Omar Abu Shawish

Omar Fares Abu Shawish (عمر فارس أبو شاويش; 22 March 1987 – 7 October 2023) was a Palestinian poet and novelist. He was a well-known social activist at Nuseirat Camp. He was killed in Nuseirat Camp by an Israeli airstrike in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.

Biography
Abu Shawish was born in Nuseirat Camp on 22 March 1987. His family refuge from Barqa, Gaza, which was occupied and depopulated on 13 May 1948 during Operation Barak, a Yishuv offensive in southern Palestine just prior to the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He received a bachelor's degree of Journalism from Al-Azhar University, Gaza. He was a member of the General Union for Palestinian Writers and the People's Committee for Refugees. He was a co-founder of the “Palestine Youth Cultural Network”. He also wrote a number of patriotic and humanitarian songs, which spread widely during the Gaza War (2008–2009).

He won several local and international awards, including: “Best National Song of the Year 2007” award at the International Festival of National Song and Heritage in Jordan, “Distinguished Volunteer and Ideal Young” award in 2010 within the National Festival honoring Palestinian volunteers, at the initiative of the Sharek Youth Forum in Palestine and sponsored by the Palestinian Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and “Distinguished Arab Youth in the Field of Media, Journalism and Culture” award for the year 2013 by the Arab Youth Council for Integrated Development of the Arab League.

He published a number of collections of poetry, and a novel, titled ʻAlā qayd al-mawt (على قيد الموت) by Bayt al-Yasmin in 2016. His novel received good popularity. The book was republished by Al Manhal in 2018.

On 7 October 2023, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike which hit his home in Nuseirat Camp during the Israel–Hamas war.