In Memoriam...Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish

Mahmoud Darwish, the world's most recognized Palestinian poet, whose prose gave voice to the Palestinian experience of exile and occupation, died today, Saturday, following an open heart surgery at a Houston hospital. He was 67.

The Palestinian poet was born in the village of Birwah, Galilee, in 1941. Following the 1948 war, the Israelis demolished the village and the family became refugees. As result of this experience, exile and dispossession became major themes of his writing.

Darwish has received several awards for his work, including the 1969 Lotus Prize by the Union of Afro-Asian Writers, the Lenin Peace Prize in 1983, and France's Knighthood of Arts and Belles Lettres in 1997. Many of his heroic poems have become popular as songs. His work has been translated into more than 20 languagesPrayer

A prayer service will be held tomorrow, Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. at
ISGH Main Center -East Side3110 Eastside StreetHouston, Texas 77098713-524-6615 http://www.isgh.org/

Darwish will be flown to his beloved Palestine where he will be buried.

Please Join the ACC for A Memorial Service & Tributeorganized by the Palestinian American CommunitySunday, August 10, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.at ACC10555 Sttancliff RoadHouston, TX 77099For more information, call Kamal Khalil at 281-827-5934

May God bless his soul and give comfort and patience to his family