Algeria in May 2025 and is also under threat of being stripped of his Algerian nationality.
Another French-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, has faced similar problems.
The author — whose works have been critical of Islam, colonialism and contemporary Algerian leaders — was convicted of undermining national unity and insulting public institutions and was sentenced to five years in prison under Algeria’s anti-terrorism laws.
He was granted a Humanitarian pardon in Algeria after an appeal by Germany’s president, and returned to France last year after serving a year in prison.
Daoud’s book “Houris” tells the story of Aube, a young girl who miraculously survives a nighttime terrorist attack in her village of Had Chekala in western Algeria, despite having her throat slit. Following the novel’s publication, an Algerian woman, Saâda Arbane, accused Daoud of “stealing” her story and using it as the basis for his book.
Arbane previously had been treated by Aicha Dahdouh, Daoud’s wife, a psychiatrist at Oran University Hospital and a specialist in trauma linked to violence during the civil war.
“Kamel Daoud and his wife asked for my permission to use my story, and I refused every time,” she said during several appearances on Algerian television, adding that it constituted “an invasion of her privacy.”
A collective of lawyers was subsequently formed in solidarity to defend Arbane, invoking provisions of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which prohibits even the mere mention of this painful period in Algeria’s history.
FILE – Algerian-French novelist Kamel Daoud holds his book Houris after being awarded with the Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary prize, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
An Algerian beekeeping company has been awarded two gold medals at the London International Honey Awards (LIHA 2025), a prestigious event for honey producers, processors, and distributors.
The Algerian company, La Miellée, which was established in 2018, received one gold medal for the exceptional quality of its jujube honey and another for its innovative packaging design during this esteemed competition, recognized as one of the most respected international events in the industry.
“This international recognition highlights the capacity of Algerian honey to excel in global markets,” stated the company in a press release issued on this occasion. They further emphasized that “this achievement results from the collective efforts of an innovative young enterprise, its partner beekeepers, the richness of an authentic Algerian terroir, and the loyalty of a devoted clientele.”
Svetlana Mojsov, who laid the foundations for weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, and mathematician Carlos Kenig, who decoded complex laws of motion, among those honored
The 48th staging of the coveted prize-giving comes as the King Faisal Foundation celebrates its milestone 50th anniversary
The King Faisal Prize 2026 prize-giving ceremony, which took place in Riyadh on Wednesday night under the patronage of King Salman, honored distinguished experts in medicine, the sciences, the Arabic language, Islamic studies and services to Islam for achievements said to have significantly advanced their fields and enriched all of humanity.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, acting chairman of the board of trustees of the King Faisal Foundation, and Abdulaziz Alsebail, secretary-general of the King Faisal Prize, took to the stage to honor this year’s recipients in a celebration of exceptional minds whose work echoes far beyond their own laboratories and lecture halls. Other dignitaries at the ceremony included Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, the deputy governor of Riyadh.
The glittering ceremony this year, the 48th staging of the awards, coincided with a landmark milestone: the 50th anniversary of the King Faisal Foundation, which was established in 1976 and handed out its first prizes in 1979.
The honorees this year included distinguished scientists in the fields of medicine and mathematics, including one whose biochemical discovery would ignite a revolution in the field of obesity treatments, and another who delved into the depths of pure mathematics in search of clarity where there was once only chaos.
The King Faisal Prize in Medicine honored a biochemist whose discovery sparked a revolution in treating obesity and diabetes.
Professor Svetlana Mojsov’s early, groundbreaking research on the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, laid the biological foundation for what would eventually become the weight-loss drug Ozempic and other obesity therapies.
Her work now lies at the heart of one of the most significant public-health revolutions of our time, touching the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide who struggle with their weight.
Mojsov, who works at Rockefeller University in New York, carried out foundational research on GLP-1, a natural hormone that regulates blood sugar and appetite, which laid the scientific groundwork for an entirely new class of medications.
Her discovery of GLP-1’s biologically active form, and identification of its receptors in the pancreas, heart and brain, demonstrated its remarkable ability to stimulate insulin secretion, slow digestion and curb hunger.
Her work was so foundational that she is listed as co-inventor on patents licensed to Novo Nordisk that directly enabled the development of Victoza, Ozempic and Rybelsus, drugs that have become household names in the fights against diabetes and obesity.
The ripple effects of her research were said to be staggering in their scale. In 2022, obesity affected 890 million adults and 160 million children worldwide; today, the therapies her discoveries enabled are transforming lives across the globe, award organizers said.
In her acceptance speech, Mojsov said: “Twenty-five years after we published our findings, Novo Nordisk pharmaceutical company developed long-lasting, injectable GLP-1 analogs for diabetes and obesity.
“I am humbled that my work that started 40 years ago with a hypothesis has benefited the health and lives of millions of people worldwide.”
Her professional journey from basic scientific inquiry to a public-health revolution stands as a testament to the power of foundational research, the award organizers said.
The King Faisal Prize in Science honored a mathematician whose work on equations helped explain ocean waves and fiber optics.
Prof. Carlos Kenig was recognized for his transformative work on nonlinear partial differential equations, described as a stubborn, beautiful aspect of mathematics that govern everything from the crash of ocean waves to the clarity of a medical scan. Where others saw complexity, he found structure that reshaped the very landscape of modern mathematical analysis.
The Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Kenig built a career making the incomprehensibly complex not only solvable, but useful.
Nonlinear partial differential equations provide the mathematical language that describes how things change, move and evolve in the physical world. By applying harmonic-analysis techniques to these notoriously difficult equations, he helped open up new frontiers in fluid mechanics, optical fibers and medical imaging, award organizers said.
Kenig credited the academic path he has followed to his studies in Chicago and postdoctoral work at Princeton, where he learned from leading mathematicians and further developed his expertise
“I became interested in mathematics at the age of 12 when, in my first year of high school in my native country, Argentina, our math teacher taught us Euclidean geometry, and how to prove rigorously theorems about triangles,” he said during his acceptance speech.
“I was hooked from that time on. I then had the very good fortune to study at the University of Chicago, and to be a postdoc at Princeton University, under some of the most outstanding mathematicians of the 20th century.
“These experiences influenced the direction of my research, which turned to topics in mathematical analysis and, eventually, mostly to the study of the partial differential equations that govern our physical world.”
Professor Pierre Larcher, professor emeritus of Arabic Linguistics at Aix-Marseille University and emeritus researcher at the Institute of Research and Study on the Arab and Muslim Worlds, received the King Faisal Prize for Arabic Language and Literature for his work on Arabic literature in French.
The novel way in which he presents Arabic literature to French readers has earned widespread acclaim from critics and specialists and, in conjunction with his rigorous, scholarly approach to classical Arabic literature, has made it accessible and appropriate for French culture, the award organizers said.
His rigorous study of pre-Islamic poetry and translation of “Al-Mu’allaqat,” a collection of seven such poems, was said to demonstrate exceptional scholarly depth.
The Islamic Studies Prize went to Abdelhamid Hussein Mahmoud Hammouda, professor of Islamic history and civilization at Fayoum University in Egypt, and Mohammed Waheeb Hussein, professor of archaeology and history of art at Hashemite University in Jordan, for their work on historical Islamic trade routes.
Hammouda’s comprehensive work encompasses trade routes across the Islamic world, including the Mashreq, Iraq and Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, Greater Syria, Egypt, the Sahara, Maghreb, and Al-Andalus.
This expansive scope of his work was said to have delivered a coherent understanding of Islamic trade across history, serving as an authoritative reference tool for both specialized research and broader scholarship.
Hussein’s groundbreaking work uses archaeological surveys, GPS data and analytical mapping to systematically correlate Qur’anic texts with geographical data. His research was described as offering a definitive scholarly interpretation of the “Route of Al-Ilaf,” significantly advancing understanding of early trade routes in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Service to Islam Prize was awarded to Sheikh Abdullatif Alfozan, from Saudi Arabia, and Prof. Mohammed Hassanin Aboumousa, from Egypt.
Alfozan was rewarded for his distinctive approach to philanthropic work through support for high-impact initiatives that align with developmental needs, and the establishment of the “Ajwad Endowment” as a community-support tool for the creation and development of humanitarian initiatives.
Aboumousa, a founding member of the Council of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar, has hosted more than 300 study circles at Al-Azhar Mosque devoted to classical texts, in an effort to strengthen cultural identity among young Muslims.
Established by the foundation in 1977, with the first awards handed out in 1979, the King Faisal Prize has honored 308 laureates from 45 countries over the years in recognition of their outstanding contributions to science and humanitarian causes.
The inaugural prizes in 1979 were awarded in three categories: service to Islam, Islamic studies, and Arabic language and literature. The medicine and science categories were introduced in 1981.
Each of the recipients receives $200,000, a 24-carat gold medal weighing 200 grams, and a commemorative certificate with their name and a summary of the work for which they were honored with a prize described as the most coveted in the Islamic world.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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King Faisal Prize 2026 laureates honored at ceremony in Riyadh. (Supplied)
$2.3 billion rail deal to cut transport costs and boost phosphate, potash exports.
The UAE and Jordan have signed a $2.3 billion agreement to build a 360-kilometre railway linking Jordan’s mining hubs to the Port of Aqaba, targeting annual transport capacity of 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash.
The agreement, witnessed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Jordan’s Prime Minister Dr. Jafar Hassan, includes the establishment of the UAE–Jordan Railway Company to oversee construction, operations and maintenance of the network.
The joint venture brings together Abu Dhabi’s L’IMAD Holding and Jordanian stakeholders, with Etihad Rail leading implementation through its role as the UAE’s national railway developer and operator.
Focus on trade flows and costs
The railway will connect Al-Shidiya and Ghor Al-Safi to Aqaba, reducing transport time and logistics costs for key export commodities that form a central part of Jordan’s economy.
Suhail bin Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said the project supports a broader transport partnership aimed at strengthening Jordan’s role in global trade flows and improving connectivity through Aqaba.
Dr. Nidal Al-Qatamin, Jordan’s Minister of Transport, said, “Our longstanding fraternal ties with the UAE are today translating into a tangible reality that serves Jordan’s future. This railway network will mark a qualitative leap in Jordan’s mining sector by significantly reducing transport costs for phosphate and potash, enhancing our global competitiveness, and creating thousands of jobs for Jordanians.”
Investment builds on earlier agreement
The project extends a $5.5 billion investment framework agreed in 2023, reflecting continued economic cooperation between the two countries and a focus on infrastructure-led development.
“This agreement reflects our firm belief that investment in transport infrastructure is the cornerstone of any genuine economic transformation,” said Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and Group CEO of L’IMAD Holding. “In the UAE, we believe that regional prosperity is a shared responsibility, and this project is a clear expression of our commitment to supporting our partners in building a more connected and competitive future regionally and globally.”
Regional integration push
The railway is expected to improve export efficiency, support job creation and strengthen Jordan’s position in global supply chains, while advancing the UAE’s strategy of backing infrastructure projects across the region.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed said the agreement reflects strong bilateral ties and a shared focus on economic development and integration, adding that such projects support sustainable growth and regional stability.
The development places transport infrastructure at the centre of economic cooperation between the UAE and Jordan, with execution now moving towards delivery of a network designed to support long-term trade and industrial activity.
source/content: gulfnews.com (headline edited)
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Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, and Dr. Jafar Hassan, Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, today witnessed the signing of an agreement between the UAE and Jordan to develop a railway network in Jordan and establish the UAE–Jordan Railway Company. WAM
Tunisian researcher Emna Harigua has been honoured with Tunisia’s 2025 Best Female Scientific Achievement Prize for her innovative drug discovery work powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
In recognition of women’s essential contributions to science and innovation, Harigua, who holds a doctorate in biomathematics, bioinformatics and computational biology, was awarded the prestigious prize by Tunisia’s Ministry of Family, Women, Children and Seniors as part of the celebrations for the country’s National Women’s Day, observed on August 13. Her achievements include leading research in AI-powered drug discovery through a national node in the Global South AI for Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Response Network, a global initiative supported by IDRC and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Harigua, a scientist at the Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia, and principal investigator of the BIND project (Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence for Infectious Diseases), is leading an AI-powered platform that accelerates research against some of the world’s most persistent infectious agents that pose health risks.
Her research targets neglected tropical diseases such as leishmaniasis and malaria, combining bioinformatics, AI and experimental validation to shorten the drug discovery timeline and reduce costs. The BIND project has already identified nine novel anti-Leishmania drug candidates, with three now in pre-clinical validation. In addition, the team launched CidalsDB, an open-access AI platform for drug identification, marking a step forward in global efforts toward open science and collaborative health research.
“This award is not just a personal milestone — it’s a recognition of the potential of African-led science to tackle global health challenges,” said Harigua.
Beyond her lab, Harigua is a strong advocate for building Africa’s capacity in computer-aided drug discovery and ensuring that cutting-edge technologies serve the health needs of African communities. Her work — presented recently at the International Science Council during a workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya, on the impact of emerging technologies on science systems — underscores a vision where innovation, collaboration and inclusion drive the future of medical research.
source/content: idrc-crdi.ca (headline edited)
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Fourat Thamine, Institut Pasteur Tunisia. / Tunisian scientist Emna Harigua receives national recognition for her AI-powered drug discovery platform.
Emirates Red Crescent has saved thousands of lives in Somalia, reeling from the aftermath of a devastating famine that killed about 260,000 people between 2010-2012. Half of the victims were children under the age of five.
The humanitarian crisis was named the worst in 25 years, according to a 2013 report by the United Nations and the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network.
Moved by the plight of people, Somali national Zahra Hassan Farah decided to take things in her hands. Farah is a nominee in Arab Hope Makers 2020, which will conclude on February 20 in Dubai. Arab Hope Makers is an annual award ceremony launched in 2017 to honour people who start humanitarian projects that improve their communities. In the previous round, over 87,000 entries were recorded; five finalists took home Dh1 million in each round to support their humanitarian projects.
She provided food, water and clothes to children left orphaned by the famine. But it was not enough to secure their future.
Farah wanted to empower these young victims but for that she needed a centre where the children could educate themselves and learn skills which could shape their future.
So she began contacting charity foundations, non-profit organisations and independent donors for support to purchase a land for the proposed centre. With direct support from the Emirates Red Crescent, the ‘Khadija Foundation,’ a Somaliland-based NGO, she was able to acquire 100 hectares of land.
Besides providing a home that nurtures and educates orphans, the foundation continued to provide humanitarian support and emergency and disaster relief for disadvantaged communities in Somalia in collaboration with Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, Emirates Red Crescent and Africa Educational Trust.
It also builds schools across the country, provides healthcare services and training to empower women, youth and people of determination.
Until today, ‘Khadija Foundation’ has benefitted over 14,000 orphans, empowered 75 children of determination and supported 732 disadvantaged families. Since its inception, the foundation has provided emergency assistance to over 32,000 families and supplied meals to more than 200,000 displaced people affected by natural disasters, drought and conflict.
The foundation continues to build schools, with three already completed, to empower children to become active participants in Somalia’s development and growth towards the better. Its services have reached 32 villages across Somalia from sustainable water infrastructure, schools and mosques to healthcare services and support for small enterprises to help families achieve financial independence.
Farah has shown how one person can make a lasting impact. She continues to collaborate with NGOs including Allocation aux Adultes Handicapes to empower people of determination, Africa Educational Trust, Emirates Red Crescent besides other local educational initiatives and independent donors.
“For as long as I live, I will continue my journey of growing the foundation to give hope for my people for a better future,” says Farah “Education is the greatest form of empowerment to enable youth to determine their own future in full confidence and independence,” she added.
source/content: gulfnews.com (headline edited)
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Woman builds home for orphans against famine in Somalia
Four Qatari match officials were selected for the 2026 World Cup, alongside four referees chosen for AFC Champions League finals, highlighting Qatar’s growing officiating profile.
Four Qatari match officials have been selected for the FIFA World Cup 2026, in a further boost to the country’s growing presence in global football officiating.
Abdulrahman Al Jassim will serve as a referee, Saoud Al Maqaleh and Taleb Al Marri as assistant referees, and Khamis Al-Marri as a video match official.
The announcement comes as four Qatari referees were also selected by the Asian Football Confederation to officiate the final stages of the AFC Champions League Elite, set to take place in Jeddah from 16 to 25 April.
Al Jassim and Salman Falahi will serve as referees in the continental competition, while Ramzan Al Nuaimi and Taleb Al Marri have been named assistant referees, highlighting continued confidence in Qatari officiating at the Asian level.
The selections coincide with the ninth meeting of the Referees Committee of the Qatar Football Association, held on Thursday, to review performance and discuss plans for the remainder of the season and beyond.
During the meeting, the committee assessed recent work, identifying key strengths and challenges to further enhance refereeing standards, and reviewed upcoming activities and programmes through to the end of the current sporting season.
Preparations for the next season were also discussed, including scheduling referees’ annual leave, setting the date for the resumption of activities, and organising the annual pre-season training camp aimed at improving physical and technical readiness.
The continued presence of Qatari officials at both global and continental levels reflects their growing reputation and role in developing refereeing standards across international football.
Paper won 2 merit awards in print category, 1 digital merit award for documentary marking newspaper’s 50th anniversary.
Arab News has picked up three merit awards from The Society of Publication Designers as it continues its streak of recent accolades.
Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily won two merit awards in the print category: a 2025 year-end opinion page on predictions for 2026 — featuring a dove holding an olive branch atop a globe-shaped hand grenade — and a spotlight page focusing on children’s education being caught in the crossfire of conflict, illustrated with a child-like hand-drawn image of books and students amid the bombs.
Arab News also received a digital merit award for its documentary marking the newspaper’s 50th anniversary.
Omar Nashashibi, head of design at Arab News, said: “It’s always an honor to win awards, especially in design competitions as prestigious as the SPDs. These awards wouldn’t be possible without the talented teams across Arab News, and the brilliant partners we collaborated with for our ‘Rewriting Arab News’ documentary and illustration for ‘The year that could be’ opinion piece.”
Founded in 1965, the SPD celebrates “anyone contributing to the creation of visual stories” and is dedicated to promoting excellence in editorial design, photography and illustration across print and digital platforms.
This year’s competition included entries from The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Wired, Eater, and The Economist.
The total number of accolades won by Arab News has now reached 163 under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas, who has overseen the newspaper’s digital transformation.
Past recognition includes special projects such as Arab News’ 50th anniversary edition, “The Kingdom vs. Captagon” deep dive and the “Paris 2024 Olympic Games” special edition.
Launched in 2025, the Art Basel Awards are dedicated to recognizing excellence across the contemporary art world
Medalists are evaluated on: vision and innovation, skill and execution, engagement, and broader impact.
The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has been named as a medalist in the 2026 Art Basel Awards.
Selected as part of the Museum and Institution category alongside The Brick in Los Angeles and SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, Diriyah Biennale Foundation has been recognized as a “key platform for regional artistic development” by the leading Swiss art fair.
“The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has been committed to bringing together artists, communities, and ideas across geographies,” said the foundation’s CEO Aya Al-Bakree in a statement.
“This award affirms that Saudi Arabia has a vital role to play in the global cultural conversation.”
Launched in 2025, the Art Basel Awards are dedicated to recognizing excellence across the contemporary art world.
Medalists are evaluated on: vision and innovation, skill and execution, engagement, and broader impact.
“Through this initiative, Art Basel reaffirms its role as a global platform for the advancement, discovery and production of art — not only recognizing excellence but actively creating the conditions for it to grow,” said Vincenzo de Bellis, chair of the award’s jury and chief artistic officer and global director of Art Basel Fairs.
“We are deeply grateful to our jury, nominators and the many experts whose insight and commitment make this process both rigorous and collaborative. It is this community-driven approach that defines the awards, reflecting the breadth and complexity of today’s cultural landscape.”
Founded in 2020 and chaired by Minister of Culture Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation has emerged as a transformative force in the international cultural landscape.
Through its two flagship recurring events, the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Diriyah and the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, alongside the stewardship of the JAX creative district in Riyadh, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation is a force that drives cultural exchange between Saudi Arabia and the world.
“In Interludes and Transitions,” the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and the fifth Biennale organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, is open until May 2, 2026 at JAX District.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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In Interludes and Transitions,” the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and the fifth Biennale organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, is open until May 2, 2026 at JAX District. (Supplied)
Basim Khandakji describes conditions in Israeli prisons and his journey to writing despite the challenges.
The night Basim Khandakji’s novel won the 2024 “Arabic Booker Prize”, Israeli prison guards stormed his cell, assaulted him, bound his hands and feet, and threatened him.
The 42-year-old was then placed in Ofer Prison’s solitary confinement for 12 days.
It was retaliation, he believes, for embarrassing the Israeli prison system, managing to publish a book under the noses of guards, drawing attention to himself and the conditions he faced.
Now he is out of Israeli prison after serving 21 years of three life sentences.
“I still feel like I’m dreaming, and I’m terrified I might wake up and find myself back in a cell,” Khandakji said.
After his release, he remains unable to return home to his family in Nablus. Exiled from his homeland by Israel, he now waits in Egypt as his family fights to reach him.
‘We saw new horrors’
As happy as he is about escaping “the cemetery of the living” in Israeli prisons, Khandakji is still trying to process the horrors that he saw there and his sadness at leaving other prisoners behind.
He was convicted in 2004 of being part of a “military cell” and being involved in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, a crime he says he was forced to confess to.
“The lawyer told me I had to sign a confession … so that three young men could be spared life sentences. There was a kind of quid pro quo: You admit to a particular charge in exchange for getting some younger men out of life sentences, and that is what happened.”
The United Nations estimates that at least 75 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons since October 2023, and organisations like B’Tselem and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights have revealed systematic abuse.
Khandakji spent months at a time in solitary confinement and was often moved between prisons, spending time in most of Israel’s 19 facilities that hold Palestinians – each as “hellish” as the last, he tells Al Jazeera.
“There are deliberate policies of starvation, abuse, psychological and physical torture, constant humiliation, and intentional medical neglect.”
Images of released Palestinian detainees have prompted outrage around the world. Appearing fit and healthy in photos of them before incarceration, on release, many had been reduced to emaciated, cadaverous shadows of their former selves.
Things changed, Khandakji says, after October 7, 2023 – the date of a Hamas-led attack during which 1,139 people died in Israel and some 250 were taken captive, in response to which Israel launched a two-year genocidal war on Gaza.
Khandakji says prisoners began to die with shocking regularity, with guards using “new horrific methods” – particularly on detainees rounded up by the hundreds from Gaza.
“Inmates saw guards hanging up the bodies of dead prisoners in cells and leaving them there, decaying,” he said.
“Another told me he saw more than 12 dead bodies packed into cells at al-Jalama detention centre.”
Khandakji says the harrowing memories of dead Palestinians and the brutal torture he witnessed and experienced will haunt him for his entire life.
“The main strategy authorities used to break prisoners was starvation,” he said. “There was also ‘cooling’, meaning denial of clothing, blankets, or any heating during the bitter winter.
“There was also constant beatings,” he added. “They use horrifying, savage methods – targeting the head, neck, and spine.”
Al Jazeera reached out to Israeli prison authorities for comment on Khandakji’s accusations, but received no reply.
Communication with friends and family was banned, he added, and he was prevented from accessing news from the outside world – although he did receive word of his father’s death.
“I was deprived of my father while he was alive, and after his death I was denied the chance to bury him,” he said.
Nearly 9,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails, many taken in mass roundups, and more than 3,500 are held under “administrative detention”, which Israel created to justify imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial.
Smuggling out an award-winning novel
In prison, Khandakji says: “Writing gave me … a refuge, a hiding place through which I could escape the brutality of the jail and reclaim my freedom, even if only in my imagination.”
He had to go on hunger strike repeatedly to get notebooks and pens.
He wrote as much as he could, keeping his manuscripts hidden from the guards and staying out of their way until he could smuggle his writing out via his lawyer or any other visitor.
In 2023, his award-winning novel, A Mask, The Colour of the Sky, was published in Lebanon in Arabic and was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, known as the Arabic Booker.
The book tells the story of Nur, a Palestinian archaeologist who finds an Israeli ID and takes on the identity of “Ur”, eventually joining an archaeological dig on an illegal Israeli settlement.
In it, Khandakji reflects on the uncovering of Palestine’s antiquity and the difference between the constrained life of Nur with his Palestinian ID and Ur, whose sky-blue ID allowed him to go anywhere.
Hearing of the shortlisting, an enraged ultranationalist Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, demanded harsher conditions for Khandakji, while others on the Israeli extreme right called for his murder.
His award triumph included a $50,000 prize and funding for an English translation, paving the way for a global readership.
When Israel launched its war on Gaza, conditions became worse in the prison, and guards confiscated Khandakji’s writing material and smashed his reading glasses.
He felt “completely powerless”, he says. “Being deprived of my pens and notebooks felt like being deprived of air.”
Now free, he aims to publish another novel, which he wrote in his head in his final year of captivity. It is based on one of his closest friends, writer Walid Daqqa, who died of cancer after allegedly deliberate medical neglect by prison authorities.
Aside from writing, Khandakji’s only solace in jail was the friendships he made “that even death cannot erase”.
“I live with sorrow and pain because I left behind so many friends in prison, still suffering,” he adds.
One of these friends, with whom he shared a cell, was Fatah politician Marwan Barghouthi, sentenced to five life sentences plus 40 years in 2004.
Barghouthi is often compared to South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, due to his decades behind bars as a political prisoner and the unifying popularity he has among Palestinians.
“Marwan Barghouthi is a great man,” he said. “If he were released, he could become a unifying national figure.”
The 66-year-old was beaten unconscious last month by Israeli jail authorities, and his son, Arab, told international media his father fears for his life as Israel continues to ignore international calls for his release.
His homeland lives within him
Khandakji was arrested in 2004, at the age of 21, while in his final year of a journalism and political science degree at An-Najah National University in his hometown of Nablus.
Raised in a family of socialists, Khandakji became active in the Palestinian People’s Party as a teenager. He is now an elected member of the party’s political bureau.
But during the second Intifada in the early 2000s, he decided to join the armed resistance in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Looking back, he says: “In the end, violence in all its forms is inhuman.
“As human beings, we should first try to solve our issues through peaceful and civilised means,” Khandakji said. “But when someone tries to erase you – to annihilate you – your struggle becomes one of existence.
“But if time could go back… I might look for other ways,” he adds, of seeking a different path, one that didn’t deprive him of his family for 21 years.
He was one of 250 high-profile detainees freed by Israel on October 13 as part of the United States-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli captives held by Hamas were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, most of whom were “disappeared” by Israel from Gaza, according to the UN.
Khandakji described the night of his release as “terrifying”, adding that his body was shaking as he “knew the moment of freedom had finally come”.
When he passed the prison gates and his bus went south instead of towards Nablus, he knew his full freedom would be denied a little longer.
“Being exiled from your homeland is a burning, painful feeling,” he said. “My first joy, first sorrow, and first dreams were all in my city, Nablus.
“Palestinians, unlike others, do not live in their homeland – their homeland lives within them,” he said.
For now, Khandakji will continue writing and plans to pursue a PhD after achieving a master’s degree in Israeli studies while imprisoned.
His family is fighting desperately to reunite with him in Egypt, only to be repeatedly thwarted by Israel.
“I still hope that in the coming period, there will be some human justice that allows me to embrace my mother,” he says.
“Not as a freed prisoner – but simply as a child searching for the scent of his childhood in his mother’s arms.”
source/content: aljazeera.com (headline edited)
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Freed prisoner and novelist Basim Khandakji was deported to Egypt after being released from Israeli prisons under a prisoner exchange agreement [Al Jazeera]
