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In a post shared to Instagram on Monday, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha posed with American filmmaker Martin Scorsese at Mosab’s celebratory dinner party in honour of his Pulitzer Prize.
“What you see is a rare smile,” the poet wrote in the caption. “Before I headed for my MSNBC interview yesterday, Maram, my wife, and I had an incredible dinner with some of my greatest friends in this world. But guess who made sure to join us to honour me and celebrate the Pulitzer Prize, even in the smallest way as our families in Gaza starve and continue to be in danger? Well, there is only one Martin Scorsese.”
He made sure to express gratitude for all his invited guests. “The four of them – Maram, Mary, Judith, and Martin – gave me the energy I needed to do everything, including the interview. Mary fed me well. Martin made us laugh. Thank you, Mary and Judith, for your immense love. And happy Mother’s Day.”
Mosab won the acclaimed award earlier in May for his collection of essays in The New Yorker documenting the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where he has lived for most of his life. Announcing the win on X, he wrote, “I have just won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Let it bring hope. Let it be a tale.”
The Pulitzer board noted that the essays depicted the “physical and emotional carnage in Gaza that combine deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir to convey the Palestinian experience of more than a year and a half of war with Israel.”
Speaking of the accolade during his interview with MSNBC, the poet said, “I feel so heartbroken, but at the same time, I feel honoured for having won this award. My friends and family in Gaza are very proud.”
Mosab admitted that he doesn’t quite know how he feels given the current state of his homeland. “Everyday, we are losing someone. Everyday, we are learning about a new tragedy that is unfolding, not only for my family but our friends and citizens in Gaza.”
One of the essays chronicled that the 32-year-old poet was detained at a checkpoint by Israeli forces in 2023 while trying to flee his home in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza with his Maram and their three young children. He added that the soldiers “separated me from my family, beat me, and interrogated me.”
However, Mosab was able to leave for the US after his friends from abroad intervened and applied pressure for his release. Still, in his essays, he looks back on an easier time. “I yearn to return to Gaza, sit at the kitchen table with my mother and father, and make tea for my sisters. I do not need to eat. I only want to look at them again.”
