The novelist and poet Ibrahim Nasrallah, the winner of the Katara Prize for the second time, said that the beautiful and profound in the Katara Prize is this rare integrity;

The jury members do not know one another, and this is very important.

Nasrallah - born in Amman in 1954 - added that the jury submits its reports from a distance, and this prevents any "personalization or paralysis", and that the reports are very detailed about the narrative text.

The owner of "Wilds of Hima" and "Spirits of Kilimanjaro", winner of the Katara Prize (2016);

He stressed that the very important matter is the cultural awareness of the award management, which does not hesitate to award the award to those who won it before, and this is a civilized understanding of the meaning of creativity and the idea of ​​prizes, and because it actually appreciates the members of the jury and takes their opinion, unlike the administrations of some awards that decide who the winner is before they Send texts to arbitrators.

The Palestinian-Jordanian writer pointed out that winning the creator twice with one prize is a new phenomenon in our Arab cultural life, so the prizes are often like retirement parties in which colleagues honor their companion, and then this means a lot to me as a writer who sees that his literary project is still in front of him, not behind him. .

Nasrallah shed light on his novel, which won the Katara Prize for the current year, "Tank Under the Christmas Tree", pointing out that the novel lives the life of a number of Palestinian cities over the course of: Beit Sahour, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, starting from the First World War, until the end of the First Intifada, 1993. .

In his novel, "Tank Under the Christmas Tree", Nasrallah returns to "Beit Sahour" during the civil disobedience and confrontation with the occupation (Al-Jazeera)

3 new novels will join the comedy

Nasrallah told Al-Jazeera Net, "It is a broad story of the stories of the Palestinian people, as well as an extended love story, and a Palestinian story with music, within a time full of civilization of beauty and struggle, leading to the great civil disobedience of Beit Sahour in particular in the first intifada, and it is a greeting to the Palestinian Christians." And their struggle, cultural and civilizational role.

Regarding the trilogy of bells and their relationship to comedy, and the shifts of narration and time, he pointed out that he went towards the Palestinian city and many areas that did not take up much space in previous narratives: the Palestinian city, then the Zionist character. We are used to reading in our stories about a soldier shooting from far or near, or practicing Torture, but we did not enter his head;

Here it is different in the trilogy.

And he indicated that he resorted - at the level of narration - to the "multiplicity" of voices, as well as the independence of each novel from the other and its union with it, and thus the trilogy remained faithful to this idea in the comedy: the independence of each novel.

And whether the comedy ended its chapters with his last novel, Nasrallah expressed his belief that it is difficult to talk about its end in the first place. We are talking about a people, but age is what determines, and if I expect that there will be 3 other novels that will join the trilogy in the next five years.

The trap of "humanizing" Israel

And about the change in the stereotypical treatment of the novel with the Israeli character, and how the memories of the executioner and the victim meet;

Nasrallah criticized the fact that some Palestinian and Arab writers had fallen into the trap of "humanizing" the Zionist character, in order to appear human, and this is one of the worst methods of deceiving consciousness to himself, because the jailer who at some point gives you the opportunity to leave the cell 5 minutes to see the sun, cannot be Humanly, because he stole the whole sun.

Therefore, the "three bells" and "a tank under the Christmas tree" went to the roots of Zionist thought, and traced the barbarism of the idea, stressing in the Zionist question that it is difficult to speak of tender hearts, because the idea itself erases everything that is human.

The trilogy says this, and contemplates it, and leaves a wide space for the reader anywhere in this world to live what we live, and how to remain beautiful despite all this oppression, according to Nasrallah.

Arab and international novel

Regarding the international status of the Arabic novel, Nasrallah said, "I often read Arabic texts that exceed the texts of many who have won major international prizes. Today there is a diversity in the tastes of the Arabic novel, as it comes from all parts of the Arab world."

Nasrallah - whose poetry "Mirrors of Angels" and "Storms of the Heart" was published - emphasized that the Arabic novel is characterized by universality, because it has become read on a wide level, and it does not need any other language recognition in order to say that it has become global.

Beauty is found everywhere in this world, and when a Western or Eastern culture denies itself another creative beauty, it punishes its readers and punishes itself.

The novelist - who has published many critical studies and children's books - said that the most beautiful thing about our Arab culture is that it is truly open to all creative currents in the world, without any form of reservation.

A culture that is open to others is a culture that deserves to be called universal.

Narrative clash

On the struggle of the Arab Palestinian narratives and their confrontation with the Zionist narrative and its implications for the current transformations and the Palestinian cause in light of the normalization "scramble";

Nasrallah emphasized that Palestinian narratives and modern Palestinian creativity have never stopped, and therefore any Palestinian achievement does not come from a vacuum.

This people has an extended culture, and intellectuals and creators have become part of the features of the world, in writing and art. For years, I have been amazed by the great turnout of Arab and Palestinian youth to read about this issue, and today they have become the most important reading power in the Arab world.

Nasrallah expressed his grief over what is being seen of the "normalization scramble". All that happens is that these people give the keys to the present and future of their country to the Zionists in obedience.

And he said, "I wrote on the anniversary of the Nakba that we do not want an occupied Palestine again, Palestine has a history that belongs to the great human values. I am really sad and I wonder: With what ink will the history of those who sell their homes and other homelands be written to the most powerful racist fascist force, which is the Zionist entity?"