Intaglio print on paper. This artwork was inspired by the popular quote “If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them / Their oil would become tears.” These words from Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish speak to the deep sorrow of the Palestinian people, whose hands have planted countless trees in lands from which they are now exiled. The Olive tree represents the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, who are able to live under difficult circumstances. In the same way that the trees can survive and have deep roots in their land, so, too, do the Palestinian people.
