Mr.Refaat Alareer is a young academic and writer from
Gaza, Palestine. He is also a teacher of English Literature and creative
writing at the Islamic-University Gaza. He received a Master in Comparative
Literature at University College London, U. of London in 2006 and graduated in
2007.
Summary of
the Talk
Mr.Refaat started the talk by briefing us Palestine’s
geographical understanding on how Israel occupied Palestine from time to time.
The Palestinians are having a hardship during the occupation. Their movements
are being controlled. For example, they are not allowed to go to Jerusalem. He
stated that the poet at Palestine chose to write poetry through blog because
poetry can transcend the social condition. There are a few of famous
Palestinian poet that writing in Arabic, such as Mahmoud Darwish and Tamim
Bargouti. He said Tamim is the one who always write about life. He is also the
one who known as “Revolutionist” that inspired other poets to write poetry
through blog. There are also some other poets that write in English, such as
Rafeef Ziadah (We Teach Life, Sir), Susan Abulhawa (Wala!) and Remi Kanazi.
These poets do not live in Palestine, and Remi Kanazi’s works are major in
performance poetry. Besides, Refaat also briefed us on how to start to write a
poem. There are some steps that will inspire us in writing poem. Firstly, we
should read a lot of good and high quality of poetry. Secondly, we should
believe ourselves that we can write good stuff, which means self-confidence.
Thirdly, we ourselves must have the will to write a good poem. Next, we should
always scribble our thoughts, jot down every single thoughts that come to mind,
or freewriting. Then, we can also imitate but of course not to become a
copy-cat and be ourselves. We can imitate the style of writing from other
poets. He usually included dialogue, performance or drama and Palestine inside
his poetry. He also told us about the Olive in Gaza, and olive oil is normally used
to relieve the pain.
Q&A
Q: Who is your
favourite poet and why?
A: My favourite poet is John Donne and other Romantic
poets. I like John Donne’s from the layers of his poems. Other Romantic poets
used simple language in their poetry which made it easier to comprehend and
understand.
Q: What was the
style of poetry before the war and how does it changes during the war?
A: The old themes still apply till now days but the
war causes the Palestinian to focus more on writing about the occupation
because its their way of resistant.
Q: State of
education in Gaza; are women/children receiving equal rights in education?
A: Education is important to us (Palestinians). It is
compulsory for us to receive education. There are a lots of female students
compared to male. There are universities that offer MA programs but not PHD.
The universities offer courses like engineering, religion and others.
Q: What was it
like in Palestine especially Gaza before the war?
A: Basically, Palestinians had a simple life, and they
depended on agriculture to support their life. Palestinians existed along
during the development of Palestine even during the war on how Israel occupied
Palestine.
Q: How do you
relate to other people’s experiences can have the emotions shown in your
writings?
A: Actually, you don’t have to be the person who
suffering to understand the hardships, injustice. We need to develop to evolve
in so many ways. Occupation is boring, what we can do is to be creative, create
our own way in occupation. Do I have to be a mom to write about “Mom”? You don’t
have to because you can see your mom or live as a mom.
Comments/Remarks
of the Talk
I feel appreciate for born and grow in a country that
without war. After listening to the talk by Mr.Refaat, I empathize with the
Palestinians on how they survive and struggle for life everyday. They might
couldn’t even sleep peacefully because of the war. We are more blessed compared
to them. We should treasure for what we have now. Besides, he makes me feel
that poetry actually is not that scary by looking at the way he wrote his
poetry. For me, his poetry is more to straightforward form. I can easily
understand the poetry for the message he wish to express. It is an enjoyable
moment when he read his poetry. I can feel his emotion when he read those
poetry. His poetry is beautiful and easily to understand.
Mr.Refaat managed his own blog with plenty of photos and poetry. It is a fun and enjoyable moment to visit his blog once in a while to view and read the poetry, and enjoy the photos as well :)
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