page_title: Huzama Habayeb
section_title: Political influence
hierarchical_section_title: Huzama Habayeb / Political influence
caption_attribution_description: English: The cover of the Arabic version of "The Wandering Who"
context_page_description: Huzama Habayeb is a Palestinian novelist, storyteller, columnist, translator, and poet who has won multiple awards such as Mahmoud Seif Eddin ِAl-Erani Award for Short Stories, Jerusalem Festival of Youth Innovation in Short Stories, and Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature. Upon graduating from Kuwait University in 1987 with a BA. degree in English language and Literature, she pursued careers in journalism, teaching, and translation before she eventually started to write professionally as a published author. She is a member of both the Jordanian Writers Association and the Arab Writers Federation.
context_section_description: In almost every body of work by Huzama Habayeb, whether it's a novel or short story, there is sheer adherence to her Palestinian identity; and that is strikingly evident in her first two novels and a slew of stories from her four collections. She also demonstrates that through her translations, as she tends to choose books whose content reflects the Palestinian crisis and the unjust policies exercised by Israel and affect Palestinians, such as The Wandering Who? by Gilad Atzmon, which she translated into Arabic and was published in this form in June 2013.
  Habayeb's most prominent milestone in terms of defying Zionism, however, is a campaign she launched against the publication of an anthology of short stories by Middle Eastern women because of the inclusion of stories by Israeli authors. Habayeb had initially accepted to contribute to the anthology, but she withdrew her piece after learning that contributions by two Israeli authors were included in the anthology; and then she contacted all the other Arab authors and persuaded them to follow her lead. The campaign was successful, as most of the authors withdrew their manuscripts, forcing the University of Texas at Austin—the institution that was adopting the project—to cancel the anthology. Habayeb justified her actions in an editorial that was published in Gulf News on May 25, 2012, saying "I cannot accept, ethically and morally, that my voice be shared equally with writers who reflect the voice of an obnoxious occupier."
  Habayeb's stance, relentless efforts, and courageous stand were applauded by many in the Arab world; and she received a lot of support and praise from various Arabic media outlets.
caption: The cover of the Arabic version of "The Wandering Who"
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