“The narrative of exile and diaspora” is all about Mahmud Darwish’s expressions of his frustrations with the way his fellow countrymen face injustice cases in their own country and even how things get worse for them when they flee their country in the attempt to try and find better living environments. Mahmud Darwish is a Palestinian poet and an author who feels disgusted by the challenges facing his fellow countrymen.
He holds a grudge with the entire Palestinian government describing it as a dictatorial form of leadership. He goes further to blame the government for what he calls failure to give proper care to its citizens. This renders them to painful and miserable deaths that he thinks could not be happening had the government taken the responsibility of protecting their civilians.
The theme of exile and diaspora as portrayed in Darwish’s poem can be traced back to the beginning of the earth. This happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command of not eating the forbidden fruit. The angels of God carrying swords of fire threw them out of the Garden of Eden. They hence had to flee out of Eden and seek refuge elsewhere.
However, in reality the problem of exile originated from the turbulence that occurred in the Arab world caused by the Second World War activities. The Second World War led to the formation of movements aimed at opposing European colonialism leading to massive changes in political and social arena in the Arab world.
For example, the formation of Arab Nationalism in the attempt to counteract the Europeans leads to the eruption of several movements in the Arab world to oppose colonialism. Such revolutions significantly affected the lives of many civilians.
The civilians that inhabited Arab countries faced problems such as racial segregations and lack of proper protection by their own government. The most affected people are those who inhabited countries such as Palestine, Iraq, Egypt and Yemen. The claims made by Darwish are true according to Jewish literature.
The author expresses his frustration at challenges such as racial discrimination, displacement, dictatorial leadership and the fact that Arab countries are full of tyranny and governed by the sword as they describe it.
As mentioned above, most civilians in the sword governed Arabic countries such as Yemen and Palestine who are the author’s main concern flee their own countries in search for refuge abroad. The most affected groups are the revolutionists and the top intellects that pioneered the whole idea of revolution and anti-colonialism movements. The leader’s ideas lead to war outbreaks between their own countries and the colonists.
However, the others run away for fear of assassination by their superiors who either saw them as a threat or thought they could use the secrets they know to bring them to the ground.
There were also dictatorial regimes, especially in Algeria where leaders killed their own civilians or created conditions that could not be tolerated by their citizens hence the need to flee. In fact, the governments of Algeria installed police forces and laws that were too hard for the civilians. Instead of enforcing law and order and ensuring that the citizens’ accessed protection they created conditions that pushed the civilians out of their own country.
The other contributing factor is the tragic war that erupted between the author’s country, Palestine and the Israelites that led to among others the massive exodus of Palestinian refugees in the years one thousand nine hundred and forty seven and the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty seven.
Their governments installed brutal police that instead of protecting the citizens, they oppressed them. As a result, they were not only defeated by their enemies but also lost thousands of their productive citizens who ran to other countries as refugees.
It is absurd that the countries where the citizens run to for help and where they expect to get solutions, as well as a home away from home, prove to be even a worse temptation as they receive the opposite of their expectations while there. Mahmud Darwish claims that it is extremely ironic that Arabs are not fairly treated in fellow Arab countries.
He gives an example of a Palestine who was found lying dead in Lebanon on top of a stone. All that is in his pocket are a few coins and a travelling document.
From this data, it is vividly evident that the refugees in Lebanon suffer deprivation of many rights. For example, instead of provision of a passport, all that a refugee had is a travelling permit. The story goes on to claim that the mother of the deceased kissed him and then mourns helplessly for a whole year.
In conclusion, Mahmud Darwish claims that the emergence of exile and diaspora dwelling has been heavy because the Arab country governments lack commitment to provide their citizens with security.
The problems faced by refugees are as a result of the governments of fellow Arab countries as they have totally failed to appreciate and embrace brotherhood. The only way to eradicate this problem is through self-responsibility among governments.