Summary of the event; A Date with a Literary Scholar

-REFAAT ALAREER-

The session start as Mr. Refaat described the geographical area of Palestine, Gaza and the West bank where it has overtaken by the Israel.

According to him, the tension had started many years ago when the Jews were being oppressed and they starting to use prose to defend themselves and to fight for their positions.

So when they came to achieved their goals through the ‘Cast Lead’, which is so called war, this time the Palestinian gaining some sort of epiphany to write something on their behalf.

They are inspired by a few other writers such as Mahmoud Darwish and Tamim Bargouti. Mr. Refaat also listed some names of Palestinian poets who write in English.

                    i.            Rafeef Ziadah (We Teach Life, Sir)

                  ii.            Susan Abulhawa (Wala! and a novel; Morning in Genuine)

                iii.            Remi Kanazi

Mr. Refaat had shared some tips or steps in beginning to write poetry.

•  Read a lot of good and high quality of poetry
•    Believe that you can write good stuff.
•  Have the will to do so.
• Always scribble your thoughts.
•  Imitate (as for the first step)
•  Be yourself

For the final part of the event, we had the questions and answers session.

Who are his favourite poets?-  John Donne and T.S. Eliot

What kind of poem the Palestinian used to wrote before the war?- Personal issues, love and something usual

How to write about the feeling or suffering of others? - Being a poet or a writer is to be everyone, to understand and to be able to put our self on the positions of everyone.

 Is the olive carries any meaning to the Palestinian?
- The olive is very much related to the life of Palestinian, though traditionally they’re using it for medical purposes but olive also symbolizing their own existence on that very land.The olive is the one that connect the Palestinian with the land and the prove of their past history and life.

In summary, I had gained such an inspiring time learning from the scholar invited and those experiences that he shared had gave an insight about a lot of issues on the situation of Palestine today, especially in the Gaza. 

The opportunity that we had in this country should be deeply appreciated because we couldn't even imagine if we are in their place.

It is an honour to treasure all the knowledge gained from the event.