Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.12.2011, Síða 14

14
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 18 — 2011
MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS – Eddas and Sagas
The ancient vellums on display.
MILLENNIUM
Icelandic art through the ages. Phase one.
CHILD OF HOPE – Youth and Jón Sigurðsson
Tribute to the leader of the independence movement.
EXHIBITIONS - GUIDED TOURS
CAFETERIA - CULTURE SHOP
The Culture House – Þjóðmenningarhúsið
National Centre for Cultural Heritage
Hverfisgata 15 · 101 Reykjavík (City Centre)
Tel: 545 1400 · thjodmenning.is · kultur.is
Open daily between 11 am and 5 pm
Free guided tour of THE MEDIEVAL
MANUSCRIPTS weekdays at 3 pm,
except Wednesdays.
Politics | Poetry
A Tiny Piece Of Freedom
Palestinian poet and journalist Mazen Maarouf has been given sanctuary in Reykjavík
Words
Kári Tulinius
Poem / Calligraphy
Mazen Maarouf / Everitte
Mazen Maarouf—who has lived all
his life as a Palestinian refugee in
Lebanon—was recently granted
sanctuary in Reykjavík through
the International Cities of Refuge
Network, or ICORN, which offers
to relocate persecuted writers to a
safe city elsewhere in the world. We
met up with him to discuss this, and
more.
Before discussing why he was given
sanctuary, we talked about his poems.
His third book of poetry, whose title
translates to "An Angel On The Clothes-
line,” has just been published in Leba-
non by one of the country's largest pub-
lishing houses. I ask him what it is like to
have his book come out while he is so far
away. “When I was present in Lebanon I
did not publish a book for seven years.
So my publication was absent. Now my
publication is present and I am absent.
I am very happy that my book will be
there, because that is my voice.”
We also discuss why he writes po-
etry. “For me a poem is just a piece of
freedom, just a tiny piece of freedom. I
imagine freedom as a fabric that we all
try to stitch a part of, or clean a part of
it. I think that when we write a poem,
regardless whether the poem is good or
bad, it is something that makes us feel
relaxed. It is a kind of treatment, like
you are going to the hospital, and this
hospital is established only for one hour
and only for you. The only nurse in this
hospital is you.”
“You are receiving yourself and
treating yourself. In this treating room,
this intensive care, no one sees you, and
you can express and do whatever you
want. You destroy a part of this hospital,
you keep another, you sit wherever you
want, and you establish one tiny piece of
freedom. It's like a magic pill that makes
us very happy. I want to jump sometimes,
when I write a poem and have conviction
in what I wrote, I feel very happy. This
sudden happiness is also confusing. You
feel yourself losing your mind, but it is
very good to lose your mind peacefully,
without bad consequences. Poetry is the
key to freedom for me.”
"yOU FEEL TRAPPEd ANd yOU
WANT TO GET OUT"
Mazen’s political involvement started in
the late ‘90s at the University of Lebanon,
where he was studying chemistry. He
established with others an organisation
called Palestinian Cultural Club. "[We
wanted] to establish a Palestinian move-
ment that sprung from students and was
totally nonviolent, using culture, history,
literature, poetry, the internet—we have
many tools to work with." They also
wrote articles critical of the established
Palestinian parties in Lebanon. As the
writer of these articles and spokesman
of the Palestinian Cultural Club, Mazen
felt he had to take responsibility. He
told the other members: "If something
bad happens, if anyone gets any kind of
threat, tell them to talk to Mazen.”
In 1997, during his first year at uni-
versity, two fellow students armed with
guns pulled Mazen out of a group of his
friends. “They took me and told me that
it was better not to talk like this. They
thought this was the way to get me to
shut up. This was the first threat.” He
was threatened in the same way every
year until he graduated.
From 2000 to 2008, Mazen wasn’t as
politically active, working as a chemis-
try teacher at a secondary school. Still,
he was not left alone by those who had
been angered by his articles. He had, as
he put it, three ‘accidents’ during that
time. “I got kidnapped and it was not
a nice experience. I do not want to go
through details. It is not easy and it is in
the past. They were very tough. You feel
yourself trapped when you are attacked
many times by the same people. You feel
trapped and you want to get out of this
pattern.”
"WE WARN yOU THAT yOU WILL bE
IN dANGER"
In 2008, Mazen wanted to start regularly
writing about politics again. “I was think-
ing about doing a series of articles cri-
tiquing the Palestinian struggle against
Israel. Because for me it was very im-
portant that if we are fighting and strug-
gling to get our rights as Palestinians
we do not have to be blind and ignore
our mistakes. Maybe I sound pessimis-
tic, but that is my view, that we failed. I
sent one article to a newspaper and they
said: ‘We do not feel that you will be okay
if we publish this article, so if you want
us to publish this article it is your own
responsibility. We warn you that you will
be in danger.’”
The warning from his editor fright-
ened him, understandably. Through
2008–10 he wrote mostly reviews of
books, theatre, and so on, but he never
stopped writing about politics altogeth-
er. “I wrote a few articles criticising the
Palestinian radical parties. Part of the
big problem we have as Palestinians
is the old Palestinian parties. But the
radical parties must also be questioned:
‘What have you done for your cause?’
Again, some people were not very happy
about it.” One article was so critical that
a friend called to check if he was still
alive. It was during this period, in 2010,
that an Iraqi poet and friend of Mazen’s
recommended that he seek sanctuary
through ICORN.
"THE SECURITy NET IN LEbANON
HAS MANy HOLES"
Soon after Mazen applied, revolutions
spread around the Arab World. “I be-
came really involved in social criticism
when the revolution started in Tunisia.
I increased the amount of my writing
when the Syrian revolution started. Be-
cause the way the Syrian regime treated
their people was brutal, beyond any
limit.”
Mazen soon drew attention, both
from those who supported the Syrian
uprising and those who are for the cur-
rent government. “Many Lebanese par-
ties support [Syria]. In Syria and Leba-
non there are also intelligence agents.
The security net in Lebanon has many
holes and you can easily fall through, or
they push you. You feel yourself trapped.
You are followed and you get messages.
They were annoyed because they do not
expect a Palestinian to say these things.
They expect that you shut your mouth
and blindly follow them.”
"THE SyRIAN CAUSE IS A
UNIVERSAL CAUSE"
His articles appeared in many publica-
tions, including Arab magazines pub-
lished in Europe. “There were people
who felt angry about these articles,
and they can reach you easily because
Lebanon is a small country.” But that did
not stop Mazen. “[The protesters] are
very brave. Why should I stop writing if
these people are continuing every day,
protesting in the streets. The revolution
in the Arab world did not start because
a journalist wrote an article. It started
because people took part in demonstra-
tions in the streets, calling for the down-
fall of regimes. Writers were following
them. This is true of every revolution in
history. They were not started because
of writing but because there are people
who live in bad situations for many years
and they explode.”
I ask Mazen why he continues to
write about politics. “Maybe it is stupid
to believe in humanity. Human beings
prove all the time that they are violent
creatures. Earth has not been at peace
for one moment. Still it feels very beauti-
ful to be linked to this sense of humanity,
to the dream of humanity and the hope.
Human beings are calling for their rights
and you want to support them. The Syr-
ian cause is a universal cause. It is im-
portant to me to be in alliance with those
people. For me that is the least that I can
do as a writer or a journalist.”
"A PLACE WITH NO ARMy"
Mazen has been making himself at
home in Reykjavík. He spends his time
writing and reading, frequenting the li-
brary and bookstore cafés. He talks to
his friends and family through Skype. I
asked him what he had told his family
about his new home.
“I told them that the country does not
have an army. For my father and mother,
who lived all their lives seeing guns in
the streets and armed people and wars
and bullets, it sounds very different and
shocking to them, in a good way, when
they hear that their son is in a place with
no army.”
Towards the end of our talk, the
conversation turns towards literature.
I mention that, aside from ‘One Thou-
sand And One Nights’, I know very little
Arabic literature. Mazen says: “I feel it is
a pity that in the Arab world we know
almost nothing about Icelandic litera-
ture. Literature is a universal language.
Literature can touch any mind. It is very
sad that on Earth there are tools of com-
munication that have never been here
before, like the internet, and the accessi-
bility to knowledge, so the world is much
more connected and yet some areas are
totally out of the consciousness of other
areas. I think if we can establish some
link between Icelandic and Arab litera-
ture that will be very good.”
“I told them that the
country does not have
an army. For my father
and mother, who lived
all their lives seeing guns
in the streets and armed
people and wars and
bullets, it sounds very
different and shocking
to them in a good way
when they hear that
their son is in a place
with no army”
Mazen Maarouf's poem "Stray Bullet" was made into an artwork by calligrapher Everitte. The poem follows the trajec-
tory of a bullet towards the poet's skull, which the calligrapher turns into a word entering Mazen's head.