LATEST NEWS:

IF WE WANT

IF WE WANT

Poetry by: Mahmoud Darwish
Translated by: Elmaz Fida

We will be a people,
if we want
then when we realize that we are not angels,
and that evil is not only a trait of others.

We will be a people,
when we say a prayer of thanksgiving for the holy homeland,
whenever the poor
find what to eat for dinner...


We will be a people,
then when we curse the vizier
and the Sultan himself,
without fear of consequences.

We will be a people
when the poet writes an erotic poem
on the belly of a dancer.

We will be a people
when we forget what our relatives tell us...
and when the individual is exalted above trifles.

We will be a people when the writer sees the stars and says:
Our homeland stands higher and is more beautiful!

We will be a people
when the moral police protect a prostitute
and an adulteress from street violence!

We will be a people when the Palestinian citizen does not cheer for his flag only on the green football field,
in beauty pageants and Nakba Day.

We will be a people,
if we want
only when the singer is allowed to recite the passages of the chapter "Al Rrahman" in a mixed marriage ceremony.

We will be a people when we respect the right
and then when we respect even the wrong!