Abd al-Karim al-Hashash is a Palestinian writer born in Beersheba. He was displaced to the Gaza Strip with his family after the events of the Nakba in 1948, and lived in Rafah camp. After the 1967 war, he moved to Jordan and then to Syria. He studied at Damascus University in the Faculty of Arts, Arabic Language Department, from which he graduated in 1974, worked as a teacher between 1976 and 1981, then conducted research on Palestinian folk heritage, including customs, traditions, songs, hymns and proverbs, and worked as a rapporteur in the Syrian Ministry of Culture, Department of Folk Heritage. He belonged to the Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists and the Union of Arab Writers, and worked as a rapporteur in the Syrian Ministry of Culture in the Department of Popular Heritage. He also wrote articles and researches in the Arab Encyclopedia published from Damascus, in Syrian newspapers such as Tishreen, in the Amman-based Al-Sabil newspaper on language and culture, and in the Saudi magazine Al-Khafji. He has given television and radio interviews, lectures and seminars related to culture, language, customs and traditions. He also served as a judge in poetry and literary competitions in Gaza.
He has published several books, including:
The Arts of Literature and Ribb among the Negev Tribes, 1984.
The Family in the Palestinian and Arab Popular Proverb, 1986.
The Justice of Custom and Habit, 1991.
Imprint on the Sand: Short Stories, Damascus, 1996.
Zawada al-hadh and al-badi: Selections from the Arabic Heritage, Damascus, 1998.
Commentary and realization of the Diwan of Aniz al-Aradi, Popular Poetry, Amman, 1998.
Land of the Moon, a novel, Damascus, 2000.
The Barren Palm, a novel, Damascus, 2002.
Tribes and Clans of Palestine, Damascus, 2004.
A Dictionary of Spoken Words in Arab Countries, Damascus, 2007.
Libyan proverbs and their counterparts, Damascus, 2007.
The Just King: Martyr Nur al-Din Mahmoud Zinki, Damascus, 2008.
Diwan Nassar al-Dhafnan, popular poetry from Hauran, Damascus, 2009.
Amir al-Mu'mininin Omar ibn al-Khattab, Gaza, 2014.