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JSC Documentary Presents
Rebellious Chant
I've heard your poem in a festival in Jerusalem. You started buoyant
with the emergence of the Arab Assembly
and after you knew it better, you exposed it and stripped it
So maybe you can read us some of this exposure.
Our tongues are worn and our pens are dry It is the same state and the same speech
We continued calling for negotiations What have we gained but disappointment and ill fortune
I grew up within the hallways of this house
and among these arches I was raised with many of my siblings
until my father died when I was six
When Abd Alraheem used to visit here, he would come as a
guest and stay at his siblings' as if their houses were his
because he was busy with the revolution and teaching at Alnajah
he was moving constantly and was never settled to have his own home
It has been told that poet Abd Raheem used to sit here
and tie his hair with a durable hemp fibre to that ring in the centre of the ceiling
So he wouldn't fall asleep while studying and achieve more
He died without a house. A house was built for his children after his martyrdom
I went to Anabta's elementary school after that
I moved to Tolkarem to continue my secondary school
and after that I continued my high school at Alnajah
in Nablus which was the only high school in Palestine
In Alnajah school he started to write his poetry
and present it to his teachers. One of the important ones was
the great poet Ibrahim Touqan.
Touqan would admire his poems, and would say to him:
from this moment you are a poet, and your poetry doesn't need any corrections
When he was in the second grade, a pupil came to call him for the fourth grade
without him knowing what for!? he entered the classroom, where a history lesson took
place. The teacher had asked the pupils what is History?
No one in the fourth grade could answer.
When Abd Alraheem entered, he asked him: what is History?
He answered: History is a mirror that reflects the chronicles of
previous nations so we can learn what's right and what's wrong.
His teacher was very proud of him and everyone applauded.
With the end of the Ottoman Empire, the economic situation
in my country was tragic: poverty, diseases and no reform.
My uncle Abd Alraheem, with his huge motivation for work, used to go to this Olive
plantation in the front and lay there to guard the olive trees.
The political environment around me was turbulent; after the revolt against Ottomans
The British occupied Palestine, and revolts rose against them
the political environment affected him and he took a big part in it
I graduated from Alnajah school and received a high certificate,
which qualified me to enrol in the American University in Beirut,
but I preferred to go back and teach in Alnajah.
He used to live in the Students residence in front of Alnajah
and my house was immediately to the east. he used always to
stroll in the street in front of the school during the breaks.
When I entered elementary school he was one of my teachers
and he remained my teacher throughout my entire school years
He was fat, but in spite of that he was very agile
and he used to take us to the playground. His lessons always included meaningful
insights about the value of sport and body endurance in
our lives, especially as Palestinians considering what's waiting for us.
So there was some kind of guidance. He was particularly interested in trips
because students should know their land and the Palestinian cities.
He used to be the spiritual and educational father in these excursions.
I used to spend long time sitting under an almond tree to write my poems
In 1935, one year before the break of the Palestinian revolution, Prince Saud came
to Palestine and passed in this main street that leads to
Nablus then Jerusalem. He came to attend a conference concerning Palestine.
the People of Anabta, who were very hospitable farmers,
insisted on the prince to be their guest. Along with him was Haj Amin Alhusseini
the spiritual leader of the Palestinian revolution.
The people were crowded here and they sat there,
Abd Alraheem approached them and recited his famous poem:
The success star shining in your forehead
Wherever it goes it is followed by your straddled strength
Have you come to visit Alaqsa Mosque? Or have you come to depart before it is lost?
He was a poet who 'scored' in the heart of the Moslem and Arab tradition
He was predicting this prince's visit to be a farewell visit to Alaqsa mosque
at the end of the reciting, prince Saud took a copy of this poem and when he returned
to Saudia, the Saudi newspapers published it under the title "new Palestinian masterpiece"
This poem is a good example of the neoclassical school, that
dominated for a certain period his poetry, and in many verses
the influence of the Quranic language is evident.
When Alqassam was exiled from Syria, I found in him my purpose
Alqassam figured that Palestine's conditions necessitate armed revolution
but his revolution didn't last long, because he was killed with others in Yabad
this spark lit the torch of the 1936 revolution immediately one year after
Hey lad! nobody can perform your duty better than yourself
Hey free lad! do not be illusioned!
This is your way of life so do not divert! Alqassam had walked it before you
when the revolution escalated he used to carry his weapon
everywhere and confront British patrols with his comrades
when the situation became worse he resigned from Alnajah School
After the arrival of the Rescue Army I worked as a communications officer in
Tolkarem, then I moved with the fighters up the mountains until we reached Bala'a
this street used to connect Tolkarem and Nablus then to Jenin, Nazareth and Haifa