“they teach pupils the country was empty. When they teach Palestinian poets, this knowledge is broken: most of my poetry is about love for my country.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated

Figure timeline
Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian author and poet. He wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which formally established the State of Palestine in November 1988, and is widely regarded as the country's national poet. His poetry and other literature, for which he won numerous awards internationally, was published in Arabic, while he also spoke English, French, and Hebrew.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · Palestinian author and poet (1941–2008) · poet · writer · correspondent · songwriter · poet laureate · panel discussion · translator · librettist · also Mahmoud Darwish, M. Darwish, Mahmoud Darwich, Darwish
Born 13 March 1941 · Died 9 August 2008 · Q207720
48 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
7 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
“they teach pupils the country was empty. When they teach Palestinian poets, this knowledge is broken: most of my poetry is about love for my country.”
“We lived again as refugees, this time in our own country. It”
“Gaza became independent of the West Bank, and for one people, two countries, two prisons.”
“It is difficult to believe that the most militarily powerful country in the Middle East is threatened by a poem,”
“On this day, on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb, they are trying out the vacuum bomb on our flesh and the experiment is successful.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Menafn: Turkish Artist Showcases Palestinian Struggle Through Darwish-Inspired Exhibition
Le Monde.fr: Mahmoud Darwish and Tamar Ben Ami: The impossible love of a Palestinian poet and an Israeli dancer
صوت الإمارات: Rita in Mahmoud Darwish's poetry: A love story that became a symbol of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
Released album “The Intifada 1987”.
Palestinian historian Maher Charif, Egyptian novelist and critic Salwa Bakr, and Indian novelist and activist Arundhati Roy were co-winners of the prize
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
His poem "Think of Others" was set to music by a South African artist and 11-year-old Palestinian youth activist, Janna Jihad Ayyad
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
British musician Roger Waters set to music an English translation of Darwish's "Lesson From the Kama Sutra (Wait for Her)" on his album Is This the Life We Really Want
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “(Andalusia of Love) أندلس الحُب”.
His poem "We Were Without a Present" served as the basis for the central song, "Ya Reit" by Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar in the film "Junction 48"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Al Manara”.
Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho set Darwish's poem "The Last Train Has Left" (from the collection Fewer Roses) within her work for baritone and orchestra True Fire, "a profound, important work" according to the L
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Syrian composer Hassan Taha created the musical play "The Dice Player", based on the poems and lyrics of Mahmoud Darwish
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The film was continuing an international screening tour
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Récital Mahmoud Darwich”.
Egin, a patchanka band from Italy, published a song setting the poem "Identity Card" to music
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Died 2008-08-09.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Although it is now technically possible for Jewish students to study Darwish, his writing is still banned from Arab schools. The curriculum used in Arab education is one agreed in 1981 by a committee whose sole Jewish member vetoed any works he thought might 'create an ill spirit'.”
Darwish starred in the five-screen film id – Identity of the Soul from Arts Alliance Productions, in which he narrates his poem "A Soldier Dreams of White Lilies" along with Ibsen's poem "Terje Vigen
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mohammed Fairouz set selections from State of Siege to music
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Golden Wreath (2007).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
By Jeffrey Sacks (Archipelago Books) (ISBN 0-9763950-1-0)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Outdoor music and dance performances in Qalqiliya were suddenly banned by the Hamas-led municipality, with authorities saying that such events were forbidden by Islam
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Prince Claus Award (2004).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Swiss composer Klaus Huber completed a large work entitled "Die Seele muss vom Reittier steigen
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize (2001).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
A documentary entitled Mahmoud Darwish was produced by French TV, directed by French-Moroccan director Simone Bitton
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Returned to Israel to attend the funeral of his colleague Emile Habibi, having received a permit to remain in Haifa for four days
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Darwish resigned from the PLO Executive Committee due to his opposition to the Oslo Accords
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of his poems, "Those Who Pass Between Fleeting Words", was angrily cited in the Knesset by Yitzhak Shamir
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Lenin Peace Prize (1983).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“ali (1983). Darwish was elected to the PLO Executive Committee in 1987. In 1993, Darwish resigned from the PLO Executive Committee due to his opposition to the Oslo Accords. He later recounted:”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
By a committee whose sole Jewish member vetoed any works he thought might 'create an ill spirit'
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Egyptian-born Palestinian singer Zeinab Shaath adapted his poem "Identity Card" into an English-language song, titled "I Am An Arab," from her EP The Urgent Call of Palestine
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Darwish joined the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and was consequently banned from entering Israel
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Edited the monthly Shu'un Filistiniyya (Palestinian Affairs) and worked as a director in the Palestinian Research Centre of the PLO
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Moved to Cairo, Egypt, where he worked for the daily newspaper al-Ahram
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Darwish left Israel to study in the Soviet Union, where he attended Moscow State University for one year
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Lotus Prize for Literature (1969).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
It includes the lines: “Write down on the top of the first page: / I do not hate people / And I do not steal from anyone / But if I starve / I will eat my oppressor’s flesh / Beware, beware of my starving / And my rage
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“In a song it’s hard to say precise things. So I emphasise: only the territories captured during the six-day war, not the state of Israel.’’ ID Card was written in 1964, when Darwish was working as a literary assistant in Haifa on an Israeli communist party publication. Its most famous line – “Write it down! I’m an Arab”
“s poetry, said the poem had been misunderstood and mistranslated. Poet and translator Ammiel Alcalay wrote that”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1941-03-13.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In a song it’s hard to say precise things. So I emphasise: only the territories captured during the six-day war, not the state of Israel.’’ ID Card was written in 1964, when Darwish was working as a literary assistant in Haifa on an Israeli communist party publication. Its most famous line – “Write it down! I’m an Arab
Connections