State funeral planned for Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish

by Suzan Abrams

A state funeral is being planned for the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish in the West Bank on Tuesday, an honour previously given only to PLO leader Yasser Arafat. The master poet, Darwish famed for his elegant voice on the sufferings of the Palestinians and who touched Arab readers everywhere with his raw verses that singled out the Palestinian cause, died of complications after heart surgery in a hospital in Houston Texas on Saturday. He was 67. Already, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of national mourning and candlelight vigils with poetry readings, have been held throughout the Palestinian Territories. Although Darwish's poetic messages were stoutly ignored by Israel, yet many of his contemporary works were translated into the Hebrew.

The poetry of Mahmoud Darwish:

Under Siege,
I Come from There,
Psalm 9,
Psalm Three,
We Will Not Be Unremembered.


Photo Credit: Picture of candlelight vigil, courtesy of Reuters - Fadi Arouri