Paper Title
The Literature of Resistance: A Critical Study of Ghassan Kanafani’s Returning to Haifa and Jabra Ibrahim Jabra’s the Ship

Abstract
The literature of resistance, as a medium of social and political protest against a foreign invasion and colonial oppression, was started in the second half of the twentieth century in the form of lyrical resistance poetry. In his seminal study on Palestinian resistance writings which is entitled as Resistance Literature in Occupied Palestine 1948-1966, GhassanKanafani, the Palestinian writer and journalist, was the first to adopt the notion of the literature of resistance. His groundbreaking analysis of literary elements of resistancewas further popularized by American scholar of resistance literature, Barbara Harlow. In her famous study, Resistance Literature(1987), Harlow investigates various national liberation movements and the role of resistance writings in confronting the colonial situation. As far as the Palestinian resistance against Zionist occupation is concerned, the literary output of GhassanKanafani (1936-72) and Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1920-94) has immensely contributed to the Palestinian national struggle. This research paper is aimed at discussing the literature of resistance, which emerged out of the imperialistic practices, written about those parts of the world which haveexperienced the presence of either colonialism orsettler colonial movement. It will also explore the role of such writings during a given national liberation movement.Particularly, the research paper will examine the emergence of Palestinian resistance literature and how it impacts the century-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Apart from this, the research paper willevaluate the vital part the literature of resistance has played in contemporary social movements such as Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. Thoughthere has been a literary revolution in the field of postcolonial writings, yet resistance literature in general and the Palestinian resistance literature in particular still remains at the edge of mainstream literary tradition.So the purpose of the research paper, apart from arguing its genuine position in literary space, is to validate and evaluate the themes of resistance and oppression in the two novels; Returning to Haifa and The Ship. Keywords - Resistance; Invasion; Colonial; Oppression; Occupation; Liberation; Struggle; Settler Colonial; Apartheid; Postcolonial