Naim Araidi (, ; April 2, 1950 – October 2, 2015) was an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

academic, Israeli Ambassador to Norway, and writer known for his poems in both

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Education

Araidi was born in

Maghar, Israel Maghar (; ) also al-Maghar or Mghar, is a city of mixed population of Muslims, Christians, and Druze in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel, with an area of 19,810 dunams. Maghar was given the status of a local council (Is ...

and completed his elementary school in his village, then moved to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

to complete his secondary education. He went on to gain B.A in Hebrew language and Political Science and another B.A in

Hebrew Literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews, mostly among the Arab cit ...

and

Comparative Literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

. Then he gained a M.A in Hebrew Literature and Comparative Literature at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. This was followed with a Ph.D in Hebrew Literature from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

. His doctoral thesis was on the poetry of

Uri Zvi Greenberg Uri Zvi Greenberg (; September 22, 1896 – May 8, 1981; also spelled Uri Zvi Grinberg) was an Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew. Widely regarded among the greatest poets in the country's history, he was a ...

Work and writing career

He served as an instructor and a lecturer in both the University of Haifa and Bar-Ilan University. Then he moved to Gordon College and the Arab College for Education in Israel. He then served as the Director of the Children's Literature center at the Arab College as well as the coordinator of Studies for the Non-Jewish students at Gordon College. Dr. Naim presented two weekly programmes on Channel 2, a children's programme and a news programme. He also established "''Al-Sewar''" magazine. He held many public positions and participated in a large number of international festivals for writing and poetry. Many of Araidi's published works appear in translation. For the first time in Italy in 2014 an anthology of his poems was published by Seam Edizioni. The first edition was presented during the roman poetical twinning with Ottobre in Poesia, Il Tempo: Cultura, veicolo di pace tra israeliani e palestinesi. in 2013. The second edition occasioned a tour organized by the same publisher and poets Uke Bucpapaj Beppe Costa, Stefania Battistella who translated the work.
Corriere della Sera: Naim Araidi, le mille voci del Medio Oriente.
Euronews: torna in italia il grande poeta Naim Araidi.

Nissan Festival

Araidi established the Nissan organization for Literature in 1999. The international Nissan Festival is held annually in April in Maghar.

Ambassadorship

In April 2012, Araidi was supposed to serve as List of Israeli ambassadors, Israeli ambassador to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In June, that decision was changed and he was instead appointed as ambassador to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

where he served until 2014, when he resigned after allegations of “inappropriate behaviour.”

Personal life

In June 2024, Araidi's 43-year-old son Rabia was found decapitated in the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

town of Basmat Tab’un. He was reportedly murdered amid a criminal dispute.

Published works

In Hebrew

*''Is Love Possible'' *''In Five Dimensions'' *''Soldier of Water'' *''Perhaps it Love'' *''Back to the Village'' *''Compassion and Fear''

In Arabic

*''Devils and Graves'' *''As Illusions of Land'' *''As Illusion of the Sun'' *''Alone'' *''Hope is Forever'' *''Songs of the Carmel in Maritime Love''

In Italian

*''Canzoni di Galilea'' , Seam Ed. (2013, 2° ed. 2014)

Prizes and awards

*Prime Minister's Award for Hebrew Literature, 1986 *Creative award for Arabic Literature *Senate of Paris Award, 1990 *Honorary doctorate, The International Center for Poetry, USA, 1991 *Prize awarded by "Omanut La'am for the Promotion of Culture in Israel", 1993

References

External links

official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araidi, Naim Israeli poets 1950 births 2015 deaths Israeli Druze people University of Haifa alumni Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Academic staff of the University of Haifa Ambassadors of Israel to Norway People from Maghar Bar-Ilan University alumni