Hawzah News Agency- this is the short story of an artist's suffering and resilience — a man whose home and stage were destroyed by war, yet whose love for his land and people was never taken from him.
Ali Abu Yaseen, a Palestinian actor, director, and playwright from Gaza, has received the 2026 "Writer of Courage" title. He dedicated the award to the people of Gaza and to all writers who defend freedom and truth.
Speaking after receiving the honor, Abu Yaseen said: "I never wrote to win awards. I wrote because I believe death happens in silence, but our voices never die."
An Award for Defending Freedom of Expression
British author Jacqueline Rose, winner of the 2026 Ben Pinter Prize, announced Ali Abu Yaseen as the recipient of the "Writer of Courage" title on the evening of Thursday, October 8. The ceremony was held at the British Library in London.
The Ben Pinter Prize was established in 2009 in memory of British playwright Harold Pinter. It is awarded annually to a writer who defends freedom of expression and sometimes risks their own security and comfort in doing so. The winner of the "Writer of Courage" title shares the award with the main Ben Pinter Prize recipient.
In describing Abu Yaseen's work, Jacqueline Rose called him "the ever-present narrator of the violence and cruelty of Palestinian life," describing his writings as a call for justice, a cry of anger, and a spiritual search.
From Refugee Camp to the Stage
Ali Abu Yaseen is 62 years old and grew up in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. His interest in art took shape in his teenage years, when he began writing plays and learning to play the oud. His professional theater career began in 1990.
In 2004, he received the Best Actor award for his role as "Abu Arab" at a festival in Tunisia. That same year, he began collaborating with the Said al-Mis'hal Theater in Gaza City — a complex that was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in 2018.
Abu Yaseen has also collaborated with the Ishtar Theater Group since 2008. It was with this group that he developed and directed the initial version of "Gaza Monologues."
His artistic work, however, has never been easy. Since the 1990s, some of his plays have faced bans or restrictions on performance. In 2019, travel restrictions prevented him from attending the first screening of the documentary "Gaza" at the Sundance Documentary Film Festival — a film in which Abu Yaseen was one of the main figures.
When War Silenced the Stage
For Abu Yaseen, theater is not merely an art form; it is a space for joy, awareness, culture, humanity, beauty, and construction. But with the outbreak of the Gaza war, conditions changed in a way that made activity in this field impossible.
In those days, he saw writing as a way to record what was happening to his people, saying: "Now I only write, because I believe it is necessary to artistically document what is happening."
Abu Yaseen believed the catastrophe facing Palestinians is several times greater than the catastrophe of 1948. Describing the conditions of war survivors, he added: "Those who died are already dead; but the greater problem is those who survived."
As the war continued, playwriting gave way to recording and documenting events. During his displacement, Abu Yaseen wrote screenplays and hid them so they would not be lost.
Speaking about the days when war had eliminated any possibility of theatrical activity, he said: "There was no theater; it was impossible for there to be theater, because Gaza was being destroyed."
Returning to the Stage Amid the Ruins
Despite all the difficulties, Abu Yaseen returned to the stage once again. His production "50 Minutes in Gaza," which he directed, took shape in April 2026 after a writing workshop.
The actors first rehearsed in tents, then moved their rehearsals to a damaged café. The set was built from wood and tent fabric — limited resources that did not stop the artists from returning to the stage.
The play was performed in Gaza City on July 19 and subsequently staged in various parts of the Gaza Strip.
Another of Abu Yaseen's plays was included in the program "Tomorrow Will Be Palestinian," a collection of nine plays performed by the Theater 503 group in London in June 2026.
The War Is Inside Me
Abu Yaseen says he has survived death four or five times. Among the bitter memories of the war, he recalls the days when his son was trapped under the rubble and his home was targeted by bombardment.
Referring to the bitter experience of those days, he says: "We survived by chance, and those who died also died by chance."
The Palestinian artist left Gaza a few weeks ago and traveled to France through an artistic residency opportunity. The timing of his trip coincided with the award ceremony, allowing him to attend.
Abu Yaseen has six children and 16 grandchildren, all living in Gaza — except for one of his sons, who is also an actor and lives in France.
Despite leaving Gaza, geographical distance has not been able to separate him from the suffering of his homeland. Speaking about his bond with the war and Gaza, Abu Yaseen says: "In reality, I have not left the war; the war is inside me, and Gaza is inside me."
He considers the "Writer of Courage" award a great honor, but believes this honor does not belong to him alone; it belongs to Gaza, Palestine, and all the Palestinian people.
A spokesperson for the award's organizing body also noted the travel restrictions facing Gaza's writers, pointing out that they are among those in the world who face the least freedom of movement.
Expressing the wishes of Gaza's people, Abu Yaseen emphasized the simplicity of their dreams: "We in Gaza have simple dreams; we just want a little freedom."
A Message to Gaza's Artists: Stay Faithful to Hope
Abu Yaseen considers Gaza's artists his extended family and tells them:
"Stay faithful to your pens and to that great stage of theater. Keep theater alive. Relief is on the way; hold on to hope."
Source: Al Jazeera
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