Samih al-Qasim

Samīħ al-Qāsim al Kaissy(Arabic: سميح القاسم‎; Hebrew: סמיח אל קאסם‎; 1939 – August 19, 2014) was a Palestinian poet whose work is well known throughout the Arab world. Son of a Druze family, he was born in Transjordan and lived in Israel throughout his childhood and adult life. His poetry is influenced by two primary periods of his life: before and after the Six-Day War - until 1967 he was mainly influenced by Arab nationalism; in 1967 he joined the Israeli Communist political party, Rakah, and later activated in the closely related Front for Democracy and Equality "Hadash".