Untitled Poem’: A Critical Look at the Occupation of Palestine

The book "Untitled Poem" (Qasidatun bila 'Unwan) is written by Mouna Bazaowi. This volume contains a collection of the author’s modern poetry, in which she adopts a protest-oriented and critical perspective on the occupation of Palestine and the suffering of its people. This book represents a literary insight from within Arab society into the situation of Palestine: "O Palestine, may you remain exalted and radiant in the heights of the eternal Islamic sky / By the testimony of the Prophets and the Quran, you shall remain everlasting across the expanse of history / O mother of the world and newborn of every era... / By the honor of the long-standing and enduring heroes / We shall grant you freedom when the promise is fulfilled / By the testimony of history / We shall engrave the letters of your name in the hearts of children / And we shall write your name on the brilliance of stars and constellations on the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr)."

Mouna Bazaowi and Iran

Mouna Bazaowi lives in Kairouan, Tunisia. She studied Arabic Language and Literature with a focus on mysticism and Sufism, earning her doctorate from Carthage University in Tunisia. She began learning the Persian language at the Cultural Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tunisia. The Cultural Center held Persian language classes at Carthage University. Persian Language and Literature is taught in five national universities in Tunisia, including Al-Manar, Carthage, and the April 9th University. She has a great interest in Iran and says of Imam Khomeini: "Imam Khomeini was a thinker and a mystic whose place in history is very significant. He supported Islam and Islamic countries globally and was the founder of International Quds Day." Her works include "Love and the Diwan," "Love and Punishment," "Love, the Dance of Fate," and "A Journey Like Thousands of Journeys." The subject of "A Journey Like Thousands of Journeys" is Iran. Bazaowi explains her motivation for writing this book as follows: "The main reason for writing this book was that before traveling to Iran, I imagined the country differently. However, after seeing Iran, all my preconceptions and what I had heard were shattered. I decided to write a book to introduce the true face and civilization of Iran and its people to the people of Tunisia; for truth is revealed only through writing."

Concern for the Oppressed of the World

Bazaowi is a mystical poet who has always been concerned with the oppressed (Mustad'afin) of the world and the Islamic community. This concern is evident in the book "Untitled Poem." She considers attention to the issue of Palestine and the Holy Quds to be one of the most important duties of the Islamic Ummah, and for years she has strived to introduce Palestine and Quds as the guiding light of Islam from her perspective.

Reflecting on Palestine

In the past decade (from 2011 to 2021), at least 18 books on the subject of Palestine have been published by Iranian and foreign authors. Notable among these are: Thinking Palestine by Ronit Lentin; Lest You Be Forgotten: Memoirs of the Displaced People of Palestine by Morteza Mohammadi; Palestine: The Axis of Unity, a collection of articles from the 33rd International Islamic Unity Conference; The Issue of Palestine by Saeid Solh-Mirzaei, based on the speeches of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran; The Israel-Palestine Conflict by Tamra Orr; Ten Myths About Israel by Vahid Khozab and Ilan Pappé; The Deal of the Century by Fatemeh Zahra Alinejad and Zahra Khaniani regarding the policies of President Donald Trump toward Palestine; The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé; Balfour and Weizmann: The Zionist, the Zealot and the Emergence of Israel by Geoffrey J. Lewis, a prominent work in the study of Zionism; An Introduction to Understanding the Occupying Regime of Quds by Mohammad Taghi Pourian and Mostafa Saveh Doroudi; and the book On Palestine by the renowned contemporary thinkers Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé.

The book On Palestine describes the background of how present-day Palestine came to be, stating that while the Palestinian issue is one among thousands of disorders and tragic events occurring globally, the role of Western governments and the complicity of major economic corporations have made it a unique case. The fact that Israel benefits by flouting international laws and norms, while Western governments roll out the red carpet for Israel and ignore its aggressions, means that every one of us bears a responsibility to end this injustice afflicting the Palestinians. The people of Iran have always shown their commitment to the liberation of the Holy Quds, and every year on Quds Day (the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan), they take to the streets to remember the oppression against the Palestinian nation and the children, women, and men who are killed and martyred in the path of resistance, crying out for the rights of the oppressed people of Palestine.