ISRAEL: Laying Darwish to Rest

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They came in the thousands to say goodbye--not just Fatah Party political hacks and aging leftists, but a cross-generational gathering of Palestinians that showed the reach of Mahmoud Darwish ‘s appeal.

Palestine’s unofficial Poet Laureate received what amounted to an unofficial state funeral. The 67-year old poet, who died in Houston from complications following heart surgery, was buried Wednesday in Ramallah.

‘It was a great loss to us,’ said Shirina Rantisi, a 19-year old college sophomore who ,like many, wore a -shirt bearing Darwish’s face. ‘Everyone loves him.’

The sheer diversity of Darwish’s reach was on display in the crowds that accompanied his procession and waited in the sun outside his burial plot on a hill overlooking Ramallah’s Palace of Culture.

Rantisi said she and many others in the crowd didn’t necessarily follow Darwish’s poetry, but respected him as an icon of the Palestinian struggle.

‘It’s the symbolism, she said, comparing Darwish to Che Guevara.

-- Ashraf Khalil in Ramallah

Photo credit: Ashraf Khalil