Gaza -

There is another face of Gaza, loving life and beauty, other than the face of the siege and the scourge of war.. The news from Gaza is not all tragic and sad.. this face absent from Gaza, creative young men and women tried to reveal it to the world through a recently published book of poetry entitled "Gaza is the Land of the poem".

The book includes 42 poems by 16 emerging creators on the "ladder of poetry" from the young men and women of Gaza, through which they revealed many faces of the besieged small Gaza, other than the one that has been on the news bulletins 15 years ago, and reflects harsh and painful tales of death, siege and destruction.

cultural project

And "Gaza, the Land of the Poem", which was issued by the Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing (Beirut and Amman), comes within the framework of a cultural project, which is concerned with presenting poetic works by Gazan creators, translating and publishing them in Arab and Western countries.

The project is supervised by the young poet and novelist from Gaza, Muhammad Tayseer, and the British writer of Palestinian origin, Samir Al-Youssef.

Tayseer, 25, told Al Jazeera Net, "We all need to see the beautiful face of Gaza, away from the miserable face because of poverty, siege and wars... Gaza deserves a better life, and its bright, life-loving face must be exported to the world."

He added, "In Gaza, two million Palestinians are waiting for life, and they are more worthy of it, after many years of oppression and suffering, and it is our responsibility as young creators to change the stereotyped image of this small part of the world, and say we have our dreams, and it is our right to live in freedom and peace and without occupation, killing and destruction." .

According to Tayseer, who is the book's editor, in addition to sharing two poems, it will initially be translated into English and Portuguese, in addition to his original language, which is Arabic.

"Gaza is rich in talents and creators, who did not give in to frustration even though our generation has lived through many tragedies and pains," Tayseer said. "Gaza's creators need someone to listen, appreciate their talents, support them, and contribute to conveying their voices and messages to the world."

Tayseer and Al-Youssef launched their project with a statement, which stated, "The Gaza Strip is not absent from local and international news bulletins, but it is often news that causes anger, regret, sadness and frustration. We also have news about Gaza that the followers rarely hear. Gaza news is the other side, hope, optimism and love of life." Through the interest, production and celebration of music, literature and the visual arts.

The book "Gaza, the Land of the Poem" sheds light on hidden aspects of life in the Strip (Al-Jazeera)

He added, "We in the (Gaza, Land of Poems) project will try to shed light on this absent face of the Gaza Strip through various artistic activities aimed at contributing to giving the new generation of young women and men the opportunity to express their cultural and human identity without the prevailing restrictions."

He explained that the beginning will be "to focus on poetry through publishing poems and books in Arabic, translating and publishing poems and books in foreign languages, especially English, and the participation of poets and poets in readings, poetry evenings and literary festivals, and producing videos to be published on YouTube and other social media."

cry change

Heba Sabry, 27, one of those who had the opportunity to participate in "Gaza, the Land of the Poem," told Al Jazeera Net, "I have 3 prose poetry texts that deal with different aspects of life in Gaza."

As a woman living under coercive conditions in Gaza, Hiba was keen, through her poetic texts, to focus on the freedom that women lack in choosing the lifestyle they want. "In Gaza, we do not enjoy complete freedom to choose our way of life," she said.

She added, "The suffering in Gaza is not only in poverty resulting from the siege and occupation, or death and destruction during wars. There is no less distressing suffering, which is the absence of freedom, freedom of choice, travel and movement, freedom in all its forms."

Hashem Shaloula (24 years), through his participation in two poetic texts, launched a "cry" to the world, and a call for attention, "We are human beings, as are the peoples of the world, and we deserve a better life."

Shaloula's poetic texts carried a call to the need to change the painful reality in Gaza, which resulted from bitter years of siege and repeated wars that made Gaza in the eyes of many "the land of death and desolation." .

Shaloula views poetic and literary writing as an "uprising" against the miserable reality, and a cry from a pen for change for the better.

poetic uprising

In the book "Gaza, the Land of the Poem", a member of the General Secretariat of the Union of Palestinian Writers and Writers, Dr. Siham Abu Al-Omarin saw a poetic anthology that accurately expresses the reality of Gaza and the dreams of young people. The vocabulary of death, war and destruction, which refers to the "nightmare of reality", was repeated among its texts.

Siham Abu Al-Omarin: "Gaza, the Land of the Poem" is an uprising to change reality with creativity (Al-Jazeera)

Despite this, and speaking to Siham Abu Al-Omrein, this creative youth did not lose hope and the desire to change this painful reality, search for a better life, and fly in spaces of freedom.

She described "Gaza, the Land of the Poem" as a book that reflects a creative youth case of "challenge and hope", and demonstrated the possession of young creatives in Gaza of the elements of language, vision, perception and the ability to address the outside world.

She stressed that "this youthful poetic production is a resistance to creativity, for writing has always been a basis for igniting revolutions of change, through calls for rebellion against reality, and in (Gaza, the land of the poem) I found resistance to all features of ugliness, death and destruction, with beauty, love and creativity."