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Jewish Voice for Liberation

A poetic love letter to Gaza: a belief in hope

Published by Leah Levane
Yahia Lababidi

JVL Introduction

Palestinian poets have long been – and remain – important within the struggle for justice.  Yahia Lababidi has published many collections of poetry an d prose and we commend his latest.  Below we also publish an interview with the publisher of his latest work.  But take it perhaps from Ken Loach who says of “Palestine Wail”:   ‘In their simplicity and poignancy these poems are immensely touching.  They show that Palestinians, like all of us, find solace from the eternal rhythms of the natural world.  And this at a time when they struggle to survive in the midst of the horrors and cruelty inflicted on them by Israel and their powerful supporters.  Please read Yahia Lababidi’s poems, and share his glimpse of hope in the darkest of times.’
Yahia Lababidi cannot help but be political and he, like so many who speak out, has faced censorship; in an interview with PEN America  when asked about experience of censorship he said:  “In a two hour Zoom meeting, the publisher let me know that they were uneasy with my use of words like Genocide, even murder — as they felt that it was “prejudging a legal matter” — and they went so far as to suggest that if they were to publish my book, it would result in scandal for them and some of their authors would walk out.”  (his complete answer to the question and link to the interview is at the end of this post, Ed.)
Below we publish two of the less political poems that Yahia has chosen. For me, it feels important that we remind ourselves that Palestinians do not spend all their time being political and that while striving for justice, we remember the importance of dignity and humanity in quotidian and cultural life and that commemorating this is one manifestation of Palestinian resilience (Sumud/steadfastness). You can buy the book “Palestine Wail” through DarajaPress
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Here are two short poems from the collection:

For John

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars – Walt Whitman
There are leaves & petals strewn
on my bedroom & bathroom floor,
as if I’d returned from sleepwalking
in the woods, which, in a sense, I had.
The stroll, with my almost 3-year-old nephew,
ended up being ore of an extended bow –
as the awesome child knelt, reverently,
to gather bits of nature into my pocket.
The green called out to him, wildely & he
responded, exuberantly, collecting
what he could fit into his small palms:
a pretty orange flower, for Lisa,
his sister, who stayed behind
and tiny berries, he called apples
Everything was new, important
and worthy of closer inspection…
a poem which makes you smile,
when you are alone.

Hope

Hope’s not quite as it seems,
it’s slimmer than you’d think
and less steady on its feet.

Sometimes. it’s out of breath
can hardly see ahead
and cries itself to sleep.

It may not tell you all this
or the times it cheated death
but, if you knew it, you’d know

how hope can keep a secret.

And now the interview:

In the book, Lababidi cites  Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel “The opposite of love is not hatred but indifference.”  The interview with his publisher Firoz Manji, starts with one of the poems: “If you are uncomfortable saying genocide/….I’m waiting to hear from you/then please say something”

The video’s introduction includes: “Palestine is personal for writer, Yahia Lababidi. His Palestinian grandmother, Rabiha Dajani — educator, activist and social worker — was forced to flee her ancestral home in Jerusalem at gunpoint some eighty years ago. (you can read his Letter to My Departed Palestinian Grandmother. Ed) … Lababidi feels deeply betrayed by the USA’s blind support of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. In Palestine Wail, he reminds us that religion is not politics, Judaism is not Zionism, and to criticize the immoral, illegal actions of Israel is not antisemitism… Using both poetry and prose, Lababidi reflects on how we are neither our corrupt governments nor our compromised media. Rather, we are partners in humanity, members of one human family… We are made aware of the basic human truths that no lasting peace can be founded upon profound injustice and that the jailor is never Free”

Readers may also be interested in this interview with PEN America  from which we publish this extract:

10. I wanted to allow some space to talk about the publication process for this collection. A lot of these poems are critical of governments. Did you face any pushback or censorship while getting this published? How conscious were you of the possibility of pushback while you were writing these poems?

“I am really grateful for this space to speak about pushback and censorship. As an Egyptian and American I am a kind of involuntary activist and, frankly, critical of both my governments’ positions regarding Palestine. As a global citizen, I consider it my duty to take corrupt governments and compromised media to task by reminding them of their Ideals. Being Arab, naturally, I wish for greater solidarity with Palestinians and want us to do more to protect our brothers and sisters and stand up for them. As an American, of course, I feel painfully betrayed and alienated by the US government’s blind support of Israel and their ongoing military support of the genocide of Palestinians and their ethnic cleansing.

I regret to say that this bias, towards Zionism and Jewish suffering, extends to the publishing process where I experienced, directly, how they are part of larger machinery of violence. After 6 months of working closely with an editor I deeply admire (respected scholar and poet) my once enthusiastic US publisher lost their nerve and dropped my Palestine book for fear of offending.

In a two hour Zoom meeting, the publisher let me know that they were uneasy with my use of words like Genocide, even murder — as they felt that it was “prejudging a legal matter” — and they went so far as to suggest that if they were to publish my book, it would result in scandal for them and some of their authors would walk out.

Crestfallen, I had to move on… Mercifully, before too long and with the passionate assistance of many principled friends from around the world, I was able to find a less alarmist, more courageous publisher — lifelong Kenyan activist, Firoze Manji, whose Daraja Press is based in Canada — to carry Palestine Wail forth.”

If you are keen to delve further, here is another excellent interview with Yahia Lababidi on this book and the Poetry of Free Expression – DAWN

Yahia Lababidi, Arab-American of Palestinian background, is the author of 11 critically-acclaimed books of aphorisms, essays, poetry and conversations. Lababidi’s latest is Palestine Wail (2024) a love letter to Gaza, composed during the Genocide as well as Quarantine Notes (Fomite Press, 2023) short meditations reflecting on our global pandemic. Previous publications include: Desert Songs (Rowayat, 2022) a bilingual, photographic account of his desert retreats in Egypt; Learning to Pray (Kelsay Books, 2021) a collection of spiritual aphorisms and poems; as well as Revolutions of the Heart (Wipf & Stock, 2020) a mixed-genre compendium of his essays and conversations on crises and transformation.

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