Ghalib Halasa, a writer, translator, and revolutionary, was born in a small Jordanian village in 1932. Halasa was jailed various times and for differing charges for his political activities by the Jordanian, Lebanese, and Egyptian authorities.

Halasa attended the American University of Beirut where he received a B.A. in journalism. He developed an interest in American literature and later in his career translated the biography of William Faulkner and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye into Arabic. His interest in Marxism led to him join the Communist party, and as a result, was jailed for the first time in Baghdad.

Due to his political beliefs, Halasa was banned from living in Jordan, and moved to Egypt in 1955. He studied at the American University in Cairo, where he also taught, and wrote articles on various literary topics. Halasa was involved in  protests against Anwar Sadat, was imprisoned and then banned from Egypt in 1976. He then moved to Iraq followed by Lebanon, where he fought alongside the PLO during the Lebanese Civil  War. He died in Syria on December 17, 1989.

(Picture from www.7iber.com)