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28 March 2024

UAE citizens, Arab expats mourn Palestinian poet Samih

Published
By Sarah Omar

Arab expats and UAE nationals united in their grief to mourn the passing away of Palestinian poet Samih Al Qasim.

He passed away on Tuesday, August 19, at Safed Hospital in Northern Palestine after a long struggle with liver cancer. He was 75.

Adel Khozam, well-known UAE poet, said: "It’s a very very big loss… I learned from him so many techniques in writing. In his poetry, I found a style of expression that I have not found in any other poet… He was a great poet who represented two things - giving beauty to the language and expressing the Palestinian people.”

Moza Al Mattar, UAE journalist, said: “Samih Al Qasim is from the great poets that we grew up reading. Marcel Khalife's songs from Al Qasim's poems give us a stronger attachment to the poet.”

Sona, a Palestinian living in Dubai, said: “Samih Al Qasim was the last poet of the Palestinian cause”.

Hatem Omar, a journalist, said: “Most people only know him as a poet. Many don’t know that he was also a novelist. The first book I read of his was ‘The hell with the lilac’.

Mohammed Abu Obeid, Palestinian poet, TV anchor and presenter at Al Arabya news channel said: “I first met Samih Al Qasim in 2011 at the event - 'The day of the land' (Youm Al Ard) in Sharjah. He told me he used to watch me on TV and he was proud of me. He hugged me and we chatted. He told me to use poetry as a tool for our struggle and never underestimate this kind of weapon.”

Mohamed El Sadafy, senior reporter with ‘Emirates 24|7, said: “I met Samih Al Qasim when he visited Cairo in 1994. I was a trainee reporter then. I was very nervous. But he was such a humble person. He spoke to me as a friend.  He spoke strongly about the Palestinian situation. He spoke of his relationship to Mahmoud Darwish and how they both represent the Palestinian situation and the right to return to the homeland. I remember the story was published in the Al Ahaly newspaper in Cairo. I am very lucky to have met him.”

Born in 1939, Samih Al Qasim grew up in the Northern Palestinian village of Rameh, near Safed. Al Qasim was only 9 years old when he witnessed the 1948 Palestinian exodus (also known as the Nakba). His family were among the very few Palestinians that did not flee their village.

He was arrested several times for his political viewpoint, but that did not stop him from writing his poetry and conveying his message.

Some of his famous poems include: Travel Ticket, The Wall Clock, The Will of a Man Dying in Exile, Conversation between Ear of Corn and Jerusalem Rose Thorn, Sons of War, and The Story of a City.