RAMALLAH: Flags were lowered to half-staff at West Bank government buildings yesterday, ushering in three days of mourning for poet Mahmud Darwish, who helped forge the Palestinians’ national identity and gave a voice to their yearning for independence.
Darwish died on Saturday, at age 67, following heart surgery at a Houston hospital.
The poet is to be buried tomorrow in the West Bank city of Ramallah, rather than near his home village in what is now Israel, according to a brother, Ahmed. The family had initially considered seeking burial close to home. However, this would have required Israeli approval.
“Mahmud doesn’t just belong to a family or a town, but to all the Palestinians, and he should be buried in a place where all Palestinians can come and visit him,” said Ahmed Darwish.
Darwish will be buried next to Ramallah’s Palace of Culture, and a shrine will be erected in his honor, said Ramallah Mayor Jeanette Michael.
In the past year, Darwish had become increasingly concerned about the Palestinian infighting. Moreed Bargouthi, a Palestinian poet, said he had spoken to Darwish before his surgery and that Darwish had expressed his worry about the bitter political divisions.
Underscoring those divisions, it was not clear yesterday whether the Hamas government in Gaza would join the three days of official mourning declared by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Gaza’s Culture Ministry planned to set up a mourning tent, starting today, officials said. Hamas’ supreme leader, Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Syria, said that “with the death of Darwish, Palestinian literature lost one of its pillars.” Late Saturday, as news of Darwish’s death spread, dozens of people lit memorial candles in Ramallah’s main square. Some radio stations played Darwish poems set to music.
In Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Moussa paid tribute to Darwish. “With him gone, the Palestinians and all Arabs will be missing one of the poetic and cultural symbols in the modern history,” Moussa said.
