Palestinian visual artist Fathi Ghabin has passed away after a long career during which he achieved the highest international awards, as reported by "Russia Today." Ghabin, a painter and sculptor, was born in the occupied city of Harbiya on November 12, 1946. He participated in dozens of local, Arab, and international exhibitions, both solo and group, and specialized in clay sculpture and painting with various colors and tools, in addition to training amateur painters in artistic fundamentals through various methods.
He received the "Hiroshima" award, as well as the Union of Societies award from Tokyo. He was crowned the title of "Artist of Palestine" in 1993, and he received the "Sword of Canaan" award from the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, along with the Culture, Sciences, and Arts award from President Mahmoud Abbas.
Ghabin's artistic path was not without challenges; he was summoned to the Israeli military headquarters and subjected to harassment and arrest several times by the Israeli side due to his revolutionary drawings, especially the painting "Identity," which he created in 1984, predicting the uprising through a scene of slingshots and stone-throwing. The uprising indeed broke out a few years later. He also faced travel bans, had his works confiscated, and was pursued by those who owned them.
It is worth noting that the Palestinian artist passed away after suffering from severe respiratory and lung issues and was not allowed by Israel to travel abroad for treatment.
