'Let it bring hope. Let it be a tale': Palestinain poet Mosab Abu Toha wins Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who has faced deportation threats from pro-Israeli groups in the US, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
The award, that was announced on Monday, honours his four moving essays published in The New Yorker, which combine deep reporting with personal insight to convey the human cost of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. Through his writing, Abu Toha offers a moving and powerful account of the Palestinian experience.
The four essays – The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian, The Gaza We Leave Behind, Requiem for a Refugee Camp, and My Family's Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza – published over the past two years, address a range of themes, from the challenges of leaving Gaza to the destruction caused by the genocidal war, and the daily struggle to survive under siege.
In one essay, Abu Toha describes the struggles of life in present day Gaza, where each day is consumed by the desperate search for food, clean water, and safety amid relentless bombardment. In Requiem for a Refugee Camp, he reflects on Jabalia Camp, the largest refugee camp in Palestine, which houses over 100,000 people.
Taking to social media to share the news, Abu Toha tweeted, 'I have just won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.'
Borrowing the words of his fellow Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, he wrote: 'Let it bring hope. Let it be a tale.'
If I Must Die, let it be a tale was written by Alareer just before he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in December 2023.
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