National mourning in Palestine following death of poet Mahmoud Darwish

August 12, 2008 Darwish's occasional readings in Ramallah drew huge crowds. His work was translated into more than 20 languages and he won numerous international awards. He first gained prominence in the 1960s with the publication of his first poetry collection, Bird without Wings. It included the poem ‘Identity Card’ that defiantly spoke in the first person of an Arab man giving his identity number – a common practice among Palestinians when dealing with Israeli authorities and Arab governments – and vowing to return to his land. He wrote another 21 collections, the last, The Impression of Butterflies, in 2008.

In Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Moussa paid tribute to Darwish. “With him gone, the Palestinians and all Arabs will be missing one of the poetic and cultural symbols in the modern history.”