Photo by Ahmed Abu Hameeda on Unsplash In the long history of Palestine, there was a time when the resistance was not shaped by guns but by pens, ideas, and voices. Some poets, writers, diplomats, and intellectuals gave the Palestinian struggle for freedom its cultural strength and political vision. They wrote words so that the whole world could feel the pain of a Palestinian and understand what it is like to be in an occupied land. In the 1970s, Israel systematically targeted and assassinated several of these intellectuals. The aim was to silence the brains of resistance and leave the movement without its most powerful voices. Five of the most prominent among them were Wael Zwaiter, Ghassan Kanafani, Kamal Nasser, Ezzedine Kalak, and Naim Khader. Each was killed far from the land they belonged to, yet each left a legacy that no bullet or bomb could erase. Let’s talk about these freedom fighters. 1. Ghassan Kanafani — Ghassan Kanafani via Palestine Po...
"One of the best British musicians of all time you've never heard of"—that’s how the BBC describes Steven Wilson. But if you have spent enough time in the progressive rock rabbit hole, you know exactly who he is. He is not just a musician but a sonic wizard who can pull you into his world, where you will probably have to deal with existential crises or occasional "What the fu*k did I just listen to?" or "Wait! What time signature is this?" moments. He wakes up every day, casually composes a 12-minute progressive rock track at breakfast with complex time signatures, remixes classic old rock n roll records of various artists at lunch, and then experiments with hauntingly beautiful soundscapes at dinner. Sleeps. Repeats. As a 29-year-old progressive rock nerd (translation: I’m either way too young to fully grasp Wilson’s sadness or already too old to escape it), I’ve spent countless hours spiralling into his discography. So, here’s my highly s...