http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Obit-Darwish.html
Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish Is Dead at 67
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 9, 2008
Filed at 4:37 p.m. ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Mahmoud Darwish, whose prose gave voice
to the Palestinian experience of exile, occupation and infighting,
died on Saturday in Houston. He was 67.
The predominant Palestinian poet, whose work has been translated into
more than 20 languages and won numerous international awards, died
following open heart surgery at a Houston hospital, said Nabil Abu
Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Born to a large Muslim family in historical Palestine -- now modern-
day Israel -- he emerged as a Palestinian cultural icon eloquently
describing his people's struggle for independence while also
criticizing both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian
leadership. He gave voice to the Palestinian dreams of statehood,
crafted their declaration of independence and helped forge a
Palestinian national identity.
''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 Jerusalem.
Darwish first gained prominence in the 1960s with the publication of
his first poetry collection, ''Bird without Wings.'' It included the
poem ''Identity Card'' that defiantly spoke in the first person of an
Arab man giving his identity number -- a common practice among
Palestinians when dealing with Israeli authorities and Arab
governments -- and vowing to return to his land.
Many of his poems have 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 wrote another 21 collections, the last, ''The Impression of
Butterflies,'' in 2008.
Qleibo described Darwish's poetry as ''the easy impossible,'' for
Darwish's ability to condense the Palestinian narrative into simple,
evocative language -- breaking away from the more traditional heavy,
emotive and rhythmic verse of other Arab poets.
Darwish wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988,
read by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat when he
unilaterally declared statehood. The declaration was symbolic and had
no concrete significance.
Darwish's influence was keenly felt among Palestinians, serving as a
powerful voice for many.
''He started out as a poet of resistance and then he became a poet of
conscience,'' said Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi. ''He embodied
the best in Palestinians ... even though he became iconic he never
lost his sense of humanity. We have lost part of our essence, the
essence of the Palestinian being.''
Last year, Darwish recited a poem damning the deadly infighting
between rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, describing it
as ''a public attempt at suicide in the streets.''
Darwish was born in the Palestinian village of Birweh near Haifa,
which was destroyed in the 1948 Mideast war that led to Israel's
independence. He joined the Israeli Communist Party after high school
and began writing poems for leftist newspapers.
''When we think of Darwish ... he is our heart, and our tongue,''
said Issam Makhoul, an Arab lawmaker and veteran member of the
Israeli Communist Party.
Darwish left Israel in the early 1970s to study in the former Soviet
Union, and from there he traveled to Egypt and Lebanon. He joined the
Palestine Liberation Organization, but resigned in 1993 in protest
over the interim peace accords that the late Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat signed with Israel. Darwish moved to the West Bank city
of Ramallah in 1996.
His work is widely admired on the Arab and Palestinian street. In
Israel, it evokes different feelings.
In 2000, Israel's education minister, Yossi Sarid, suggested
including some of Darwish's poems in the Israeli high school
curriculum. But Prime Minister Ehud Barak overruled him, saying
Israel was not ready yet for his ideas in the school system.
In 1988, a Darwish poem, ''Passing in Passing Words,'' was read by
then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir inside Israel's parliament
as an example of the Palestinians' unwillingness to live alongside
Jews. The poem suggested that Darwish called for Jews to leave the
region.
Adel Usta, a specialist on Darwish's poetry, said the poem was
misunderstood and mistranslated.
''He created a national Palestinian identity that no other poet could
achieve,'' Usta said.
Darwish married and divorced twice. He does not have any children.
Siham Daoud, a fellow poet and longtime friend of Darwish, said he
traveled to a hospital in Houston, Texas, ten days ago for the
surgery and asked not to be resuscitated if it did not succeed. She
said Darwish had a history of heart problems, and had been operated
on twice in the past.
Akram Haniyeh, Editor-in-Chief of the Al Ayyam newspaper and a close
friend of Darwish, was by Darwish's bedside in Houston. He said
Darwish underwent an operation on Wednesday and there were
complications.
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