An anthology of Hebrew poetry in which traces of the Palestinian Naqba appear, either directly or by implication. The anthology documents poetry from collections and newspapers that appeared on and after November 30, 1947, the day after the vote at the United Nation that supported the “Partition Plan,” the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. It is also the day on which the civil war between the Jews and the Palestinians holding the territory to be separated erupted. It thus covers Hebrew poetry written and published during the first decade of the sovereign state of Israel.
The anthology also includes narrated testimonies of Palestinians who lived in pre-1948 Palestine, telling the stories of their life in Palestine, their expulsion from their homes and villages, and their life afterwards.
The title of the book is from the Bible, part of King David’s lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, his son, killed in the war with the Philistines (Book II Samuel, chapter I, sentence 20).