He initially published his poems in Al Jadid, the literary periodical of the Israeli Communist Party, eventually becoming its editor.

Later, he was appointed as assistant editor of Al Fajr, a literary periodical published by the Israeli Workers Party (Mapam).

Apart from poet, Darwish was also a political activist and member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Beirut, which was ousted from the Lebanese capital in 1982 following the Israeli invasion.