Dublin Opinion

Saifedean Ammous, writing in 3quarksdaily has a great piece on the Arabic TV show The Prince of Poets, which uses the same format as American Idol. Except instead of the competitors being wannabes popstars they’re young poets who recite their poetry before the Simon Cowells of the Arabic Verse world.

The judges are ‘5 older poets and professors’ and the contestants are expected to improvise verses and address wide-ranging issues from ‘women’s rights, Iraq, love, democratization, Palestine and the old staple of Arab poetry: self-aggrandization.’

Says Ammous:

Perhaps the only thing that is as hard as translating Arab poetry to other languages is trying to explain to non-Arabs the extent of poetry’s popularity, importance and Arabs’ strong attachment to it. Whereas poetry in America has been largely reduced to a ceremonial eccentricity that survives thanks to grants and subsidies from fanatics who care about it too much, in the Arab world it remains amongst the most popular forms of both literature and entertainment. Whereas America’s top poets may struggle to fill a small Barnes & Noble store for a reading, Palestine’s Mahmoud Darwish has filled football stadiums with thousands of fans eager to hear his unique recital of his powerful poems.

The show, sponsored by the governors of the United Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi in their attempt to transform itself into the capital of Arab culture, has been a huge success.

The major turning point in the show’s popularity, however, occurred when Tamim Al-Barghouti, one of the 35 finalists, read his poem “In Jerusalem“, which Ammous describes as “a poetic diary of Tamim’s last visit to his land’s occupied capital; a sad traverse through its occupied streets defiled by the occupation soldiers and the illegal settlers living on stolen Palestinian land.”

“Palestinian newspapers have dubbed Tamim The Poet of Al-Aqsa; his posters hang on the streets of Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities, where key-chains are being sold with his picture on them. Sections of the poem have even become ring-tones blaring out from mobile phones across the Arab World, and 10-year-old kids compete in memorizing and reciting it. Hundreds of thousands of people have seen Tamim’s poems on Youtube and other video websites.
But perhaps Tamim’s most amazing feat was how he has galvanized all Palestinians into following him and supporting him. After all of the troubles that Palestine has been through recently, and all the divisions that have been spawned within the Palestinian people, it was very refreshing to finally find something that unequivocally unites all Palestinians, and rouses millions of Arabs behind the cause that was tarred recently by the actions of some Palestinians.”

So he won, right? Wrong. He came fifth. Someone from the UAE bagged it.

As the contest became more popular, and the crown of the Prince of Poets more prestigious, it may have become too hard for the organizers to accept giving the trophy to a Palestinian rabble-rouser who in one of his poems bemoaned the times that have “degraded the free amongst us, and made scoundrels into our rulers.”

I’m not doing the story justice here. You should check out the whole piece.