Enemy of the Sun: Poetry of Palestinian Resistance

by Naseer Hasan Aruri

English, Arabic (translation)

Genres: Poetry, Cultural

141 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Joe]

Published in 1970 by the DC-based black press and bookstore Drum & Spear (which encountered intense harassment by the FBI as part of their war on black bookstores). Little known now but v influential at the time--sold 10,000 copies. Really curious editorial decisions. Poems appear w/o their authors in the book. Authors only listed in ToC. So the poems emerge as the product of a quasi-communal voice. Publishing it was a deeply radical act. If you want a copy hmu.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You may take the last strip of my land,
Feed my youth to prison cells.
You may plunder my heritage.
You may burn my books, my poems
Or feed my flesh to the dogs.
You may spread a web of terror
On the roofs of my village,
O enemy of the sun,
But
I shall not compromise
And to the last pulse in my veins
I shall resist.”

I learned of this book after reading that it was one of the books recovered from George Jackson’s cell after his death, and it falls in the same liberatory spirit as his work and writings. It is apparent that the editors put in a lot of work to introduce and contextualize these poems, in addition to the task of assembling the poems themselves (and the illustrations as well!) This is a beautiful and galvanizing collection of poetry. I hope to see a free Palestine in my lifetime 🇵🇸

[gonza · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Because I do not knit wool
Because I am always hunted
And my house is always raided.
Because I cannot own a piece of paper,
I shall carve my memoirs
On the home yard olive tree."

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"oh poetry, be angry oh prose, be bitter oh mind, be rebellious"

[giovi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I am asked which path is mine
It is the left—my path
That of the sun—and the left the wheat—and the left the tears-and the left
The path of death
Until the orbit of the globe
moves to the left.

[joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“each dawn has a date with revolution”

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of print for over 50 years, Enemy of the Sun: Poetry of Palestinian Resistance is poetry of the particular that speaks to the universal, of the rights and desires of a people to independence, dignity and self-determination. First published in 1970, this 2025 edition includes all the poems from the original edition, plus some new ones by poets penned as recently as 2024.

When he was murdered by prison guards at the age of 29, activist George Jackson left a few belongings behind in his cell, including some notes scribbled on whatever he could find to write on. Among these was the poem "Enemy of the Sun." Originally attributed to Jackson, it was later discovered that the poem was by Palestinian poet Sameeh Al-Qassem. Both the original preface to Enemy of the Sun and the preface to the 2025 edition make explicit the parallels between the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity in occupied Palestine and the same struggle in the United States (Occupied Turtle Island), led by the likes of George Jackson and the Black Panthers.

The work compiles pieces by many poets, including Al-Qassem, Mahmoud Darwish, Rashed Hussein, Tawfiq Zayyad, Fadwa Touqan, Kamal Nasser and his mother, Wadi'a Nasser, and many others. The words cut like knives and explode in the faces of the oppressors. They are words of hope, of resilience, of great depth and beauty, words that ring true as much today as they did when this collection first appeared in print.

[kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1970, "Enemy of the Sun: Poetry of Palestinian Resistance" has been revived to include new poetry from modern Palestinian authors. These poems are an extremely powerful depiction of the Palestinian resistance against occupation as it has evolved through the last several decades. An extremely important anthology to read right now.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1970 and long out of print, the original intention behind this collection of “Poetry of Palestinian Resistance” aimed to highlight the similar plights faced by Palestinians and Black Americans in their struggle for civil rights. The activist and Black Panther Party leader George Jackson (author of Soledad Brother and Blood in My Eye) was so inspired by the collection that one of the poems Jackson copied down to share with other Black activists was mistaken as his own. Fifty-five years later, the plight of Muslims in Gaza have only worsened, and Black Americans as a group remain behind their white cohorts in terms of education and economics.

Of the original contributors, Westerners may be familiar with the poetry of Mahmoud Darweesh, Haroun Hashim Rashid, and Kamal Nassar. Four other poets contribute work written since the Israeli government’s attempted annihilation of Gazans after Hamas’s ill-considered slaughter and kidnapping of Jews who lived on the other side of the Gaza Strip in October 2023.

In 1970 (let alone today), which black citizen of the U.S. couldn’t empathize with Sameeh al-Qassem’s “A Hanging Human 1964”?
One of the toys that appeared on the Israeli market was that of a “hanged Arab.”
A hanging human body
The prettiest of toys
The Sweetest recreation for children
Displayed on the market!
No, it is not there anymore
It has been sold out for days
Don’t search for it, tell your child
It’s sold out for days!
Oh, souls of those
Dead in Nazi concentration camps—
The hanged human
Is not a Jew in Berlin.
The hanged human is an Arab
Like me, of my people
Hanged by your brother—
Forgive me, hanged by the crypto Nazis
In Zion!
Souls of the victims
Of Nazi camps—
If only you knew!
If only you knew!

For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...

[jas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Here, we shall remain
A wall on your chests.
We starve,
Go naked,
Sing songs
And fill the streets
With demonstrations
And the jails with pride.
We breed rebellions
One after another.
Like twenty impossibles we remain
In Lydda, Ramlah, Galilee.

Here, we shall remain.
You may drink the sea;
We shall guard the shade
Of the olive tree and the fig,
Planting ideas
Like the yeast in the dough.
The coldness of ice is in our nerves
And a burning hell in our hearts.
We squeeze the rock
To quench our thirst
And if we starve
We eat the dirt
And never depart
Or grudge our blood.

Here―we have a past
―a present
―and a future.
Our roots are entrenched
Deep in the earth.
Like twenty impossibles
We shall remain"

[e v · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was one of the 99 in the greatest amerikan revolutionary's prison cell after his assassination. and the afterlives of george jackson’s handwritten transcription of two of samih al-qasim’s poems will continue to resound until (and after) freedom is won and all the prisons and walls are torn down. there was a short story by an iraqi author in an edition of the PLO / PLA’s journal of resistance that detailed how the words of ghassan kanafani’s men in the sun quite literally transformed into bullets. these poems are bullets, have become bullets, will continue to be taken up with arms in a revolution until victory

[Amanda]

Colors for the Diaspora
Zeina Azzam

“Blue-green watery globe
tugging to a red core
we are a distant comet,
white cloud of unburnished rocks,
frisking the heavens
for an arc
to earth, sea, home.

Green-brown Palestine,
cactus fruit and wild thyme,
olive orchards, cypress trees…
we travel on your mountain tops
tethered by voices from suitcases
and the yaw of blackened keys.

Blue-black night
silver stars of ancestors
traveling a displaced orbit
around a lost sun, repeating:
when will we see the colors of our land,
when will we land….”

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another banger. Read it.

“Mahmoud Darweesh—greetings
Tawfiq Zayyad—greetings
Fadwa Touqan—greetings
You, who sharpen pencils on your ribs
we learn from you
how to explode mines in words
Poets of the occupied land
our “daraweesh” in the east
are still watching pigeons
drinking green cups of tea
If they stand beside your poetry
They would be dwarfed.”

[Mia Bornstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection of poetry. So many unbelievably moving pieces, including the titular poem. My book club waited a long while for the new edition to be published so that we could discuss it as a group. Well worth the wait! I recommend to anyone who is looking to explore the enduring spirit of Palestinian resistance poetry.

[Mona]

It's a bit hard to rate an anthology, especially one of poetry. Some are a hit, some a miss. It was, nevertheless, poignant that the collection ended with 'Gaza Will Rise'. InshaAllah.

I'll probably add my favourite poems here from the collection in due time.

[em · Rating 5 out of 5]

found through jstor for a class project and then read on internet archive, and so glad i did.

[enemyofthesunenjoyer1994 · Rating 5 out of 5]

literally enemy of the sun

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long wanted to read this collection since Hanif Abdurraqib talked about its importance on Instagram. So I was thrilled to find it was being reissued & expanded this year!

The additional introductions & forewords provide context for the publication of the original book. I found this fascinating because it talks about the links & solidarity between the Black Panther party & the Palestinian resistance.

The poems themselves are beautiful & heartbreaking & inspiring. This is an anthology I will absolutely be buying my own copy of because I know I will want to return to it time & time again.

*read via Edelweiss