Mahmoud Darwish’s Cushy Exile

Reacting to a Financial Times obituary written by reporter Tobias Buck, Martin Peretz notes the following:

Quite naturally, Buck makes much of Darwish being a poet of exile. I don’t think going into exile, particularly if your life is not threatened at home, is either a brave act or an exemplary act. But I do understand why living in Paris–as a revolutionary poet, no less–would be more satisfying than casting your lot with the crude insurgents in Ramallah. After all, Mrs. Arafat also chose Paris over Ramallah.

Read the whole thing.