Monday, March 30, 2009
Day of mourning for the Gaza dead - Corvallis 03/30/2009
The Palestine Action Group held a "day of mourning" on March 30th 2009. A mourning tent was erected on OSU campus. The group discussed the Palestinian situation with interested students and also distributed information to those passing, including a remembrance card for Rachel Corrie. In the evening, the group set up a mourning table at the Corvallis courthouse. 
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Palestinian Cultural Night - Corvallis 02/07/2009
The Corvallis Palestinian Action Group organised a Palestinian cultural night at the Corvallis multi-cultural center. It was a night of poetry, music and authentic food. Donations benefitted MECA, Middle Eastern Childrens Alliance. The night was a great success with generous donations, rich music and spoken word and fabulous food. A great group of people had the chance to meet and connect. Thanks to all who participated and supported especially the performers and the cooks. The poetry celebrated the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. We'll sign this off with one of his poems:
I Come From There
I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends, And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.
I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland.....
- Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish (13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded in the first rank of Palestinian poets. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.. From Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Karen AbuZayd: "With the passing of Mahmoud Darwish, the world has lost a uniquely compelling voice and a passionate advocate against dispossession and the pain it engenders. He was the poet of exile, the refugees’ poet whose universal language of dislocation and alienation will be heard in the discourse - political and poetic - for many years to come."
I Come From There
I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends, And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.
I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland.....
- Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish (13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded in the first rank of Palestinian poets. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.. From Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Karen AbuZayd: "With the passing of Mahmoud Darwish, the world has lost a uniquely compelling voice and a passionate advocate against dispossession and the pain it engenders. He was the poet of exile, the refugees’ poet whose universal language of dislocation and alienation will be heard in the discourse - political and poetic - for many years to come."
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