New Poems by Dareen Tatour at Nomadics

Poet and translator Pierre Joris posted two new poems by Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour, translated by Jonathan Wright, on his blog Nomadics. Tatour, who has been confined to an apartment outside Tel Aviv since October because of a poem she posted to social media that allegedly incited violence, appears in court for the first time today, as a judge decides whether she can serve the remainder of her house arrest at home in Palestine. More:

On Monday, July 18 at 9:00 a.m., Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour — currently under house arrest for alleged “incitement” via poetry — has her next court date:

At this hearing, the judge will rule on whether Tatour can live at home in Reineh, a small Palestinian town outside of Nazareth, for the duration of her trial. She has been living in an apartment in Kiryat One, outside Tel Aviv, since October, and only allowed a special 48-hour pass to visit her family on the first day of Eid, described by Mondoweiss in “A Visit to Dareen Tatour.”

Her family rented her the Kiryat One apartment after she was ordered by the court to leave her village. Tatour also wears an ankle monitor.

As an editorial in Haaretz calling for Tatour’s release notes, Tatour was arrested last October “at a predawn raid of her home by a large number of police officers, like some dangerous criminal.”

The dangerous crime? A poem that Tatour posted on Facebook, called Qawem ya sha’abi, qawemhum,” translated by poet Tariq Al-Haydar as “Resist, My People, Resist Them.” The poem allegedy incites violence.

Over 150 writers, poets, translators, editors, artists, public intellectuals, and cutural workers — including Alice Walker, Naomi Klein, and Jacqueline Woodson — have signed a petition urging Tatour’s release. The petition, at Jewish Voices for Peace, is still open to signatories.

Read more at Nomadics.