Renowned Palestinian Poet, Mahmoud Darwish, Dies in Houston After Heart Surgery

Mesha'al mourns late Palestinian poet Darwish

[ 10/08/2008 - 09:04 AM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)--

Khaled Mesha'al, the political bureau chairman of the Hamas Movement, has mourned the death of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish who passed away in an American hospital following open heart surgery on Saturday evening.

Mesha'al, in a statement by the Hamas information office, said that the Palestinian literature had lost one of its basic pillars, pointing to the role played by late Darwish in spreading awareness on Palestinian struggle during his contemporary march.

The Hamas leader extended condolences to the family of Darwish, his relatives and the Palestinian people in general.

Darwish, 67, had undergone open heart surgery in an American hospital in Texas last Wednesday but died three days later. He underwent two similar surgeries in 1984 and 1998.

Darwish was one of the most prominent Palestinian contemporary poets and his works were translated to 22 languages and had won numerous international awards.

Renowned Palestinian Poet, Mahmoud Darwish, dies in Huston

Sunday August 10, 2008 01:45 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

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 Huston – Texas in the United States.

Mahmoud Dariwsh 1941 - 2008

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.

Darwish was born in 1942 in Al Birwa village, east of Acre in Palestine. After Israel was created in Palestine in 1948 his family became refugees in Lebanon for one year and returned to Acre (Akka) area and settled in Deir Al Asad.

He published his first book of poetry when he was only nineteen; it was called Wingless Birds (Asafeer Bila Ajniha).

He also co-edited several newspapers that belong to the Israeli Communist Party and co-edited Al Fajir (the Dawn) newspaper.

He was repeatedly harassed and imprisoned by Israel and he left to Moscow in 1970, and in 1971 he moved to Egypt and worked for Al Ahram (the Pyramids) newspaper.

In 1973 he moved to Lebanon and worked as the editor of Palestinian Affairs (Shu'un Filistiniyya) newspaper, and also worked as the director of the Palestinian Research Center which belongs to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

In 1981 he founded Al Karmel Journal and worked as its editor. In 1987 he was elected as the Executive Director of the PLO, but resigned later on in objection to the Oslo Agreement. He repeatedly demanded the Palestinian leadership to have a tough and fair position in the peace talks.

He entered the county again in 1995 after obtaining a visa to visit his mother. He moved to the West Bank and obtained a permit from the Israeli Authorities to remain in the country, and lived in Ramallah.

In 2000, the then Israeli education minister, Yossi Sarid, suggested that some of Darwish’s poems should be included in the high school curriculum in Israel, but the suggestion was rejected by the then Prime Minister, Ehud Barak.

In 2001, Darwish won the Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom, he prize recognizes people whose extraordinary and courageous work celebrates the human right to freedom of imagination, inquiry, and expression. As defined by the foundation, cultural freedom is the right of individuals and communities to define and protect valued and diverse ways of life currently threatened by globalization.

Darwish words and poems recited his strong belonging to the Arab and Palestinian identity; his works became a “threat” to the Israeli occupation and made him a target of harassment by the Israeli Authorities.

To learn more about this great intellectual and poet, please visit the link below;

http://www.mahmouddarwish.com/english/

We are the guests of eternity; in memory of Mahmoud Darwish

Date: 10 / 08 / 2008 Time: 11:02
Bethlehem – Ma'an –

When somebody dies, it is a tradition in the Arab world to remember his good traits and keep mentioning them. One Arab poet once described death as, "like a critic with jewels in his hands; from which one only selects the best."

As Palestinians around the world begin to digest the death of their National Poet, we will remember how special he was. We will remember how he was able to put voice to the triumphs and the sufferings of his people.

One of Darwish's early colleagues wrote about the already great poet in 1974. In his novel Emil Habiby described the child Darwish, with his mother the day they were forced to leave the village of Birwah, now in Israel.

In a military jeep, the novel's protagonist watches as the Israeli official orders the child Darwish and his mother out of Israel. The two turn to walk away and then, the protagonist says, "at this point I observed the first example of that amazing phenomenon that was to occur again and again," and describes what he witnesses as the child and his mother walk away:

"For the further the woman and the child went from where we were, the governor and I in the jeep, the taller she grew. By the time they had merged with their own shadows in the sinking sun, they had become bigger than the plain of Acre itself. The governor stood still there awaiting their final disappearance, while I remained huddled in the jeep. Finally he asked in amazement, 'Will they never disappear?'"

In death no less than in life, the poet Darwish will not disappear. His legacy, like his shadow, will remain with Palestinians as part of our past and through to our future.

Darwish has been called the modern Abu Al-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi, a famous tenth century Iraqi poet who is commonly regarded as the Arabic language's best poet, whose work was so great that no one in Iraq could speak of anything other than his work. Darwish, like Al-Mutanabbi, it is said, kept his people busy with verse, kept them discussing words and meanings and ideas.

Darwish, the figure of our poetry, our stronghold and last shelter has left us. He once said, "They switched off the lights while I was in a prison cell, and the ground was lit by the sun of feelings."

Let the sun of his words light the darkness of his long shadow, and sustain us as we mourn his loss.

Ma'an news agency and the Ma'an TV network offer our deepest condolences to the Darwish family and to the whole Palestinian people; to the Arab and Islamic worlds and all those who share with us our grief on this sad day.

Arrangements have been made to transport Darwish's body to Jordan on the Palestinian Presidential plane, where a symbolic ceremony will be held. The body will then be taken to Ramallah where the official funeral will take place on Tuesday.

Darwish underwent an open heart surgery on Wednesday. The operation took place at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Huston, Texas, in the United States. He died on Saturday night after complications arose from the surgery.

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