while his father served in the Arab Legion

Arab Legion

The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...

 of King Abdullah

Abdullah I of Jordan

Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...

. He came from a Druze

Druze

The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...

 family from the town of Rameh

Rameh

Rameh is a local council in the North District of Israel. It is entirely populated by Arabs, of whom around 51% are Christian, 29% Druze, and a further 20% Muslim...

 in the Upper Galilee

Upper Galilee

The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...

. He attended primary school there and then later graduated from secondary school in Nazareth

Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

. His family did not flee Rame during the Palestinian exodus (Nakba) of 1948. In his book About Principles and Art, he explains,

While I was still at primary school the Palestinian tragedy occurred. I regard that date as the date of my birth, because the first images I can remember are of the 1948 events. My thoughts and images spring from the number 48'.

Life as a poet and journalist

As of 1984, al-Qasim had written twenty-four volumes of nationalist poetry and published six collections of poems. His poems in general are relatively short, some being no more than just two verses. Some of his famous poems include:

• Slit Lips
• Sons of War
• Confession at Midday
• Travel Tickets
• Bats
• Abandoning
• The Story of a City
• Conversation between Ear of Corn and Jerusalem Rose Thorn
• How I became an Article
• Story of the Unknown Man
• End of a Discussion with a Jailer
• The Will of a Man Dying in Exile
• The Boring Orbit
• The Clock on the Wall

Al-Qasim has contributed to the journals of Al-Ittihad

Al-Ittihad (Israeli newspaper)

Al-Ittihad is an Israeli Arabic language daily newspaper based in Haifa. Once considered the most important Arab media outlet in Israel, it is owned by Maki, the Israeli Communist Party, and was edited by a former Maki/Hadash Knesset member, Ahmad Sa'd until his death on 20 April 2010.-History:The...

, Al-Jadid, Index and others. He claims, that the pan-Arab ideology of Nasserism

Nasserism

Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...

 impressed him during the nationalist post-1948 era. Most of his poetry relates to the change of life before and after the Nakba, the Palestinian and broader Arab struggle to free their lands from foreign influence, Arab nationalism

Arab nationalism

Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...

, and various Arab tragedies. In 1968, he published his first collection of poetry, Waiting for the Thunderbird. Al-Qasim wrote about these subjects while they were at the climax of their popularity among the Arab population in the later half of the 20th century. When asked by his Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i friend, poet Buland al-Haidari if he had visited Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

, he replied by saying he did not have to, since he views any Arab city as equal to his own Arab residence.

Political influence

Al-Qasim claims that the pan-Arab ideology of Nasserism

Nasserism

Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...

 impressed him during the nationalist post-1948 era. He has been jailed several times for his political activities that have involved advocacy for Palestinian rights and dissent against government policies, starting in 1960 for refusal to enlist in the Israeli army which is required of Israeli Druze. He has also been under house arrest. He joined the Israeli Communist party Hadash

Hadash

Hadash is a Jewish and Arab socialist front of organizations that runs for the Israeli parliament. It currently has four members in the 120-seat Knesset.-Background:...

 in 1967 and was detained along with other members of the party at the outbreak of the Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

. He was sent to al-Damoun prison in Haifa

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

. During this time, he virtually lost his nationalistic emotions upon hearing Israeli radio announcing its territorial gains after their victory.

Present life

Al-Qasim currently works as a journalist in Haifa

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

 where he runs the Arabesque Press and the Folk Arts Centre and is the editor-of-chief in the Israeli Arab newspaper Kul al-Arab

Kul al-Arab

Kul al-Arab is an Israeli Arabic-language weekly newspaper, founded in 1987. Based in Nazareth, the paper is Israel's most influential and widely-read Arabic-language periodical. It is also distributed in the West Bank. Kul al-Arab has 70 employees and a circulation of 38,000...

. He recites many of his poems to large audiences in the Arab towns and cities of the Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

monthly. Al-Qasim has refused to leave Israel; In an interview with Index he is quoted as saying "I have chosen to remain in my own country not because I love myself less, but because I love my country more".

External links

• Sadder Than Water: New & Selected Poems by Samih al-Qasim, translated by Nazih Kassis, introduced by Adina Hoffman. 2006.
• Samih al-Qasim Poems
• Samih al-Qasim Biography
• English translation of Samih al-Qasim's Travel Tickets