Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury passes away at the age of 76

Khoury had dedicated much of his writing to the Palestinian cause and taught at universities around the world.

Novelist Elias Khoury, one of Lebanon’s most renowned writers and a fervent advocate of the Palestinian cause, has passed away at the age of 76.

Khoury, a leading voice of Arab literature, had been battling illness for several months and was admitted and discharged from the hospital multiple times over the past year until his passing early on Sunday, as reported by the Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily, his place of employment.

Throughout his career, spanning decades, Khoury produced a vast body of work in Arabic that delved into themes of collective memory, war, and exile. In addition to his literary pursuits, he wrote for newspapers, taught literature, and edited a publication affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Many of Khoury’s works were translated into various foreign languages, including French, English, German, Hebrew, and Spanish.

One of his most renowned novels, Gate of the Sun, narrates the plight of Palestinian refugees who were displaced from their homes in 1948 during the war coinciding with the establishment of Israel.

During that conflict, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee their properties, an event Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic. Gate of the Sun was adapted into a film by Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah.

“The Catastrophe began in 1948 and it is still ongoing,” Khoury had once penned in reference to Israel’s illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

In addition to his work on the Palestinian cause, Khoury also addressed Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war in novels like Little Mountain and Yalo.

Champion of the Palestinian Cause

Born in Beirut on July 12, 1948, Khoury pursued his education at the Lebanese University and later at the University of Paris, where he obtained a PhD in social history.

A steadfast supporter of the Palestinian cause since his youth, Khoury served as the co-managing editor of the PLO-affiliated Palestinian Affairs magazine from 1975 to 1979, alongside poet Mahmoud Darwish.

He also led the cultural section of the now-defunct Lebanese newspaper As-Safir and the cultural supplement of the daily newspaper Annahar. Additionally, he taught literature at various institutions in the United States, including Columbia University in New York.

Despite facing health challenges in recent years, Khoury continued to write, sharing his articles on his Facebook page from his hospital bed.

On July 16, he published an article titled “A Year of Pain,” recounting his time of being bedridden in the hospital and enduring a life filled with pain that only seemed to herald more suffering.

In his final thoughts, he reflected on the Israeli war in Gaza, which had persisted for over nine months by then. “Gaza and Palestine have been mercilessly bombarded for almost a year, yet they remain strong and unwavering,” Khoury observed. “They serve as an example from which I draw inspiration to cherish life each day.”