MEJCC Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 2 (2009) 214–230 brill.nl/mjcc

Th e Poetry of Hamas

Atef Alshaer School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Abstract Th is article sheds light on poetry written by two of the most prominent leaders of Hamas, assassinated by Israel in 2003 and 2004, respectively: Ibrahim al-Maqadmah and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. Both leaders took part in the creation of Hamas and propagated its ideology in political, cultural and other fi elds. Poetry, being the premier form of artistic expression in the Arab world, is used by the leaders of Hamas to present their experiences in Israeli prisons, and their vision and involvement in the Palestinian struggle. Th e sentiments that their poetry expresses, reveal deep and nuanced cultural, political and philosophical dimensions. Th e poetry of Hamas can be characterized as one of commitment, suff ering, pain, longing, defi ance, and certainty. 1

Keywords poetry , Hamas , Arabic literature, Islamic poetry, prison, commitment, pain, defi ance, hope and optimism

Hamas’ Poetry in Context

Political and cultural commentaries on Islamic movements abound, but give no attention to one of the dimensions of human creativity that is most telling and illuminating with regard to people’s identity: their poetry. Th e poetry of Hamas under consideration here is unique in the sense that it highlights nuanced aspects of Hamas’ engagement in the Palestinian struggle. Th is article examines samples of what I call Hamas’ poetry, particularly poetry written by two of the group’s most infl uential leaders, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi (1947-2004) and Ibrahim al-Maqadmah (1950-2003). Al-Rantisi became the movement’s leader following the assassination of founder Ahmad Yasin by Israel in 2004, and was himself assassinated by Israel later that year. Ibrahim al-Maqadmah

1 I would like to thank Dr. Dina Matar and Dr. Martin Orwin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) for their support and comments.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI 10.1163/187398509X12476683126383 A. Alshaer / Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 2 (2009) 214–230 215 was also assassinated by Israel in 2003. Both had similar life experiences, and ultimately shared the same cruel fate, like many other Palestinian intellectuals. Th eir poetry is an integral part of ideological cultural forms that the Islamist group distributes widely and takes pride in. Al-Rantisi‘s poetry comes in a collection called, H . adīth al-nafs , ‘A Con- versation with the Self,’ published in 2004; al-Maqadmah comes under a collection entitled, Lā tasrqū al-shams , ‘Do not Steal the Sun,’ published in 2003. 2 It is worthwhile beginning by commenting on the general landscape of Arabic poetry within which Hamas poetry is embedded. Taha Husayn, the eminent Egyptian intellectual, referred to the speech of the Arabs as consisting of ‘nathr, wa shi’r, wa Qur’ān,’ ‘prose, poetry and Qur’ān.’ It is hard to know what Husayn meant by this phrase, but it could be interpreted that a trace of each – prose, poetry and Qur’an – is found in much of Arab speech and writ- ing, refl ecting the interdependent relationship between the three components. Th is gains special truth in the context of Islamic poetry, which draws heavily on the Qur’an and the discourse of the Prophet as a source of inspiration, and as “a wellspring of literature,” in the words of the Medieval Arab thinker Ibn al-Athir (Adonis 1971). It is important in this respect to view Hamas’ ideology as consisting of a discursive body of knowledge and practices that draw on various sources, religious and otherwise. While religion inspires and consoli- dates its ideology, Hamas’ has been fl exible and responsive to changes and innovations in interpretations that make it a political organization with reli- gious infl ections, even if religion, as Gunning ( 2007 : 125) writes, “is used to set the parameters within which debate is acceptable.” Poetry became a major source for reclaiming Palestinian identity in 1948, the year of al-Nakba (the catastrophe), becoming one of the most evoca- tive forms of expression through which the landscape and the people have been continuously reclaimed and celebrated. Th e late great Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, among others, such as Fadwa Tuqan, Tawfi q Zayad, Samih al-Qasim, embodied and championed this process of reclamation and anointment. However, all wrote about Palestine in secular terms. Any religious symbols and references in their poetry were bestowed with secular and worldly infl ections (Jayyusi 1991; Frangieh 2008 ; Nasser and Rahman 2008). Hamas emerged from “the womb of the Muslim Brotherhood” in 1987, at a time of rising Islamism in the Arab world (Hroub 2000 , 2006). Given the fragility of Fatah (the mainstream secular movement) who was engaged in an

2 All translations are the author’s. Th e poetry examined here was written during the 1980s and 1990s.