We must have our say, not through violence, aggression or fear. We must speak out calmly and forcefully. We shall only be able to enter the new world era if we agree to engage in dialogue with the other side.
It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.
At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets.
I am a guest of the French language. My poems in French are born of my interaction with the French language, which is not the same as that of a French poet.
I do not use the language of my people. I can take liberties with certain themes which the Arabic language would not allow me to take.
We have no Arab intellectuals of international stature because we live in a state of generalized mediocrity. We are suspended in the pit without touching the bottom.