Blood

“My Father and the Figtree” by Naomi Shihab Nye (2002)

Figs are a frequent symbol in Shihab Nye’s work; in this poem, the speaker relates how her father, uprooted from his homeland, was reluctant to try to grow figs because they would never be as fat or sweet as the figs of his childhood. Here, figs represented home and rootedness, much as they do in “Blood.” They are a symbol of Palestinians themselves, cherished and self-replenishing but also struggling to grow on foreign soil.

“ID Card” by Mahmoud Darwish (1964)

Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008) is often considered Palestine’s national poet. A fiercely proud Palestinian, his poems reflect the resistance and resilience of a displaced people. The poem “ID Card” was published in his first book, Leaves of Olives, in 1964 and reflects on what it means to be Palestinian in the face of Israeli occupation.

In Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Blood”, her father often refers to the idea of “a true Arab”—someone who retains his identity despite being in diaspora. However, the fact that there are “true Arabs” suggests there might also be “false Arabs,” which indicates the phrase is used to reassure Arabs in America they are as much Arabs as those in Palestine and other Arab countries. The phrase therefore invokes doubt or forgetfulness.

In “ID Card”, the speaker has no such doubts about his identity. Unlike the speaker in “Blood,” he does not need to remind himself that he is really an Arab—the fact that the Israeli government is “angry” with him reinforces his identity every day.

“Letter to Jerusalem” by Elana Bell (2011)

Bell is another American poet with strong family ties to the Middle East. Though Shihab Nye’s poetry echoes a more secular experience of the Palestinian Israeli conflict, Bell’s Jewish heritage creates a more spiritual tie to the region and thus a slightly different lens to the war.