Tawfiq Ziad
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Tawfiq Ziad (Arabic: توفيق زيّاد Hebrew: תאופיק זיאד), also transliterated as Tawfik Zayyad, 7 May 1929 – 5 July 1994) was a Palestinian Arab citizen of Israel, well-known for his "poetry of protest". He was elected mayor of Nazareth on 9 December 1973, as head of Rakah, a Communist party, a victory that is said to have "surprised and alarmed" Israelis. [1]
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[edit] Politics
Elected to the Knesset in the 1973 elections on Rakah's list, Ziad was active is pressuring the Israeli government to change its policies towards Arabs - both those inside Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories. A report he co-authored on Israeli prison conditions and the use of torture on Palestinian inmates was reprinted in the Israeli newspaper Al Ha-Mishmar. It was also submitted to the United Nations by Tawfiq Toubi and Tawfiq Ziad after their visit to Al-Far'ah prison on 29 October 1987. It was subsequently quoted from at length in a UN General Assembly report dated 23 December 1987, where it was described as, "Perhaps the best evidence of the truth of the reports describing the repugnant inhumane conditions endured by Arab prisoners." [2]
[edit] Early death
At the time of his sudden death, he was still the Mayor of Nazareth, a member of the Israeli Knesset, and “a leading Arab legislator.” He was killed on 5 July 1994 in a head-on collision in the Dead Sea Valley on his way back to Nazareth from Jericho after welcoming Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, back from exile. [3]
[edit] Poetry
Tawfiq Ziad’s poetry was deeply moving, intensely political, and proudly nationalistic. Some examples of his work include: Pagan Fire, Passing Remark, They Know, Here We Will Stay, and All I Have.
In Here We Will Stay, Ziad writes:
In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain
like a wall upon your chest,
and in your throat
like a shard of glass,
a cactus thorn,
and in your eyes
a sandstorm.
We shall remain
a wall upon your chest,
clean dishes in your restaurants,
serve drinks in your bars,
sweep the floors of your kitchens
to snatch a bite for our children
from your blue fangs.
Here we shall stay,
sing our songs,
take to the angry streets,
fill prisons with dignity.
In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain,
guard the shade of the fig
and olive trees,
ferment rebellion in our children
as yeast in the dough.
In All I Have, Ziad writes:
I never carried a rifle
On my shoulder
Or pulled a trigger.
All I have
Is a flute's melody
A brush to paint my dreams,
A bottle of ink.
All I have
Is unshakeable faith
And an infinite love
For my people in pain.
[1]
[edit] Commemorations
There is a street named Tawfiq Ziad Street in Shefa-'Amr.
[edit] External Links
[edit] References
- ^ Rakah Victory in Nazareth. Journal of Palestine Studies (Spring - Summer, 1976, Vol. 5, No. 3/4).
- ^ General Assembly (23 December 1987). Report of the Special Committee To Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories. United Nations.
- ^ Tawfik Ziad, 65, Mayor of Nazareth, Obituary. New York Times (6 July 1994).
