By Haidar Eid 
Bodies fall, but not the idea. (Ghassan Kanafani)
The 50th anniversary of the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani coincides with the passing of 15 years of the Fatah-Hamas rift, instigated by the Bush administration in 2007 and which has led to the formation of two local, opposing administrations by the two parties in the 1967 occupied territories.
The clashes between the two parties created a new reality on the ground, the brunt of which has been paid, mainly, by the 2.4 million residents of the besieged Gaza Strip, and has led to one of the worst national crises Palestinians have had since the emergence of the contemporary Palestinian revolution and the formation of the PLO.
What would Ghassan Kanafani have said?! This song is an attempt to address this question.
The song is written and performed by Haidar Eid.
Nai: Ismail Harazeen
Oud: Mohammed Oukasha
Graphic Design: Alaa Samir
Lyrics:
Oh, WATANY (MY HOMELAND)
Patience and steadfastness
And forgiveness for what we have done
WATANY!
You are the throbbing heart
You are the throbbing HEART
You are the soul
The soul
THE SOUL
And the soul is dear (to the heart)
And so TRANSCENDENTAL
– Haidar Eid is an Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature at the Al-Aqsa University, in the Gaza Strip. He is a research associate at the Center for Asian Studies in Africa at the University of Pretoria. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
