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First They Came for the Mosques, but I Was Not a Muslim Palestine Chronicle: 2 Mar 2010 - By Dallas Darling When Israeli Defense Forces responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and arrests towards neo-nonviolent Palestinians who were trying to prevent Jewish extremists from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, it was mindful of Pastor Martin Niemoller’s poem: “First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a communist.” Pastor Niemoller was a German minister who witnessed disappearances and atrocities during the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. By the time he tried to speak-out and criticize the Nazi’s, though, it was too late. He, along with millions of Communists, Socialists, Gypsies, Jews, Pacifists and other opponents of nazification, was sent to a concentration camp. The al-Aqsa Mosque is located at the south end of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The mosque commemorates Prophet Mohammed’s night journey to heaven on horseback. It also contains the minbar, or pulpit, that was commissioned by Saladin around 1190. At the time of the creation of the Israeli state in 1948, the city was divided, but Israel seized all of it in the 1967 Six-Day War.(1). Since then, the al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount have been a source of conflict. Recently, Palestinians also clashed with Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Hebron near the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Their march against Israel’s plan to renovate two holy sites in the occupied territory was declared illegal. Israeli troops fired tear gas and stun grenades wounding several demonstrators. Although Jews and Palestinians revere the Hebron heritage site,... ‘At the end of every sentence you say in Hebrew sits an Arab with a Nargilah’ Mondoweiss - 25 Feb 2010 - Yesterday I did a blogpost quoting from journalist Noam Sheizaf’s blog . I saw Sheizaf in Israel last month and he told me a line of poetry with political resonance about the connection of Israelis to Palestinians. I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and well, I... Jenny Tonge: A 'Woman of Substance' Palestine Chronicle: 24 Feb 2010 - By Felicity Arbuthnot – London "Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved, Ages of hopeless end." (John Milton, 1608-1674.) Politicians with backbone are a rarity. (UK) Liberal Democrat M.P., Jenny Tonge (The Rt. Hon., The Baroness Tonge of Kew) has one. Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg, does not. Jenny Tonge is a doctor by training, married to a consultant neuroradiologist. Her positions have included Senior Medical Officer for Women's Services in the large, multi-racial, London Borough of Ealing. In politics, she has been the Party's spokeswoman for children and for health. After her daughter was killed in a electrical accident, in 2004, she retired as an M.P., in order to help care for her two young grandchildren. However, made a Peer in 2005, entitled her to address issues of concern in the House of Lords. Background. In January 2004, she was sacked as children’s' champion, by the then leader of the Party, Charles Kennedy, for saying of Palestine suicide bombers, in the hopelessness of the remnants of their land: "If I had to live in that situation - and I say that advisedly - I might just consider becoming one myself." Refusing to apologize, she pointed out that: " ...having seen the violence, humiliation and provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand ..." Her statement echoed the haunting words of the late Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish. In his "State of Siege", he poignantly tiptoes between despair and what Western... The uninvited ghosts that populate Israel’s art history Robert Fisk, The Belfast Telegraph 2/8/2010 The Palestinians celebrate their lost land with poetry and art, but always it is a place of lost oranges and olive trees and snug village houses; of Arab men, leaning on ancient wells beside classical ruins, proving that Palestine was not, as the popular Zionist narrative would have us believe, a land without people. So — on the principle that I always try to consume one art gallery in every town in the world in which I set foot — I stepped into the Tel Aviv Museum of Art this week to take a look at how the Jews of Palestine saw their would-be homeland before the 1947-48 Arab exodus. The Tel Aviv art museum is a blessed relief, an inquiry, amid the propaganda of Zionist super-virtue, into the Jewish dream and the Jewish nightmare — and one which even acknowledges the Arabs of Palestine, albeit sometimes unconsciously. Historical parallels are obviously dangerous. The Arabs of Palestine did not undergo the pogroms of eastern Europe or the Nazi Holocaust, but their calamity is no less real; and their ghosts — uninvited, no doubt — move persistently through the museum’s galleries, the finest collection of which is David Azrieli’s, the Canadian-Israeli designer and philanthropist. Azreili was himself a refugee — from Poland in 1939. He arrived in Palestine just in time to fight in Israel’s war of independence, the very struggle which created the tragedy of the Palestinian refugees. There’s a chilling moment in Ziva Koort’s introduction to the collection when she remarks that paintings by Moshe Castel, Sionah Tagger, Marcel Janco and Ludwig Blum “portray the Arab as native to the place, deeply rooted in its landscape... the artists of the 1920s — viewing Arabs as exemplifying a local, indigenous way of life — presented them as picturesque... in environments that could also usually be readily identifiable as local landscapes with oriental characteristics”. more.. e-mail Israel turns down bid to teach Palestinian poems in schools Ha'aretz 14 Feb 2010 - The Education Ministry has decided not to publish an academic paper recommending that high school students study both Jewish and Palestinian poems about Jerusalem in their literature classes, even though the journal to which it was submitted had previously accepted the paper. ... Palestine's 'Acceptable' and 'Unacceptable' Faces Palestine Chronicle: 13 Feb 2010 - By Stuart Littlewood – London 'O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us!' A few weeks ago, on the annual Robert Burns Night, these immortal lines from 1786 were being recited all over the world, but probably not in Palestine. The leadership there aren’t blessed with the gift of seeing themselves as the rest of the world sees them… a bit like the Israelis that way. The consequences for the Palestinians are tragic. Fatah especially would do well to learn the lines off by heart. The next two go 'It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion!' The poem addresses a louse, which seems appropriate enough. We’ve heard a great deal about Fatah spreading security chaos, almost provoking a civil war, then collaborating with the US to recruit sinister battalions of “security” thugs with orders to crush all opposition, silence dissent, destroy Hamas and the welfare structure it provides, and force Palestinians to bend to Israel’s will. This vile scenario is topped off with unjustified arrests, torture and lack of due process. It sounds like Fatah’s brave “security” forces have been trained in terror tactics by the Gestapo and are working for the enemy. Who is the enemy these days? Palestine’s external enemy we know about. But the ‘enemy within’ is always more dangerous. Since I first visited the Holy Land nearly 5 years ago I have tried to keep my promise to tell the story of those wonderful people... Palestine's 'Acceptable' and 'Unacceptable' Faces Palestine Chronicle: 13 Feb 2010 - By Stuart Littlewood – London 'O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us!' A few weeks ago, on the annual Robert Burns Night, these immortal lines from 1786 were being recited all over the world, but probably not in Palestine. The leadership there aren’t blessed with the gift of seeing themselves as the rest of the world sees them… a bit like the Israelis that way. The consequences for the Palestinians are tragic. Fatah especially would do well to learn the lines off by heart. The next two go 'It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion!' The poem addresses a louse, which seems appropriate enough. We’ve heard a great deal about Fatah spreading security chaos, almost provoking a civil war, then collaborating with the US to recruit sinister battalions of “security” thugs with orders to crush all opposition, silence dissent, destroy Hamas and the welfare structure it provides, and force Palestinians to bend to Israel’s will. This vile scenario is topped off with unjustified arrests, torture and lack of due process. It sounds like Fatah’s brave “security” forces have been trained in terror tactics by the Gestapo and are working for the enemy. Who is the enemy these days? Palestine’s external enemy we know about. But the ‘enemy within’ is always more dangerous. Since I first visited the Holy Land nearly 5 years ago I have tried to keep my promise to tell the story of those wonderful people... Zionism Laid Bare Kathleen Christison, CounterPunch 2/3/2010 A Review of Shahid Alam’s "Israeli Exceptionalism" The essential point of M. Shahid Alam’s book, Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism, comes clear upon opening the book to the inscription in the frontispiece. From the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi, the quote reads, “You have the light, but you have no humanity. Seek humanity, for that is the goal.” Alam, professor of economics at Northeastern University in Boston and a CounterPunch contributor, follows this with an explicit statement of his aims in the first paragraph of the preface. Asking and answering the obvious question, “Why is an economist writing a book on the geopolitics of Zionism?” he says that he “could have written a book about the economics of Zionism, the Israeli economy, or the economy of the West Bank and Gaza, but how would any of that have helped me to understand the cold logic and the deep passions that have driven Zionism?” Until recent years, the notion that Zionism was a benign, indeed a humanitarian, political movement designed for the noble purpose of creating a homeland and refuge for the world’s stateless, persecuted Jews was a virtually universal assumption. In the last few years, particularly since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in 2000, as Israel’s harsh oppression of the Palestinians has become more widely known, a great many Israelis and friends of Israel have begun to distance themselves from and criticize Israel’s occupation policies, but they remain strong Zionists and have been at pains to propound the view that Zionism began well and has only lately been corrupted by the occupation. Alam demonstrates clearly, through voluminous evidence and a carefully argued analysis, that Zionism was never benign, never good—that from the very beginning, it operated according to a “cold logic” and, per Rumi, had “no humanity.” Except perhaps for Jews, which is where Israel’s and Zionism’s exceptionalism comes in. more.. e-mail A Review of Shahid Alam's "Israeli Exceptionalism" Zionism Laid Bare Uruknet February 3, 2010 - The essential point of M. Shahid Alam’s book, Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism, comes clear upon opening the book to the inscription in the frontispiece. From the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi, the quote reads, "You have the light, but you have no humanity. Seek humanity, for that is the goal." Alam, professor of... PA ministry to publish anthology of ex-prisoner’s poetry 2/1/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs announced on Monday that it would be releasing an anthology of poetry by former Palestinian prisoner Muhammad Abu Laban. The anthology entitled "The Liberty Chant" is a compilation of work Abu Laban composed during his sentence, and includes "Forgotten Days Behind Bars," "The Patient King of Death," "My Homeland Voice," and "Take me, a Stone in your Hand. "Other poets have contributed to Abu Laban's anthology, which includes brief biographies written by the ex-detainee's friends. The introduction, written by Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Qaraqe, describes the establishment of education programs in prisons and the development of poetry, deeming it part of Palestinian national history. Publishing "The Liberty Chant," Qaraqe writes, is a vital part of preserving Palestinian prisoner literature. Leonard Cohen receives lifetime achievement Grammy Ha'aretz 1 Feb 2010 - The 75-year-old poet was not the only one honored, with Michael Jackson receiving a posthumous nod., "They Did Not Hang My Son Today" Uruknet January 28, 2010 - Setareh Sabety has posted a poem - They Did Not Hang My Son Today - in honour of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, two young men hanged in Tehran before dawn on Friday after being convicted of counter-revolutionary activity. Rahmanipour's father has spoken of how he only learned of his son's death from the... Two chances in NYC to hear reports from the Gaza Freedom March Mondoweiss - 14 Jan 2010 - There are two great chances to get report backs from the Gaza Freedom March this upcoming week: And also this Sunday, January 17, 5:00 pm at the Brecht Forum : Join Democracy Now’s Anjali Kamat, The Indypendent and poet Remi Kanazi for a special fundraiser and discussion... Pakistani poets pay tribute to Palestinian resistance PIC 9 Dec 2009 - Noted poets of Pakistan while rendering their verses at a function stressed the need to highlight the cause of Palestine’s liberation before the world.. [uruknet.info] IRAN ~~ THE REVOLUTION BETRAYED Uruknet I will start this post with a poem written over 26 years ago..... The Revolution Betrayed © Steve Amsel The Shah is dead - Long live Khomeini, The Shah is dead - Glory to the people, We rejoiced with you on your victory, The foreign intruders have finally vanished. Almost five years have passed, You should have so much to... POEM: I return crowned with a laurel 12/1/2009 - Ma'an's Arabic site receives and publishes short story, essay and poetry submissions, which are occasionally translated for our English readers. The following is a submission from the Palestinian poet Munir Mezyed. I Return Crowned with a Laurel Dedicated to this troubled world. . . Saturated with selfishness and hate. . . How great to be honest at a time when honesty is a sword hanging over the necks of the truthful"¦ How great to light a candle at a moment of darkness But the greatest is to be human in inhuman times"¦ A lover at a time when hate is beats its drums. . . For the first time I see myself facing death With the language of love and heaven. . . My love Death is a very hungry cloud Hovering. . . searching for prey I can not resist itshungry, deadly claws My hell meets my heaven in my sorrows Threatening to ignite the fire. . . PASSINGS: Yang Xianyi, Ali Kordan, Alan Kim Kurumada LA Times 24 Nov 2009 - Yang Xianyi, Chinese poet and translator, dies at 94; Ali Kordan, Iranian interior minister dismissed in credentials flap, dies at 51; Alan Kim Kurumada, longtime assistant director, dies at 64 Yang Xianyi 'Egyptians should read in Hebrew, to know what the enemy is plotting' Ha'aretz 17 Nov 2009 - A gigantic storm has been brewing among Egyptian intellectuals ever since Egyptian poetess Iman Mersal permitted one of her books to be published in Hebrew ("An Alternative Geography," translated by Sasson Somekh, Hakibbutz Hameuhad publishing house). How, they demand, could any Egyptian writer cross the lines, defy the writers association's orders and destroy the bases from which the war against normalization with Israel is being waged? ...
Celebration for the life and work of our late great poet Mahmoud Darwish PNN, Palestine News Network 3/8/2009 Dubai/ - The Dubai International Festival 2009 was a great night, reported all sources. "We cannot lose sight of the words and wisdom of our Palestinian poet, not only the national poet, but a teacher and artist throughout the Arab world," said a guest at the Darwish memorial in the United Arab Emirates. We lost Mahmoud this summer, a funeral whose tragedy came close only to that of our late President Yasser Arafat. "This land deserves life," was just one sentence spoken among hundreds at the Dubai activity. No one was a stranger to Darwish who sang and recited, celebrated his wisdom and beauty. Tears flowed freely as they did at his funeral in Ramallah’s Al Muqata, Presidential Headquarters: no shame here. His poetry and letters, his ability to say what we all are trying to impart ourselves, made a night worthy of what the name suggests. more.. e-mail
Jerusalem campaign launches contest of science and literature Palestinian Information Center 3/5/2009 BEIRUT, (PIC)-- The popular campaign for the celebration of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture 2009 announced the launch of Jerusalem prize in two fields, the scientific research and literature. The prize for the scientific research will be devoted to research papers on humanitarian, social, religious, archeological, architectural and economic sciences. The contest organizers said that research papers submitted should stick to the methods of scientific research and documentation and be characterized by new additions in areas relating to Jerusalem. With regard to literature, the participants should compete in literary work in the areas of poetry, novel and critical studies which address the Palestinian cause especially the aspects related to the city of Jerusalem. The two first place winners in both fields will receive a prize of $10,000, each while $3,000 would be allocated for the second place and $2,000 for the third place. more.. e-mail
African American poets sing praise of Abu Dhabi’s KALIMA Middle East Online 2/11/2009 ABU DHABI - A number of American poets expressed their admiration for KALAMA, a huge translation project launched by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH). Award-winning Remica L. Bingham was delighted to hear that her poetry will be translated into Arabic. “What an honor, to be placed among the likes of some of the world’s most influential and important voices. What a joy, to know a vast body of readers will make their way to the page and find your words waiting in their own tongue!" said Bingham, who is a native of Phoenix, Arizona. "What better communion is there than the intersection of eager readers discovering work that once was nearly unimaginable and eager writers granted a burgeoning, new voice!” she added. “The KALIMA Project is historic in its undertaking and its magnitude. more.. e-mail
Visual art and written word intersect with Mahmoud Darwish Osama Awad, Palestine News Network 2/7/2009 PNN exclusive -- Passport is the new exhibit in Ramallah honoring the late Mahmoud Darwish. Visual artists painted to the written work of the poet who died in summer 2008. The title "Passport" was chosen, says the Suraj Gallery, because the show combines work from Palestinians inside the Green Line, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. "Passport" artists are all separated by the confines of occupation. To bring the largest number of student viewers possible, organizers at the Birzeit University gallery in Ramallah are also taking the exhibit. Ramallah’s As-Siraj for Culture, Arts and Theatre is using the exhibit based on the work of the Palestinian national poet to explore the intersection of the traditions of poetry and visual art. "Passport" is also exploring the differing experiences of its artists depending on where they come from, opening discussion of ones relationship to Palestine. more.. e-mail
Poets for Palestine Mary Rizzo, Palestine Think Tank 12/10/2008 It’s that time of year, when we give, if we can, something nice to people we love. The past few years on Peacepalestine, and not only at Christmas, I’ve suggested books, and this time, it’s not going to be any different. The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan was one of the best books possible to read for an understanding of Palestine/Israel history. Joe Sacco’s Palestine, a graphic novel, does for the Nakba what Art Spiegelman did for the Holocaust, and it is a book with images that stay imprinted on the mind for days. This year’s suggested book takes some of those things and combines them with a few new elements in a completely different format. Poets For Palestine, (Edited by Remi Kanazi, who you can see on Palestine Think Tank performing two of his poems), is a collection of poetry and artwork that is an emotional tour de force. more.. e-mail
Palestinian journalist and writer Ayid Amr dead at 49 Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Renowned Palestinian journalist, writer and poet Ayid Amr died of an apparent heart attack. He was 49. The Union of Palestinian Writers and Poets and the Palestinian Ministry of Education sent condolences to the Amr family applauding the deceased as "one of the pillars of Palestinian journalism," who greatly influenced the Question of Palestine. Amr recently published The Wolf, a book of short stories that look at the image of the wolf in historical, religious and mythological contexts. He also conducted several studies about Palestinian heritage, culture and literature, as well as participated in several conferences at local, Arab and international venues. Amr was known for documenting oral Palestinian history, literature and historic battles. His last position was Educational Editor at Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah. more.. e-mail
Deir Al-Ghousoun dedicates Ramadan night to Darwish Ma’an News Agency 9/19/2008 Tulkarem – Ma’an – The Deir Al-Ghousoun Municipality north of Tulkarem organized a Ramadan festival to commemorate 40 days since the death of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The head of the municipality, Ahed Zanabit, praised Darwish’s works. "The municipality will establish a cultural center and it will be named after Darwish," he said. Palestinian poets will present original poems at the festival. [end]
Palestine’s first classic car show PNN, Palestine News Network 8/28/2008 Ramallah - Under the auspices of Dr. Mashhour Abu Daqqa, Minister of Transportation and Communications, the Palestinian classic car exhibition and contest is being described as "a great success. "The gathering, held in Ramallah on Saturday, was the first of its kind. The Ministry of Transportation, the Motor Sports Club and the Amateur Classic Car Club organized the event. Over 100 cars were part of the massive parade that drove through the city streets at noon. The convoy of cars was swarmed by crowds as it continued to the square at the Cultural Palace where the tomb of the late great poet Mahmoud Darwish rests. A variety of types and colors of cars, in all and different models, assembled in the exhibition of classic cars to tell the history of the issue of homeland and the people. The event also stressed a commitment to return legitimate rights and freedom to the Palestinian. . . more.. e-mail
Among best Arab writers in one just 14 years old Bethlehem, Palestine News Network 8/17/2008 PNN - The well-known and widely famous Mohammad Mafouz gave 14 year old Yasim Shamalawi the news. She is from the northern West Bank city of Nablus and was selected for the prominent position of one of the Arab world’s best poets and writers. It was via an internet forum that the voices calling for her came, called "Word and Work. "She is now among the best 1,000 Arab writers. Mahfouz is the amazing Egyptian writer who gave praise to the abilities of Shamalawi. He called on Arab officials to "be careful with her unique talent. "She, at 14, is the youngest Arab writer to win such prestigious attention. Shamalawi writes short stories and poetry, the most well-known of which focused on Palestinian children. This young child, a 14 year old girl, has given yet another voice to the Palestinian cause as we have just lost our most prominent: Mahmoud Darwish. more.. e-mail
Tens of thousands attend funeral for Darwish Hossam Ezzedine, Daily Star 8/14/2008 Agence France Presse - RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered for the state funeral on Wednesday for Mahmoud Darwish, the towering Arab poet who gave voice to their bitter decades-old struggle. Darwish, considered the national poet of the Palestinians and the author of their 1988 declaration of independence, won a number of international prizes and is widely considered one of the Arab world’s greatest writers. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas presided over a ceremony attended by senior officials, Arab Israeli parliamentarians and dozens of foreign dignitaries at the Muqataa, his headquarters in the Occupied West Bank town of Ramallah. "The story of our people is your story Mahmoud, and by our meeting it was made more complete and more beautiful," Abbas said in a eulogy. more.. e-mail
VIDEO / Mahmoud Darwish - The death of a Palestinian cultural symbol Avi Issacharoff and Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz 8/14/2008 RAMALLAH - Midway through the first eulogy for the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish, delivered by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Fatma began to tear up. As she stood at the back of the hall at the Muquata Wednesday, she was visibly gripped by sorrow. "I’m crying because I feel our hope has died," she told Haaretz. Fatma, an Israeli, decided to come bid farewell to the man who had become her cultural hero. "He was a symbol of our homeland, and now we feel there are no symbols left. He spoke to our emotions, as a nation, and now he’s gone," she said. As Abbas’ speech went on, more and more mourners broke down and wept. Even Abbas’ longtime secretary, Intissar, began to cry. It is doubtful that Mahmoud Darwish, who died last weekend at 67 following heart surgery at an American hospital, knew he would be so honored in his death. more.. e-mail
Towns and villages across Palestine open centers of condolance for Palestinian Poet Ma’an News Agency 8/14/2008 Qalqilia – Ma’an – The governorate of Qalqilia city and directorate of culture is one of many municipalities who have organized sites for Palestinians to offer their condolences to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who was buried in Ramallah on Wednesday. In Qalqilia it is the hall of the chamber of commerce that has been set aside as a place of remembrance, where Palestinians who could not attend the poet’s funeral can leave flowers, or messages. Governor of Qalqilia Rabih Al-Khandaqji received condolences along with the area’s head of security Faysal Beshtawi, the head of the chamber of commerce, local representatives of all political factions and security systems. Crowds of Qalqilia residents, employees and security personnel attended the event. more.. e-mail
10,000 honor poet Mahmoud Darwish in Ramallah Ma’an News Agency 8/13/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – A river of some 10,000 people bearing the body of poet Mahmoud Darwish arrived at the Cultural Palace just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. Another 3,000 people gathered at the Cultural Palace on Wednesday morning. More joined them, marching from the presidential compound in central Ramallah. Darwish was buried in on a hillside overlooking the city. As the coffin was lowered to the ground, a small regiment of Palestinian security officers had to restrain a crowd struggling to look at the grave. Earlier, President Mahmoud Abbas and other notable Palestinian figures addressed Darwish’s official funeral in the presidential compound, the Muqata’a. Darwish, the Palestinian national poet, died in a Huston, Texas hospital on Saturday following open heart surgery. He was 67. more.. e-mail
Gaza Artists commemorate Darwish Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 8/13/0200 In commemoration to Palestinian intellect and poet, Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian artists lit candles on Tuesday in the Unknown Soldier Square in Gaza in respect to the life, work and character of Darwish whose poetry symbolized the ongoing Palestinian struggle and determination. The artists expressed their deep sadness and sorrow over the departure of Darwish who became the symbol of culture is his remarkable intellectuality and poems. Palestinian caricature, Abu Al Noon, stated that Darwish will live in the hearts and minds of all Palestinians. Abu Al Noon added that Darwish always called for the unity of all Palestinians and factions and that he was extremely saddened by current internal conflicts and divisions. "You memory will forever live in our hearts and minds", Abu Al Noon said, "You magical poetry will light our path of freedom". more.. e-mail
Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish laid to rest in Ramallah Rula Shahwan, International Middle East Media Center News 8/13/0200 Thousands of Palestinians and internationals attend Darwish’s funeral on Wednesday in Ramallah, after his body arrived from the USA with a special Emirates airplane, then with special helicopters from Jordan at around 11:00 am. After several hours, the Israeli authorities agreed to open the Beituniya checkpoint point in the central West Bank in order to allow Palestinian citizens of Israel to travel to Ramallah for the funeral of poet Mahmoud Darwish. A Palestinian member of Israeli Knesset, Muhammad Baraka contacted Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai and the Israeli cabinet coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Yousif Mishlib, calling for the checkpoint to be opened. Darwish was laid to rest at 14:00 in the front yard of the Cultural Palace in Ramallah, which will be named after him. more.. e-mail
Ras Beirut’s English-language poetry scene finds a new place to express itself Special to The Daily Star, Daily Star 8/13/2008 BEIRUT: Let it be known that the whir of espresso machines will not deter young poets from reciting their latest work. The Beirut-Type Writer open-mic poetry series, a monthly gathering of amateur poets, last week convened for the first time at its new venue - Cafe Younes, just off Hamra Street. Jason Iwen, a former creative writing professor at the American University of Beirut (AUB), started the series four years ago. Since that time it has become a popular outlet for English-language poetry in Beirut. Iwen’s departure from AUB two years ago saw Michael Dennison replace him both at the university and as the organizer of the poetry series. Founded at Makhoul Street’s Bluenote Cafe, Beirut-Type Writer made the move to the new Cafe Younes last Wednesday. Dennison believes the shift will help attract a wider audience and some new poets. more.. e-mail
Funeral for Mahmoud Darwish expected to be largest since Yasser Arafat Palestine News Network 8/12/2008 PNN - Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE, has used a private plane to transport the body of the great Arab poet Mahmoud Darwish from Houston, Texas to the Jordanian military before being taken by a Jordanian helicopter to Ramallah for tomorrow’s funeral. He will be buried on a hill. This is expected to be the largest funeral since that of the late President Yasser Arafat. Current President and Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad respectively will be in attendance along with thousands of others at the Muqata, the Presidential headquarters in Ramallah on Wednesday. Atallah Khairi, the Palestinian Ambassador to Jordan, told Agence France Presse that the body would arrive at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, Wednesday, at the Jordanian military airport aboard a plane from the United Arab Emirates allocated by the King. more.. e-mail
Palestine prepares to bury poet Mahmoud Darwish Ma’an News Agency 8/12/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – Palestinians will bury a national hero, the poet Mahmoud Darwish, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend Darwish’s funeral, which is predicted to be the largest since Yasser Arafat’s in 2004. The funeral ceremony and procession are expected to be a massive outpouring of affection and grief for a man who gave voice to the triumphs and suffering of his people. Darwish’s body will arrive in Amman, Jordan, at 10am, and his funeral will be held later in the day in Ramallah. Darwish, the Palestinian national poet, died in a Huston, Texas hospital on Saturday following open heart surgery. He was 67. These are the details of the schedule:- Darwish’s body will arrive at Marka airport in Amman at 10am on Wednesday. An official reception and farewell will take place. more.. e-mail
Preeminent Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish dies at 67 Ma’an News Agency 8/9/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an – Preeminent Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died on Saturday after open heart surgery in the United States, medical officials confirmed. Darwish underwent a successful open heart surgery on Wednesday. The operation took place at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Huston, Texas, in the United States. Darwish’s condition then took a downturn on Saturday due to complications related to the surgery. Darwish was born in 1941 in a village called Al-Barwah, near the city of Akka, in the north of what was then Palestine. The village was destroyed by Zionist forces in 1948. After being detained several times by the Israeli army, he was forced into exile. Darwish composed the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence which was announced by Yasser Arafat during a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algeria. more.. e-mail
Renowned Palestinian Poet, Mahmoud Darwish, dies in Houston Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 8/10/0200 Mahmoud Darwish, a renowned Palestinian poet, one of the intellectual figures known as the voice of the Palestinians in Diaspora and under occupation, died on Saturday evening at age 67 at the Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston -- Texas in the United States. He underwent an open heart surgery and Thursday and remained in a critical condition until he died on Saturday. Darwish is a Palestinian cultural icon well respected among the Palestinian and Arab people and well-known among international supporters of the Palestinian cause. His poetry is considered the voice of all Palestinians, the voice of resistance against the occupation and the voice that rejects infighting. His works were translated into more than twenty languages and he also won several international prizes. The IMEMC expresses its deep sadness and sorrow over the departure of the great poet, the man, and the intellectual figure. more.. e-mail
Mahmoud Darwish postal stamp released Ma’an News Agency 7/29/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian ministry of telecommunications and information technology announced on Tueday the issuing of a new postal stamp bearing the image of the renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The stamp is being produced to honor the work of Darwish and in appreciation for the major role he has played in keeping the Palestinian question alive all over the world through his poetry. Undersecretary of the ministry, Sulaiman Az-Zuhairi, said in a press conference in Ramallah in the central West Bank, that the name of Darwish has always been connected to revolutionary poetry and "poems of the stolen homeland. " Darwish’s poetry has received international acclaim and won numerous literary prizes. His work has been translated into at least twenty-two different languages. He is also well-known for his political activism and was involved in the drafting of the. . . more.. e-mail
Hassan Nazzal gives seminar and reads poetry at Jenin summer camp Ma’an News Agency 7/26/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – The Department of Culture at the ministry of education in Jenin organized a cultural conference and poetry readings for students affiliated with the summer camp at the boys school in Jenin on Saturday. The cultural event was held in cooperation with the school’s administration. The Palestinian poet Hassan Nazzal talked about his poetry, and about life at a poet. He stressed on the importance of continuous reading, writing and language skills, in both literature and prose in order to to express oneself through the written word. Nazzal finished is presentation to the students bt reading some of his poems to the group. [end]
Abdelwahab Elmessiri (1938 - 2008) In Memorium Palestinian Information Center 7/7/2008 Abdelwahab Elmessiri passed away on Thursday the 3rd of July in the Palestine Hospital in Cairo at the age of seventy. There is a befittingly poetic resonance about the name of this hospital - the place of his final struggle - when one considers that Elmessiri had devoted almost his entire intellectual career to the defense of the Palestinian cause. Over the past few years Elmessiri had been fighting a prolonged battle with a form of brain cancer that ultimately cost him his life; what the cancer could not do was to rob him of his intellect! Elmessiri remained fully engaged as a thinker until his very last breath. In an intellectual career spanning over more than thirty years, Elmessiri managed to write over 50 books and scores of articles on a diverse range of topics ranging from Zionism to Postmodernism, Secularism, Muslim Political Thought, Palestinian Liberation Movements, the Intifada, Palestinian Poetry and English Literature. more.. e-mail
Hip-hop for Palestine represents in New Orleans Mai Bader, Electronic Intifada 7/7/2008 On 14 June 2008, a wide coalition of grassroots organizations -- including NOLAPS (New Orleans, Louisiana Palestine Solidarity); INCITE Women of Color Against Violence; New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival; and the Third World Coalition of the American Friends Service Committee -- held a historic event called "Liberation Hip-Hop," which commemorated the 60th year of the Nakba, the dispossession of the Palestinian people. Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts center was filled that day with folks from different backgrounds, ages and religions. Speakers and audience members from around the US and across the world got together to link their struggles and build an alliance against the injustice they all face. Addressing the standing-room-only crowd, local spoken word artist PoeticOne introduced Jordan Flaherty from Left Turn Magazine and Darryl Jordan from the Third World Coalition of the American Friends Service Committee. more.. e-mail
Life of famous Lebanese poet celebrated in London Middle East Online 7/5/2008 LONDON – A lecture dedicated to the life and works of the famous Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gibran will be held in London on Thursday the 24th of July 2008, organizers of the event said. The lecture, which marks the 125th anniversary of the poet’s birth, will given by Professor Suheil Bushrui (University of Maryland, US), Director of theKahlil Gibran Research and Studies Project. Gibran was born on January 6, 1883 in Bsharri, a mountainous area in Northern Lebanon. His best-known work is The Prophet, a book composed of 28 poetic essays which remains world-renowned to this day. Gibran’s poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages, while his drawings and paintings have been exhibited in many capitals of the world. Although Gibran’s most famous work was written in Arabic, he also has English pieces which he wrote in the United States. more.. e-mail
Palestinian poet: History laughs at both victim and aggressor Reuters, Ha’aretz 7/3/2008 Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish said on Wednesday his new works blend sarcasm and a deep sense of hope in their treatment of the decades-old conflict with Israel. Darwish drew thousands of Palestinians to a rare public reading in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday night. The crowds unable to get seats in the city’s Cultural Palace watched him on outdoor screens nearby. Newspapers said millions abroad watched him live on al-Jazeera. Darwish toldthat his new poems reflected a sense of hope, and were also laden with a necessary sarcasm. "Sarcasm helps me overcome the harshness of the reality we live, eases the pain of scars and makes people smile," Darwish said in an interview. "The sarcasm is not only related to today’s reality but also to history. History laughs at both the victim and the aggressor," Darwish said in an interview. more.. e-mail
Mahmoud Darwish recites poetry in Ramallah Ma’an News Agency 7/2/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – Renowned Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish participated in the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Ramallah’s municipal council, held Tuesday evening. The hall of the Culture Palace in Ramallah was packed with poetry lovers who came to listen to Darwish’s recitation. There were so many in attendance that organizers had to erect giant screens outside so that those unable to fit inside the hall would be able to see the recitation. [end]
Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish wins Moroccan award Ma’an News Agency 6/28/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Moroccan House of Poetry is awarding its "Al-Arkana World Poetry Award" to the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish this year. Darwish, a Palestinian refugee from the north of what is now Israel, will receive the award at a ceremony and poetry reading in the Moroccan capital, Rabat on 24 October. House of Poetry’s Arkana Prize Committee said that the award, named for a tree that grows mainly in the Moroccan south, is given to a poet who "defends the values of diversity, freedom and peace. " "Darwish’s experience includes different cultural periods that are wrapped by a deep knowledge of poetry and its geography, and a vital awareness that poetry is fated to be transformed and renewed which makes it always opened to the future," the committee said. "Since the first moment of being a poet, Darwish was determined to look for pain and joy, life and. . . more.. e-mail
Mahmoud Darwish wins poetry prize in Morocco Palestine News Network 6/28/2008 Morocco / PNN -- The luminous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish has won the International Park Award from the Moroccan House of Poetry. No Palestinian is translated into more languages than Darwish. His poems are political, are true to life and reality, and are deeply emotional without being sentimental. A Chinese poet won the prize in 2002 and a Moroccan poet in 2004. This year’s panel of judges included distinguished critics, scholars and poets themselves. Mahmoud Darwish was born in 1941 during the British Mandate in Palestine in the village of Al Birwah. One of his most well-know poems is "I Come from There," and one of the most impressive examples of his political resistance is "State of Siege. " more.. e-mail
Al-Khader 3-day Festival of arts and culture begins Ma’an News Agency 5/5/2008 Bethlehem - Maan - The Al-Khader festival of arts and culture began in the village’s sports stadium, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday. The three-day festival includes cultural and heritage presentations from Palestine, including singing, poetry recitation and performances by dance troupes. Al-Khader municipal council, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, organized the event to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, as well as the celebrations of Saint George’s memorial (Al-Khader in Arabic), where Christians and Muslim pilgrims visit Saint George’s Monastery. The celebration started with formal speeches and folk dances. Dr. Kholoud Daibes, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism, passed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ greetings to the audience. The mayor of Al-Khadir, Ramzi Salah, explained that the municipal council of Al-Khadir. . . more.. e-mail
Bearing witness to past bombs through poetry and music Laura Wilkinson, Daily Star 3/25/2008 Review - Theatre Monnot hosts a Good Friday of ’Les Poetes Temoignent - BEIRUT: Good Friday offered a reminder that Beirut also has a calmer face. In some city neighborhoods, dusk unveiled processions of families making their way through the streets sharing the burden of a cross, waving palms and carrying lanterns while candle-lit churches filled quietly. Away from the comforting Easter celebrations, though, in Theatre Monnot, "Les Poetes Temoignent" ("Poets Bearing Witness") offered an evening of performed poetry focusing on war and suffering, with the destruction inflicted on Lebanon during the summer war of 2006 receiving particular attention. "Poets Bearing Witness" provided a stark contrast to the Easter scene outside - which may have accounted for the event’s relatively low turnout - and offered a different kind of solace: one to be found within Lebanon’s fiery and resilient poetry circles. more.. e-mail
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