Visual representation

The Palestinian diaspora has created a sense of desperation and

bewilderment, which has contributed to their permanent state of sorrow
and sadness. Their land has been stripped away from them, as well as
their homes, families, and identities, which is a further factor that leads
to the dispossession of their land. Mahmoud Darwish shows this
through his well-known poem A river dies of thirst, where a clear
representation is shown, of dispossession of their wealth and land.
Robert Greens well-expressed poem I speak of Palestine shows the
torture that the Palestinian people face, and how there are still people in
the world that support the Palestinians. Thus, it is represented that the
Palestinian diaspora has created a sense of desperation and
bewilderment, which has contributed to their permanent state of sorrow
and sadness.

The acquisition of a homeland in the modern world would require the

forcible removal and destruction of happy people. This is shown in the
poem a river dies of thirst by Mahmoud Darwish. The loss of goodness
and fruitful land, reflected in the images of nature, and the trees forced
them to move out hence the idea of diaspora. The title of this poem A
river dies of thirst is a paradox itself and personification. It is ironic that
a river dies of thirst, yet, metaphorically a nation can. A river symbolises
wealth, and the fact that it is dying of thirst further symbolises the
wealth that the Palestinian people have lost due to the war of the
Israelis. To drink the milk of the clouds is ironic, as milk doesnt come
from clouds. The clouds are meant to nurture the Palestinians and milk
is one of the things Palestine is know for, along with their honey. It was
a river with two banks is symbolic to represent Palestine and Israel. A
river with two banks also emphasises the inherent goodness of the
country despite what happened, and is still happening to it. So it ran
short of water and died, slowly, of thirst emphasises the tragic nature of
what happened. This wasnt a problem, but once those in power
disturbed the natural flow of the river the Palestinians slowly died of
thirst, indicating that their resources and supplies became limited.
These references further show that the acquisition of a homeland in the
modern world would require the forcible removal and destruction of
happy people.

The idea of people living in tents is visually represented in the

background picture, drawn on the right hand side of the diorama. This
idea links back to A river dies of thirst where it is mentioned, visiting
villages and tents like a charming lively guest. The fact that people are
living in tents, relates back to the wealth of the Palestinians, which was
dried up in the river. Although the river is shown with two banks in this
visual representation, there is destruction shown on one side by the
Israelis and that the Palestinian people are poor, which leads to the
inability to live in proper homes. The cloud that is shown to be pouring
milk shows as the last valuable thing they have left.

The Israeli invasion has caused the destruction of Palestine and its
people, which further leads to dispossession of their homeland and
identity. This is shown in the poem I speak of Palestine by Robert
Green. Olive oil comes from olive trees, which are a symbol of peace,
however in recent times, it has become the object of violence.
Palestinian farmers make their living from oil cultivation; they are
dependant on it for survival. Israel has uprooted millions of trees
threatening Palestinian culture, heritage and identity. This idea is further
extended through the repetition of food and the exclamatory language
of their food! conveying the poverty experienced by the Palestinians.
This extreme poverty is felt because the Israelis purposely damage
crops. The metaphor we know its rape depicts a brutal invasion of a
country. The inclusive noun we know shows that the Poet and many
other support the Palestinians, and is further a worldview. The triples;
dead, displaced and missing show that those who have subjected the
Palestinians to this torture will never be exposed, as they are either
missing, displaced, or just dead. This all sums up the fact that the Israeli
invasion has caused the destruction of Palestine and its people, which
further leads to dispossession of their homeland and identity.

It is shown the grinding up/ their bones and blood/ to mix with desert
earth/ and olive oil and the state jail that built from it, visually in the
diorama, where there are bones made of clay, with blood, desert earth
and olive oil mixed on them. We can see the inside of the state jail
next to this, in the background, as a drawn picture. The brutal imagery
of their bones and blood to mix with desert earth is to show how the
Palestinians are being killed for a living on their land. The reference to
olive oil shows how the Israelis are destroying the trees, which is also
visually represented with not only a drawing, but also with real olive tree
leaves and the bulldozer, which appears to continue destroying more
olive trees. The dead, displaced and missing are shown in the back
left hand corner, where three animals have been brutally killed by the
Israeli that looked pleased with himself that he killed them. These
animals represent the Palestinian people, and the way they are treated
like animals, possibly even worse. One animal is seen as missing, as it
is in a sack, where it is going to be displaced from its homeland.