The Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury has passed away, 76 years old. Khoury, a leading voice in Arabic literature, had been ill for several months and had been hospitalized several times during the past year.
He was born in Beirut in 1948 and was an outspoken defender of freedom of speech and a sharp critic of dictatorships in the Middle East. He made himself known for his support of Palestinians and his harsh criticism of Israel and what he called its "brutal settlement policy" in Palestinian areas.
Elias Khoury taught at universities around the world. In addition to his novels, he wrote articles in various Arabic media over the past five decades, which made him well-known throughout the Arab world.
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