Introduction
“Identity Card” is among Mahmoud Darwish’s most notable and well-known poems, which was first published in the Leaves of Olives collection back in 1964 and translated from Arabic. When the poet first read the poem to the public, there was a tumultuous reaction among Palestinians who were “without identity” as they were referred to as internally displaced persons (Safi).
Discussion
Thus, the main theme of the poem is about search for national identity of people who were left without a home due to war. The title of the poem is the hint at the official document that Palestinians should have shown when asked by Israeli officials, with the author becoming more and more frustrated about being asked to show the identity card over and over again.
The speaker of the poem can be seen as a voice of the thousands of people displaced from their homeland and forced to leave it after 1948. There is a distinct tone of frustration that the speaker expresses, in addition to shame, when he says “Put in on record. I am an Arab” (Darwish). The author mentions several “distinguishing features” marking him an Arab and thus causing officials to get suspicious. Towards the end, he says that the denial of basic necessities from him will inevitably cause anger, triggered by ranging “hunger” (Darwish). His national identity was seen as a cause of him deserving not to be treated as a human; for example, the Arabs who stayed in Israel felt that they no longer belonged to their homeland.
Conclusion
In the poem, the continuous denial of rights and overall humiliation of the population is a matter of encouraging ethnic evaporation and assimilation to the foreign culture, language, and way of life.
Works Cited
Darwish, Mahmoud. “Identity Card.” Barghouti, 1964, Web.
Safi, Omid. “Love in a Time of Refugees.” Onbeing, Web.