Haidar al-Ghazali
Haidar al-Ghazali is a 21-year-old poet who started self-publishing his work almost a decade ago. He studied English literature and translation at the Islamic University before the school was destroyed by the IOF.
His poems have been translated into nearly a dozen languages. He has worked with the Abdul Mohsen Al-Qattan Foundation in Gaza to support children through psychosocial activities and volunteered with Tamer Institute for Community Education. In addition, Haidar has served on the editorial board of the Yaraat team and as a culture editor for the newspaper al-Yamamah.
The martyr Fatma Hassouna also asked Haidar to write her elegy.
Haidar is currently looking to evacuate and enroll in a European university, when it is possible for him to receive approval for evacuation.
“I dream of finishing my university education abroad, and of turning my life experiences into books about love and life.”
Read writing from Haidar
I don't like wills
Should the missile find
my body
my throat will fly to you
speak through it
my eyes will fly
to you
hang them on the
charters
of human rights.
With one hand I write my
will
with another I write what I
will do
after the genocide.
I don't like wills
but do not leave
the human alone
do not leave the Palestinian
alone
(s)he was being killed prior to
the genocide
and will continue to be killed
after the genocide
that is not solely death
it is occupation.
O Genocide
O Genocide,
Wear my clothes,
Take my form
And my desires.
Take my flat feet
And my limping walk.
Live my love stories
And my shyness.
Befriend those
Without enough time
And attach to them deeply
Wake early, as I do.
Wash your face with light.
Quench the thirsty mint,
And dream —
Unaware
Death comes gently to sleepers.
Take my life.
Perhaps then, you’ll die.
The census officer will come
The census officer will come.
He'll inspect
the streets and houses. And
with a ballpoint pen,
he'll record our losses. Then
depart
without seeing my heart.
The census officer will come.
He'll inspect
the streets and houses. Then
leave me to count my ruins
with fingerless hands.
Read Haidar’s short stories and nonfiction work:
The Markaz Review — “Deferred Sorrow”
Discover more Gaza writers & artists
Follow the links below to see a list of other creative individuals in the Strip to support and amplify.