By autson.com
| Palestinian National Poet Dies in US |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Alalam News | |||
| Sunday, 10 August 2008 13:42 | |||
|
{mosimage}Mahmoud Darwish, the world's most recognized Palestinian poet passed away in a US hospital Saturday after undergoing complicated heart surgery, according to media reports.
Siham Daoud, a fellow poet and longtime friend of Darwish, said the 67-year old Darwish departed for the US ten days ago for the surgery and asked not to be resuscitated if it did not succeed. Darwish had a history of heart problems, and had been operated on in the past.
Darwish was a Palestinian cultural icon who had eloquently described his people's struggle for independence. He's been a vocal critic of both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian leadership. His poetry is considered to have given voice to the Palestinian experience of exile, occupation and infighting. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages and won many international prizes. Many of his poems have also been put into music -- most notably "Rita",'' Birds of Galilee'' and "I yearn for my mother's bread'' -- and have become anthems for at least two generations of Arabs. "He felt the pulse of Palestinians in beautiful poetry. He was a mirror of the Palestinian society,'' said Ali Qleibo, a Palestinian anthropologist and lecturer in cultural studies at Al-Quds University in the occupied Al-Quds. Darwish's influence was keenly felt among Palestinians. He was born in a Palestinian village near Haifa that was destroyed in the 1948 Mideast war that led to Israel's illegal annexation of Palestinian territories. He lived in several Arab countries. He was a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization but resigned in 1993 in protest over the interim peace accords that the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, signed with Israeli regime. Darwish moved to the West Bank city of Ramallah in 1996.
|
|||
| Last Updated on Friday, 28 November 2008 03:00 |
