As to any person's story they are bound to have depth, darkness, and triumph. And that is Mahmoud’s life. He became the national voice for the Palestinian people in the darkest of times, He struggled through the Nakba, became a refugee, lived in exile, and experienced loss and life.
Mahamoud was born to a native Palestinian village Al-Birweh in Galilee on March 13, 1941. At the young age of six, Mahmoud and the entirety of Palestine struggled through terror called the Nakba. In 1948, Israeli settlers entered Palestine, forcing people out of their homes, throwing people in prison, and stripping Palestinians of their identities.
Mahmoud and countless others were forced out of their homes as the massacre occurred, causing his family to flee to Lebanon for safety. After about a year, he and his family returned to Palestine, where they entered as Arab-Israelis. Because of the mass destruction of the Nakba, their original village was completely obliterated. They ended up settling in another village in Galilee with very little personal belongings since it had been destroyed.
Because of the limited number of belongings Mahmoud had little to no books growing up. His first inspiration for poetry was after hearing from a singer that traveled from place to place on the run from the Israeli Army. Mahmoud was told by his older brother that he should start writing poetry.
During that time, Mahmoud was still in school. He was required to attend an event that celebrated the creation of the Israeli State. At that event, Mahmoud read aloud a political activism poem that highlighted how Palestinians were mistreated compared to Israelis. Because of the controversial readings, Mahmoud was threatened by many Israeli officials.
Over time Mahmoud’s poetry evolved from strict classical structures of poetry to more original and direct forms of poetry. His words evoked powerful imagery that resonated with Palestinians mainly because of its references to the native land such as orchards, olive groves, gazelles, and the bustling Arab culture.
He made one of his most famous appearances reading aloud his poem ID Card in a cinema in Nazareth in 1965. The poem was written to address an Israeli Guard. He highlights his identity as an Arab man; establishing that he will not let his identity be erased.
Identity card
Mahmoud Darwish
Put it on record.
I am an Arab
And the number of my card is fifty thousand
I have eight children
And the ninth is due after summer.
What's there to be angry about?
Put it on record.
I am an Arab˜
Working with comrades of toil in a quarry.
I have eight children
For them I wrest the loaf of bread,
The clothes and exercise books
From the rocks
And beg for no alms at your door,
Lower not myself at your doorstep.
What's there to be angry about?
Put it on record.
I am an Arab.
I am a name without a title,
Patient in a country where everything
Lives in a whirlpool of anger.
My roots
Took hold before the birth of time
Before the burgeoning of the ages,
Before cypress and olive trees,
Before the proliferation of weeds.
My father is from the family of the plough
Not from highborn nobles.
And my grandfather was a peasant
Without line or genealogy.
My house is a watchman's hut
Made of sticks and reeds.
Does my status satisfy you?
I am a name without a surname.
Put it on record.
I am an Arab.
Colour of hair: jet black.
Colour of eyes: brown.
My distinguishing features:
On my head the `iqal cords over a keffiyeh
Scratching him who touches it.
My address:
I'm from a village, remote, forgotten,
Its streets without name
And all its men in the fields and quarry.
What's there to be angry about?
Put it on record.
I am an Arab.
You stole my forefathers' vineyards
And land I used to till,
I and all my children,
And you left us and all my grandchildren
Nothing but these rocks.
Will your government be taking them too
As is being said?
So!
Put it on record at the top of page one:
I don't hate people,
I trespass on no one's property.
And yet, if I were to become hungry
I shall eat the flesh of my usurper.
Beware, beware of my hunger
And of my anger!
Mahmoud continued to make headway on his literary journey by joining the Israel Communist Party. There he was able to publish his works in the literary journal and later became its editor.
Mahmoud's poetry surrounded themes of resistance of Palestinians to Israelis. Because Palestinians were discouraged from using freedoms of expression to convey nationalist ideologies, Mahmoud ended up getting arrested multiple times and placed under house arrest.
Yet through all of that, he continued to show his support for the Palestinian people by joining a libertarian organization determined to fight to reclaim the once established Palestine from Israeli rule. This organization was called the Palestinian Libertarian Organization or more widely known as the PLO. However, despite him joining it in helping to liberate Palestinians, he was banned from entering Palestine for the next 23 years due to his repeated arrests.
He didn’t let that stop him from pursuing his dreams and still advocating for Palestinian rights. Mahmoud spent his time jumping from place to place living in all corners of the world. At first he made his way to the Soviet Union so he could further his education at the University of Moscow. From then on he lived in Tunis, Paris, Cairo and Damascus.
While getting the opportunity to live in many places and experience many things, Mahmoud still became homesick. He often describes his longing for his home in his writing but also how we should appreciate the little things because life is fleeting. One of his impactful quotes that I've come across in my research particularly is striking.
“We have on this earth what makes life worth living: April’s hesitation, the aroma of bread at dawn, a woman’s point of view about men, the works of Aeschylus, the beginning of love, grass on a stone, mothers living on a flute’s sigh and the invaders’ fear of memories.”
It’s highly admirable how he describes the simplicity of life so beautifully. It can be taken into account that everyone experiences life differently but we can all take the time to enjoy things before it is gone.
Language can be thought of as a time capsule, just as the artist paints a scene in time, words hold precious cargo; once unlocked and understood, time can be relieved.
Mahmoud took his life experiences and threw them into his poems with soul impacting lines that rhythm to the heart. He captured the hearts of millions as he sold millions of copies of his works; including writing 8 books of prose and over thirty volumes of poetry.
After many years of success he finally was able to return to his home in the 1990s. He resided in the city of Ramallah, located in the central West Bank of Palestine and is now capital of authority for the state. Now, you may think that because he was finally able to return home he must surely have peace? That is very far from the truth.
Palestine and Israel conflicts still arose even in the 23 years that Mahmoud was away, even today they still have immense conflicts.
In March 2002, Mahmoud read his poetry during a Palestinian uprising called the Second Intifada. He read aloud his poetry to the audience along with the other writers about the dividing opinions on political activism.
This uprising was at first peaceful from the Palestinian side, but four days later Israeli tanks entered the city of Ramallah. Immense casualties occurred from both sides. The culture center that Mahmoud worked at was ransacked by the Israeli military and his work was left on the floor trampled.
Due to serious heart complications during a surgery, Mahmoud died at the age of 67 in a hospital in Houston.
There is no doubt about it that Mahmoud not only made a giant footprint in the literary world but he became a voice to the Palestinian people. While he may not be alive today, his words live on between the folds of pages and in the souls of people.
Author’s note: I highly encourage you to check out more of Mahmoud’s work! He inspires so many and his poetry speaks volumes :)
Sources:
Image credits that are mainly locations only are from a friend who visited Palestine in 2022
Academy of American Poets. “Mahmoud Darwish.” Poets.org, poets.org/poet/mahmoud-darwish.
Bamia, Aida A. “Mahmoud Darwish | Poems, Books, and Biography.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/Mahmoud-Darwish.
“Mahmoud Darwish: From Galilee to the World.” New Frame, 15 Mar. 2021, www.newframe.com/mahmoud-darwish-from-galilee-to-the-world.
Reporter, Guardian Staff. “Mahmoud Darwish.” The Guardian, 22 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/11/poetry.israelandthepalestinians.
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