Success stories of Palestinian achievers from all over the world

May Al Sayegh

Personal Info

  • Country of residence: Palestine
  • Gender: Female
  • Born in: 1941
  • Age: 82
  • Curriculum vitae :

Information

Mai Al-Sayegh (1941 - February 5, 2023) was a writer, poet, and fighter in the ranks of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and a feminist activist from Gaza. She studied philosophy and sociology at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University.

Birth and upbringing
She was born in Gaza City in 1941 and completed her primary and secondary studies at Al-Zahraa School in Gaza City. She studied philosophy and sociology at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University. Her father, Musa Al-Sayegh, was a landowner who worked in orchards and exported Palestinian oranges to Europe. The Jews of the area (Bair Tabia) to build a settlement for them, so her father and a group of his friends set fire to the settlement and they were arrested and sentenced to death on 3/23/1930. Gaza went on a complete strike, which put great pressure on them, which led to their acquittal and their expulsion. He suffered a heart attack, as a result of which he died in 1950 .

Her mother, Hind Farah, is a Palestinian writer and activist who grew up an orphan, but she excelled in poetry and rhetoric and practiced struggle. She planted in the hearts of her children a love for the cause and sacrifice for it.

Curriculum
She discovered her talent for writing at school. At that time, she wrote a beautiful composition that the Arabic language school used to take and read in the higher grades. Her first attempts at writing poetry began with the encouragement of her mother and Professor Jamal Abdeen, the Arabic language teacher. Her mother told her one day: If you write, write something different. Speech should have a heat that distinguishes it from the ordinary, cold, and if you say poetry, say it with all your senses, and if you sing, sing until the air breathes. In her second year at Cairo University, she recited poetry in front of Youssef Al-Sibai. Rasheed, the director of Voice of Palestine Radio, called her to read it on the radio, then opened the radio microphone in front of her to read everything she wrote later. She wrote poetry and novels at the same time, and her works received great international attention, such as Palestine Ath-Thawra Magazine, Literature Lebanon, and Iraq Pens.

She moved between many countries for several circumstances and entered the arena of political life early. She joined the Fatah movement in Amman in 1968. She became a member of the Fatah Movement’s Revolutionary Council, the Central Council, and the National Council of the Liberation Organization since 1973. She held the position of Secretary-General of the General Union of Palestinian Women 1971-1986 She participated in the Tahrir family (Palestine the Revolution). Member of the Permanent Bureau of the International Democratic Women's Union since 1975-1982. Since 1975, I have participated in the Conference on Development, Equality and Peace in its various sessions held in Berlin, Paris, Havana, New York, Moscow and Baghdad.

Member of the General Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists. She represented the State of Palestine in the Women's Committee at the United Nations. She represented Palestinian women in many Arab and international conferences and seminars.

After the massacre of Tal al-Zaatar, the General Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Women contributed to securing a shelter for the children of the martyrs. Today, the place has become a secondary school (Beit Atfal al-Sumoud), with two branches in Tire and Beirut, and it receives support and assistance from various organizations in the world. I participated in the Jerusalem Conference as Permanent Capital of Arab Culture with the Moroccan writer Mohamed Barrada and Mustafa El-Kurd, in honor of their efforts in serving the Palestinian cause globally.

its business
noodles
A wreath of thorns, Dar Al-Taliqa, Beirut, 1969.
Poems inscribed on the Ashrafieh Obelisk, Fatah Publications, Amman, 1971 (subscribed).
Love poems for the name of Mutared, Dar Al-Awda, Beirut, 1974.
On Tears and Joy to Come, The Arab Publishing Corporation, Ministry of Information, Baghdad, 1975.
Novelist and biography
The Siege (A Biography), The Arab Publishing Corporation, Beirut, 1988.
Waiting for the Moon, Arab Publishing Corporation, Amman, 2001.
Women's issues
Studies on Women, General Union of Palestinian Women, Beirut, 1981.
The book of Arab and Palestinian women, the General Union of Palestinian Women, Beirut, 1981

 

Achievements and Awards

The Cuban Heroine Medal (Anna Beta Nakur) from Cuban President Fidel Castro
Jerusalem Award for Culture and Creativity, October 2013
Award of the National Committee for Jerusalem as the permanent capital of Arab culture
Medal of the Jerusalem Star from the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, on 05/21/2009, in appreciation of her sincere efforts to highlight the cause of her people
Medal from the Children's House of Resilience Committee, in appreciation of its role

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