Dareen Tatour

Dareen Tatour, born on April sixteenth, nineteen eighty-two, is a multifaceted Palestinian poet, photographer, writer, and activist hailing from Reineh, Israel. Writing primarily in Arabic, her mother tongue, Tatour has used her art to express her experiences and the struggles of her community.

In two thousand eighteen, Tatour faced legal challenges when she was tried and convicted by an Israeli court for "inciting violence" and "supporting a terrorist organization" due to her social media posts. One of these posts featured a video of her reading a poem, which led to a five-month prison sentence. Although her conviction for the poem was overturned the following year, the court upheld the conviction related to her other posts.

Despite these challenges, Tatour's voice has resonated globally. In two thousand nineteen, she was honored with the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression, recognizing her courage and commitment to advocating for her rights and those of her people through her creative work.