The Mission to Provide Tents

After leaving daily work in journalism in 2012 or a year before that, I practiced field journalism, wandering through villages, mountains, and springs, exploring alone and documenting images of wildlife, from ancient trees, flowers, springs, birds, and animals. I developed a rich archive of photos from the Jordan Valley, the mountains, and the plains of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Jerusalem, and the Ramallah area and its villages, which I published on my Facebook page that I established in 2011.

The photos originally posted on Facebook by its users were just images like "We cooked this, here's the family with the newborn, we cooked on the highway," pictures of pet cats, and weddings. There were ostentatious displays of wealth, showcasing gold and the bulging bellies of opportunists, and few of the honorable. A distinguished figure visited us and passed away, having spent his life in good deeds and piety, yet we find little of that goodness and piety.

Nature enthusiasts among my friends noticed the images and excursions, so they began organizing mountain tours and sought my assistance. I was eager to encourage their understanding of the geography of Palestine, including its plants, ruins, and animals. I noticed that many interested individuals began organizing group tours and started posting nature photos. Since then, the face of Facebook pages changed to include topics beyond cooking and guest rooms.

I focused on the ancient olive trees and the sunbird, which, a decade ago, were widespread, until the Indian crow arrived, and settlers' crows came and occupied the area. They encroach upon the region, seizing land from Taqtaq to Shalom Aleichem, and we are trapped. To protect the sunbird, I planted a new tree for it so I could see it where nature is now outside our realm.

In any case, we will not lose hope as we stand on the threshold of the general conference to elect new leadership; it will restore everything we have lost in land and homes. We have witnessed the current Revolutionary Council since 2008, which has offered nothing, akin to a Rolex watch that neither adds nor subtracts.

I remember the late Ahmed Qurei; I visited him one year when he was Prime Minister. A new minister, Haifa Shuqair, came to furnish her office, as I recall, she was the Minister of State for Jerusalem Affairs. He told her, "Without new furniture, Jerusalem will not be liberated!" He then added that we assigned a Minister of State for Wall Affairs (this was before the martyr Abu Ain and the late Walid Assaf), who extended the wall by fifty kilometers during his tenure. Thus, we hope for good things from the new council, that it will provide us with tents in advance, and that Fatah will win the majority.