The occupation of Palestine brings back tons of tragic memories for the Palestinian people who either were forced to leave their country or survive the Israeli dominance over their territory. This tragedy was a motive to some people who chose to travel the world through their artwork with one purpose in their mind, to voice their country and people.
Hanan Awad, a Palestinian photographer, was that voice. Awad was born in California then moved to Deir Debwan, a small village in Palestine where she grew up. After moving back to the United States with her family in 1989, Awad majored in Middle Eastern studies and joined the New York Film Academy to fulfill her interest in documentary filmmaking.
Her filmmaking experience revealed her passion for photography, through which she managed to support her occupied territory.
“I wanted to use my photography to challenge the Zionist myth of a land without a people for a people without a land, said Awad. “This is when photography became more than an image but as a vehicle for social and political change.”
To revive her suffering country, Hanan Awad, decided to dedicate the money she gained from selling her photographs to grow olive trees, the “symbol of Palestinian steadfastness, heritage, and identity” in the Olive Tree Project initiative she launched in 2012.
Every photograph exhibited has embraced a sad story showing the cruel conditions Palestinians are living in today, in light of the forced displacement imposed by the Israeli authorities.
Being the Palestinian people’s main sources of income, olive trees had been destructed by the Zionists and illegal settlers for the sake of repelling Palestinians from their lands.
“The Palestinian farmers face serious challenges in maintaining and harvesting their olive crops,” Awad told Kayani. “Palestinian farmers are routinely denied permits to access their olive groves, which are located behind the segregation wall,” she explained.
Besides the great significance olive trees have for Palestinian people, Awad was personally and emotionally attached to the “symbol of peace” having grown up in a house surrounded by hundreds of Roman trees, which was another inspiration for her project.
According to Awad, Palestinian farmers, and the Palestinian Agriculture association in Palestine joined the effort and succeeded in planting 9,000 olive trees during Land Day between the years 2012-2019, six trees for every photo print sold.
Moreover, Awad had visited Palestine several times during that period when she noticed the forced displacement of the Jahalin Bedouins – a Palestinian tribe- and used her photography as a primary source to document her research and graduate thesis tackling the plight of that community, besides resisting against the enemy taking over her beloved country.
“Eventually, my photography captures the forced displacement of the Bedouins and the destroyed villages such as Ayn Karim. Through documenting their oral history using my photo essays and exhibiting my work globally, I’m acting in resistance against Palestine’s occupation,” ended Awad.