No longer exists, Ein Samiya (2021)

These three photographs respond to the past and present reality of land loss in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I took these pictures in Ein Samiya, near the village of Kufr Malik. The area was inhabited by Arab Al Kaa’bneh, who had set up Madareb (enclosures) in that area to sustain their livelihood near the spring, or the Ein. The village no longer exists. The last two Palestinian families were forcibly evicted from there in May of 2023 as part of the Israeli expropriation of Palestinian springs in the West Bank for settler use. 

Ein Samiya bordered the settlement of Kokhav HaShahar, which is built on an unceded 400-something dunms (acres) from Kufr Malik. I specifically took these pictures from Allon Road, a settler road, instead of the Palestinian Heritage Trail which is the road more commonly used by Palestinians. These photographs, showcasing the white donkey, the flock of sheep grazing, and the apiary of beehives, are signs of the life that was once there. They are indications of the very material use and stewardship of the land, against colonial claims of uselessness. This framing, echoed in the writings of Orientalist travelers and Zionist discourse, sought to cast Palestinian land as desolate and worthless, as one of the many ways of justifying colonization. Ein Samiya serves as evidence of the senselessness of engaging with this logic – materializing a living order on the land did not halt the erection of settlements, for all that. 

These photographs feel very special to hold and to have in my depository, and it feels almost selfish not to share them. I often wonder, “Was this a godly plan for me to enjoy the last remnants of Palestinian nature, before it is gone, forever?” The pictures juxtapose the last image available online of Ein Samiya – that of the area, destroyed, barren, and grey after the settler attacks. The pictures work to resist the erasure of ecological vitality in Ein Samiya, and consolidate the relationship between people, memory, and place. Ein Samiya reminds me to stand firm against forgetfulness. Land loss is not an experience everybody has. In the middle of the pandemic, the one thing I most yearned for amidst my secluded life and flailing mental state, was to be on and with our land. 

I listened to an Indigenous Elder once say that it is only in our passing that we unite with the universe. I hope to reunite with Ein Samiya one day too. 

*This photo essay was the honourable mention in the photography category of our 14th annual Writing in the Margins contest, judged by Annie Sakkab. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Regina Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG) for this contest.