THIS year, Palestinians celebrated Nakba Day — on May 15 — in the background of the outbreak of violence.
The term "Nakba" (which means shock or catastrophe) in relation to Palestine was first introduced into circulation by the famous Syrian historian and theorist of Arab nationalism, Konstantin Zuraik.
For the Palestinians, the Nakba represents the day of the expulsion from their homelands of 957,000 Palestinians (that is, 67 per cent of the country's total population).
Since that day, the number of Palestinian refugees worldwide has reached 5.9 million. Of these, 5.3 million are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expelled from their own lands on the day of the Nakba are forced to continue living in dire conditions in camps in and outside Palestine.
From the beginning of the Nakba to this day, Israel continued to occupy the Palestinian lands. Currently, 85 per cent of the historical Palestinian land (27,000 sq km) is under Israeli occupation.
Palestinians live in only 15 per cent of these territories. In addition, Israel continues to illegally build Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, occupied in 1967.
The reflection of the patriotic theme and the concept of homeland are seen in the works of the singer of the people of Palestine, the world-famous Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Dervish (1941-2008).
Feeling of patriotism, inherent, probably, to all peoples, the most exacerbated felt in people born in Palestinian lands. National humiliation, injustice, ignorance of the interests of an entire people, despair, all-encompassing anger and the struggle for freedom, honour and homeland dignity — these are the main themes of the works of Dervish.
In his poems, the concept of homeland is associated not so much with his native land, but in greater degree with the struggle of the Palestinians for the freedom and independence of their country.
Despite all the horrors of the situation in modern Palestine, the poet did not get embittered; although he is seized with anger, he does not curse anyone, but he warns of retribution.
His life and work are a model for the younger generation of Palestinians. His love for Palestine is nurtured by the sense of patriotism and the desire to fight for honour and fair future for his country.
In his famous poem, The Lover from Palestine, he wrote:
I swear,
That forever Palestine
Will remain our destiny.
You will remain a Palestinian
Under the alarm moon.
We'll pierce the cold air
With new songs.
Let's throw new grains into the parched soil.
I sprinkled with my blood
The flesh and soul of the plundered fields,
May many more years pass,
The seedlings will be generous.
The writer, writing from Russia, is a former lecturer of Universiti Malaya