REVOLUTIONARY MUSIC | PALESTINE
My Name is the People of Palestine أنا إسمي شعب فلسطين
A Palestinian liberation song from my childhood, for George Qurmuz
I am sharing the following material for illustrative historical purposes only.
I recalled this song a year ago, when Israeli settlers raided the lone hamlet of Turmus`ayya, in a series of pogroms that plagued the hills of the West Bank.
I share the song here to remind us of the Palestinian people’s long history in its struggle for freedom. The Nakba of 1948 had left 75% of Palestine destitute of its people, in a genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign not unlike what Israel is doing to Gaza today. Despite my ancestors’ forced destitution and their scattering into refugee camps across the Middle East, we retained our identity and never stopped resisting.
The powers trying to erase us better listen to this song to understand who the Palestinians are. They had written us for dead decades ago, but, today,
107 years of standing up to world powers,
We are still here!
The translation is mine …
My name is the people of Palestine
My name is the people of PalestineToday I die
Today I fight
Today I liveI will not have another name
I will not have another name
My name is the people of Palestine
My name is the people of PalestineI am from Turmus`ayya,
and also from Tabariyya [Tiberias]
I am the son of al-Quds al-Arabiyya (the Arabic Jerusalem)
Your son, O’ PalestineUntil victory
Until ejecting imperialism
My name is the people of Palestine
My name is the people of PalestineMy ear catches,
every now and then,
words of peace
words of confession, and safety …
But I don’t understand those
My name is the people of PalestineMy voice is the voice of my blood
My eyes, the eyes of my gunsightsI will fight imperialism
In the court of the [world’s] Peoples.
With love,
Ramsey Hanhan
Author, Fugitive Dreams
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