Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Tawfiq Zayyad was born in Nazareth to Amin Zayyad and Nazha al-Khawaja. He had four brothers (Sabih, Misbah, Abd al-Fattah, and Ahmad) and four sisters (In‘am, Na‘ima, Ni‘ma, and Rahija). He and his wife, Na’ila Yusuf Sabbagh, had four children: Wahiba, Amin, Ubur, and Faris.
Zayyad completed his education in the Nazareth government schools, obtaining his secondary school certificate in 1946. While studying, he used to help out his father in his grocery shop.
In March 1954, a demonstration began at the Arraba elementary school and ended with a mass meeting to protest against the capitation tax, imposed on Arab citizens who were not subject to obligatory military service. After the demonstration, the Israeli police arrested Zayyad and sent him to the Tiberias prison, where he was beaten and insulted by the interrogators. He was then led before the Acre military tribunal, which sentenced him to forty days in prison, charged with “disturbing the peace” and “assaulting police officers.”
Achievements and Awards
Published in 1966, as well as translating works from Russian literature and his works, coordinating works that you send to publishing works.
Poetry
In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain
like a wall upon your chest, and in your throat
like a shard of glass
a cactus thorn,
and in your eyes
a sandstorm,
We shall remain
a wall upon your chest,
clean in your restaurants,
serve drinks in your bars,
sweep the floors of your kitchens
to snatch a bite for our children
from your blue fangs.
Source
- Years in active
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