|
Palestinian finds following for poetry of hope
Real estate news By Alaa Shahine
Mon Oct 8, 2007 5:57pm BST
Hundreds of Palestinians have flocked to hear his poems, packing cultural centres in the West Bank and once filling the football field of a school -- hardly the usual response to an art form associated with the elite. The crowds have interrupted his readings with applause and lines from his poems have become popular phone ring tones, although they are in classical Arabic and touch on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Middle East politics, issues endlessly visited by scores of Palestinian and Arab poets.
He says his poetry, even when it reflects the harsh realities and turmoil of the Middle East, can give his stateless compatriots a message of hope for which they are desperate. "Now, today the political identity of the Palestinians is threatened as at no other time in history," he told Reuters in an interview at his apartment in Cairo over the weekend. "Poetry and other forms of cultural production consolidate this identity and therefore people cling to it. Also since the fall of Baghdad people feel desperate and a message of hope is needed," he said, referring to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In his poems there are images of Israeli soldiers in Palestinian territories, a Muslim nation portrayed as a young gazelle too scared to leave her hiding for fear of death, and police clashing with students in anti-war protests in Cairo. But there is also the image of a child who manages to come out of hiding and who calls on the gazelle to follow, reminding it of glorious days of freedom.
Send tips or a Letter to the Editor to editor@updatere.com
|
