“Let the siege come … I am the one who is besieging you”.
August 12,2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the fall and massacre of the Tal al Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. This came after a brutal seven-month siege by the Lebanese fascist forces, supported by Israel and the Syrian regime.
This week also marks the 8th anniversary of the passing of the renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who dedicated his famous poem “Ahmad Zaatar… the Arab Ahmad” to the fallen camp.
The poem states in part:
“Let the siege come … I am the one who is besieging you”.
Yes, the Arab Ahmad has been besieging you since 1948 and continues to besiege you and your treachery!
- From the Western powers that supported the racist Zionist project that made a mockery of their so-called democracy and human rights, and who should know that the chickens will soon come home to roost;
- From the settler colonialist state (Israel) that has never seen peace and tranquility since its illegal establishment for the past 78 years;
- From King Abdullah I of Jordan, to Nuri al-Said of Iraq to King Farouk of Egypt who all met their fate through peoples’ justice;
- From all the sieges that have been imposed on the Arab and Palestinian people in Gaza, West Bank, Jerusalem, Beirut, Bagdad, Sana’a and in other countries such as Cuba and Venezuela…
It is your turn Western powers now to be sieged. Today is Strait of Hurmuz and tomorrow the Bab ElMandeb and many others, especially when our resources and our people are liberated from your control.
It is also your turn US/Israeli Arab puppet regimes to be sieged by your own peoples for your betrayals and complicity… traitorous regimes such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates, Morocco and others, the Arab Ahmad will come to you and you will face your just destiny.
Mahmoud Darwish concludes his Arab Ahmad poem by affirming that “We Shall Remain”. And the Arab Ahmad will haunt you for the rest of your lives and beyond.
You can find a sample of translation of the “Arab Ahmad on Voice of Palestine show (Aug 9, 2011), 26.52 minutes in this audio clip.
(by Hanna Kawas, who lived in Tal al Zaatar in the early 1970’s)