“The first eleven lines below are taken straight from Samih al-Qasim’s poem “The Ugliest of Words” (Aqbah al-kalimat). The rest follow naturally. Al-Qasim was one of Palestine’s most fearless poets and died only recently, in August 2014.
What should I do with the strongest
of English words—
“Foreigner”?
The fiercest of French stereotypes—
“Étranger”.
The cruellest of German blows—
“Ausländer”.
The ugliest of Hebrew terms—
“Oivim”.
The most horrible sound in Arabic—
“Kuffar”.
The most dreadful word in Hindi—
“Ghuspaithiya”.
The most sinister words in the home minister’s sparse English—
“Illegal immigrant”.”
–Jairus Banaji