The Tent Generations Palestinian Poems

The Tent Generations, Palestinian Poems gathers together works by a select number of Palestinian poets, over the past seven decades, that give expression to the Palestinian experience under Israeli rule and Israeli occupation, as well as the experience of dispersion and displacement from their homeland following the Nakba, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the subsequent wars of 1967 and 1973.

These poems illuminate Palestinian responses to these tragic conflicts and wars that contributed to the loss of homeland, life under Israeli occupation, and the fragmentation and ruin of society and community. The 16 poets in this collection span and represent different generations and narratives, different backgrounds, and different locations, some of whose voices have not been heard previously in English, and, by and large, others whose works are not previously translated into English.

Although these poems cannot resolve the deep contradictions and disagreements that divide Palestinians and Israelis today, this collection shows how these poets use poetry to describe their relationship to the Palestinian people, their homeland, and the presence of an Israeli occupier in their midst.

Tawfiq Zayyad (1929-1994) was born in Nazareth, Palestine, and was a renowned pioneering resistance poet.

Mohammed Sawaie, Professor of Arabic at the University of Virginia, USA, is a global authority on sociolinguistic, historical, and grammatical aspects of Arabic.

Mu'inBseiso (1926–1984), born and raised in Gaza, has authored several poetry collections, plays, and prose works.

Fadwa Tuqan (1917-2003 was born in Nablus, Palestine, and published several collections of poetry, and a two-volume autobiography.

CONTENTS Introduction by Mohammed Sawaie 1 The Poets and Poems, all selected and translated by Mohammed Sawaie 29 Asma Rizq Tubi 30 To Jaffa 31 Fadwa Tuqan 33 The Plague 34 A Letter to Two Children on the East Bank of Jordan 35 Hamza 36 At Allenby Bridge 39 I Shall Never Cry 41 My Sorrowful City on the Day of the Zionist Occupation 45 Mu’in Bseiso 46 The God of Jerusalem 47 Harun Hashim Rasheed 49 Among Strangers 50 Tawfiq Zayyad 56 A Nation on the Cross 58 Dare 58 Here we are Staying 60 I Firmly Clasp your Hands 62 Leave Us Alone 63 Let the Whole World Hear 65 Youssef al-Khatib 66 The Lark 67 Rashid Hussein 68 Love and the Ghetto 69 The Woman and the Land 70 Abdel Wahab Zahida 72 The Identity Documents of Father Christmas 73 Samih al-Qasim 76 A Letter from Jail 77 The Gate of Tears 79 Salem Jubran 80 1948 81 A Hanged Man 84 A Refugee 86 A Song 87 Evening Stroll 89 In Lieu of an Elegy 91 Kufr Qasim 92 On Native Americans 93 Safad 94 Songs from the Prison 95 The Herald of Wind and Rain 98 The Refugees’ Winter 99 The Slaughtered Village 101 The Tent Generation 102 To a Visitor 104 To Eve 105 To Jean Paul Sartre 106 Whatever It Wishes 107 Without Medals 108 Zeinab Habash 110 Eva Stahl 111 Kufr Qasim 114 Muhammad al-Qaisi 116 Emmaus, the Bride 117 Reem and the Wound 118 Mahmoud al-Najjar 119 Homeland 120 A Will 121 Yousef al-Deek 122 Abbas’s State 123 Oslo 124 Rita Odeh 125 Christmas Misgivings 126 Marwan Makhoul 129 Daily Poems 130 On the Tel Aviv Train 131 Biographies of the Poets 133 Mohammed Sawaie 142 Toufic Abdul-Al 143 Glossary 144 Acknowledgments 146 Other Titles by Banipal Books 148 The list of all the poets included in this historical collection: Asma Rizq Tubi, Fadwa Tuqan, Mu’in Bseiso, Harun Hashim Rasheed, Tawfiq Zayyad, Youssef al-Khatib, Rashid Hussein, Abdel Wahab Zahida, Samih al-Qasim, Salem Jubran, Zeinab Habash, Muhammad al-Qaisi, Mahmoud al-Najjar, Yousef al-Deek, Rita Odeh, Marwan Makhoul