Tonight on the Jim Lehrer Newshour, Jeffrey Brown discussed poetry's role in Arab society with three leading Palestinian poets including SAMIH AL-QASIM, GHASSAN ZAQTAN, and TAHA MUHAMMAD ALI. Each poet offered their perspective on living amidst the Palestinian / Israeli conflict.
Mr. Al-Qasim was jailed several times for reciting his verses, but describes that "language became an instrument" for surviving and "living free and equal in his homeland". He expresses how the pen is NOT mightier than the sword in today's political environment: "There's a lot of violence. And in the medieval -- even in the medieval times, there was an argument between books. A philosopher wrote a book. Another one faced him with another book. Now the -- the confrontation is between the book and the pistol, the poem and the -- the bomb. So, it's not fair. It's not a fair confrontation."
For Mr. Zaqtan, the threat to the peoples of the region is against their "sense of identity" requiring people to "protect our personal history." He describes: "A complete people has lost its future, has lost the location, has lost its place. And, obviously, poetry is one of the most expressive forms in order to reach the people. This is why the poets were the first to remind these people of their identity."
Mr. Ali owns and operates a gift shop just steps from the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. With an education of a 4th-grader, Mr. Ali has made it his life long pursuit to read and write poetry which to him is "hidden" until revealed. Mr. Ali describes: "In my poetry, there is no Palestine, no Israel. But, in my poetry, suffering, sadness, longing, fear, and this is, together, make the results: Palestine and Israel. The art is to take from life something real, then to build it anew with your imagination."
Mr. Ali's words echo the call of humanity, the multiple peoples of our earth who share common experiences and who each search for spiritual meaning in our surroundings. I was moved by his poem "Twigs" read during the broadcast: "And, so, it has taken me all of 60 years to understand that water is the finest drink and bread the most delicious food, and that art is worthless unless it plants a measure of splendor in people's hearts." -- Isn't this truly the quest of us all...to find splendor in our existence?
Link: Read the transcript from the interviews here Online NewsHour: Report | Palestinian Poets Express Views | March 22, 2007 | PBS.
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