\u201cWhat is the point of an exchange of letters between two poets?\u201d wondered Mahmoud Darwish in his first letter.<\/p>\n
For two years the two Palestinian poets, Mahmoud Darwish and Samih al-Qasim, exchanged letters, which became cornerstones of modern Arabic literature and poetics. They were collected in the book Al-Rasa\u2019il \u2013 The Letters<\/em><\/a>, translated into Hebrew by Dr. Hannah Amit-Kochavi. Eyad Barghuthy<\/a> edited the translation, Dr. Tami Israeli was the poetry editor, and Dr. Raef Zreik<\/a> added an epilogue.<\/p>\n A book launch<\/a> was broadcast live in March with Eyad Barghuthy, Prof. Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani, Watan al-Qasim, Dr. Hannah Amit-Kochavi, Dr. Raef Zreik, and poet Roni Somek. After opening remarks by Prof. Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani<\/a> and Eyad Barghuthy, Watan al-Qasim, son of the poet Samih al-Qasim, welcomed the publication of the book. Watan addressed the commemoration enterprise of his father Samih, and his childhood memories of the close relationship between the two poets.<\/p>\n