Tawfiq Ziyad
توفيق زيّاد
1929–1994
Nazareth, Palestine
Poet of sumud and longtime mayor of Nazareth, Ziyad gave the cry 'here we will stay' its definitive poetic form.
Tawfiq Ziyad was born in Nazareth in 1929, under the British Mandate, and lived through the Nakba as a young man in a city that became a refuge for Palestinians displaced from the surrounding villages. A communist organizer, he was elected to the Knesset in 1973 and became mayor of Nazareth in 1975 — a post he held until his death — leading the city through Land Day in 1976 and decades of struggle over land, budgets, and equality.
His poetry fused that political life with the idiom of sumud, steadfastness. His most famous poem, “Here We Will Stay” (Unadikum) — “In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, we shall remain” — became an anthem of Palestinian presence, later set to music and sung across the Arab world. He died in a car crash in the Jordan Valley on 5 July 1994, returning from Jericho after welcoming Yasser Arafat back from exile.
Selected works
- “Here We Will Stay” (Unadikum)
- “The Convergence of Roads”
- Diwan Tawfiq Ziyad (collected poems, Arabic)
Sources
Read more
Explore selected poems, essays, and biographical material on the linked source.
Explore Tawfiq ZiyadConnected in the archive
19 connected records19 records elsewhere in the archive are linked to this one, each by a piece of evidence you can read below.
born in — 1 record
- Nazarethالناصرة
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: birthplace: "Nazareth, Palestine" → Nazareth (Lower Galilee)
written by them — 2 records
- Here We Will Stay
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: poetSlug: "tawfiq-ziyad" → Tawfiq Ziyad
- I Call to You
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: poetSlug: "tawfiq-ziyad" → Tawfiq Ziyad
named in this record — 8 records
One record names the other. A pointer for reading, not a claim that they belong to each other.
- Jerichoأريحا
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: He died in a car crash in the Jordan Valley on 5 July 1994, returning from Jericho after welcoming Yasser Arafat back from exile.
- Land Day
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: A communist organizer, he was elected to the Knesset in 1973 and became mayor of Nazareth in 1975 — a post he held until his death — leading the city through Land Day in 1976 and decades of struggle over land, budgets, and equality.
- Land Day
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: A communist organizer, he was elected to the Knesset in 1973 and became mayor of Nazareth in 1975 — a post he held until his death — leading the city through Land Day in 1976 and decades of struggle over land, budgets, and equality.
- Lyddaاللد
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: His most famous poem, "Here We Will Stay" (Unadikum) — "In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, we shall remain" — became an anthem of Palestinian presence, later set to music and sung across the Arab world.
- Ramleالرملة
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: His most famous poem, "Here We Will Stay" (Unadikum) — "In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, we shall remain" — became an anthem of Palestinian presence, later set to music and sung across the Arab world.
- Sumud
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: His poetry fused that political life with the idiom of sumud, steadfastness.
- and 2 more
on a related subject — 8 records
Filed near each other — the same Mandate district, or the same uncommon subject tags.
- Samih al-Qasimسميح القاسم
Evidence — From a recorded field in this archive: Shared tags: "resistance poetry", "sumud".
- Elia Suleimanإيليا سليمان
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "Nazareth".
- Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "politics".
- Hanan Ashrawiحنان عشراوي
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "politics".
- Karimeh Abbudكريمة عبود
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "Nazareth".
- Khalil Beidasخليل بيدس
Evidence — Inferred from the text — read the evidence: Shared tag: "Nazareth".
- and 2 more
Cite this page
Every claim above carries its sources — citation is the point.
- Chicago
“Tawfiq Ziyad.” Poetry, FALASTEEN.AI. Accessed 22 August 2026. https://falasteen.ai/poetry/tawfiq-ziyad.- MLA
“Tawfiq Ziyad.” Poetry, FALASTEEN.AI, 2026, https://falasteen.ai/poetry/tawfiq-ziyad. Accessed 22 August 2026.- BibTeX
@misc{falasteen-tawfiq-ziyad, title = {Tawfiq Ziyad}, howpublished = {\url{https://falasteen.ai/poetry/tawfiq-ziyad}}, organization = {FALASTEEN.AI — A Living Archive for Palestine}, year = {2026}, note = {Accessed 2026-08-22} }