From Ghaleb, who I thank for this, I have learned of this review (written by Amira Howeidy in Al-Ahram) of this electrifying Palestinian* poet’s reappearance in Cairo in 2005: “The last time his name was seen in the news — March 2003 — it was in connection with being arrested and deported to Amman for participating in the anti-war protests on the eve of the US/ UK-led war on Iraq. A week later, Al-Barghouti wrote a poem in colloquial Egyptian Arabic with the intriguing title ‘Alluli betheb Masr‘ (They asked me, do you love Egypt), which circulated rapidly and widely on the Internet before appearing in Akhbar Al-Adab, Cairo’s best known literary journal. The poem was in a sense typical. Then 26 years old, a PhD candidate, Al-Barghouti, the son of Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour and Palestinian poet Mourid Al-Barghouti, expresses his complex emotions about Egypt, his birthplace and the country where he grew up, often separated from his father (Mourid Al- Barghouti was deported the year his only son was born, and for 15 years, this small family could only meet on holidays), and out of which he was suddenly and unjustly evicted. Images of fear, love, passion and nostalgia alternate with bitter sarcasm and angry political critique. To many the poem marked the beginning of a shift in Egypt’s political climate: it reflected much of what Al-Barghouti calls ‘the collective consciousness” of a new and unusually politically engaged generation. Ironically, on his deportation, the poem sealed his claim to fame … Fascination with his father’s poetry formed only part of the drive to study ‘the language of heroes’, as the seven-year-old Tamim attempted to write his first poem. Of the next 20 years’ yield of poetry — and Al- Barghouti is remarkably prolific — the Egypt and Iraq diwans seem to stand out. Since his first and second collections of poems — Mijana, written in Palestinian colloquial and published in 1999 in Ramallah and El-Manzar (The Scene), in Egyptian colloquial, published by Dar El-Sherouk in 2000, Al-Barghouti has established himself as a master of Arabic language and history — an achievement unmatched in his generation of literati. The poet, who at the age of 28 also teaches political science the American University in Cairo, strives to counter the collective Arab depression, according to which ‘nothing matters’ — a mood that robs people of confidence and concern. (In this sense, indeed, he is a breath of fresh air to many Arab nationalists and others concerned about the gradual extinction of political as much as poetic identity.) The depression, he says, ‘has reached language — we think our language and moral codes are not good enough, men think girls are not pretty enough, girls think men are not men enough’. He pauses, laughing…We do not have that luxury because we do have something worth fighting for. The Arabic language is beautiful, girls are pretty, men are men — and the land is the land. And, yes, a million shoes are stepping on us but the feeling that we deserve this is completely useless. Despite all our failures, we don’t deserve it.” Amira Howeidy’s profile of Tamim Barghouthi was published in Al-Ahram Weekly here.
* I write that Tamim Barghouti is Palestinian, knowing that his father is Palestinian and his mother is Egyptian. From Sameh, who is of exactly the same origins, I have learned that while Egyptian mothers can normally give their nationality to their children — unless the father is Palestinian, in which case, the children must remain Palestinian only…in order not to dilute their wish to return…
As explained in Al-Ahram weekly in August 2006, “Since the groundbreaking decision by President Hosni Mubarak in September 2003 to amend the nationality law to allow the offspring of Egyptian mothers and foreign fathers to become Egyptian citizens (thousands of individuals became citizens) … Still, the nationality law prohibits children of Egyptian mothers and foreign fathers from joining either the Egyptian army or police, or filling certain governmental posts. Also, children of Palestinian fathers are not eligible for Egyptian citizenship. While this seems unfair … it is in accordance with Arab League Decree 1547 for 1959. The decree calls for the preservation of the Palestinian identity as an integral part of the Palestinian cause, and prevents it from assimilating into the identity of the host country“. This explanation is published here.
To see and hear Tamim Barghouti recite his poem on Jerusalem, click here.
Tags: Palestine, Palestinians, Tamim Barghouthi