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Voices From the Homeland (Part Two)

© Aida Hasan

***Continued from Part One

These last two periods (from 1948 to 1967, and post 1967) are most significant to the development of Palestinian poetry because of two major events that occured--1)the establishment of the zionist state in 1948 during which Israeli forces killed an estimated 13,000 Palestinians, forcibly evicted 737,166 Palestinians from their homes and lands, and destroyed 418 villages 2) Seizing of the remainder of Palestinian territories in 1967, uprooting many Palestinians for a second time. The effects of these two events have had a dramatic impact on the Palestinian psyche, producing a profound sadness and sense of loss that has come to characterize Palestinian poetry regardless of where or when it is written. From the refugee camps, from under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, from the Arab ghettos inside Israel, and from those in exile, their poetic voices speak the same emotions. What follows are samples of the poetic voices of Palestine, from 1948 to the present.

Martyrs of the Intifada
by Fadwa Tuqan
(born 1917)

They drew up the map of the road to life
they paved it with precious stones and with their young hearts
they raised their hearts as stones on their palms
embers and flames
and with these they pelted the monster of the road,
now is the time to show courage and strength,
their voice was heard strong everywhere
it reverberated everywhere
and there was courage and strength
they died standing
blazing on the road
shining like stars
their lips pressed to the lips of life...

The following poem was written after the occupation of the city of Gaza in 1967. The Israeli's searched homes and made the inhabitants stand near a wall with their hands in the air, often shooting at them. He writes of this personal experience:

Raise Your Arms
by Harun Hashim Rasheed
(born 1927)

-Raise your arms.....
they aimed their guns at me....
-Raise your arms......

I stood, my eyes flaming
and scorching with anger
as an insistent film of events
assailed me.
Can defiled cities be
the outcome of our struggle?
Have years of suffering,
long days of vigilance
in trenches, on hills
and in tattered tents
led to this?

The world blackened in my eyes
my hands on the wall
as guns were pointing at me
I wished the wall would fall on my head
My comrades and I waited
for their bullets,
for their bullets

They walked away, and the wall