Mahmoud Darwish's "Identity Card"

Click here to read Mahmoud Darwish's "Identity Card" (here "ID Card") at Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper.

A couple dedicated readers of my weekly Israel-Palestine poem have told me they can't find the links, and I'm thinking this is because the link color is not bright enough, especially for those who use tablets or Smartphones. I have neither, so please feel free to tell me whether I'm right about this. So I'm experimenting with just putting the link at the top, especially because I'm a bit too busy tonight to futz with the link colors, which I promise to do soon.

Mahmoud Darwish's poem, "Identity Card," is a great poem of Palestinian resistance. The poem is one of anger and direct confrontation, speaking back to a representative of the occupying force, likely an Israeli policeman or soldier. This poem was important in establishing Darwish's early reputation -- in fact, the poem was made into a protest song, prompting the IDF to put him under house arrest. Later, Darwish moved far away from this kind of rallying cry of a poem.

In the US, we too often talk about how "poetry makes nothing happen," but not only did "Identity Card" have very real effects -- both on the Palestinian people and Darwish himself -- but this poem still ruffles feathers. The rest of the Ha'aretz article about the poem is how in July 2016 the Israeli Defense Minister gave the Army Radio commander a dressing down for broadcasting a discussion of this poem on one of the station's educational programs.

Some poems stay dangerous forever.

Slick roads, people. Cold temps. Stay warm. Be safe. Go slow.

If you're not in the frozen north, go outside and dance for me please!