The olive tree is a cultural totem for Palestinian identity and resistance. It provides sustenance for more than 100,000 Palestinian families and is a symbol of traditions. It has long been an object of destruction and theft: from 1967 to the present, Israeli authorities and settlers have destroyed more than 800,000 Palestinian olive trees. For eighteen months Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez photographed olive trees in the occupied territories of Palestine, many of which are thousands of years old. This book brings together accurate and intense portraits of these trees, landmarks in a changing, constantly contested, altered and increasingly devastated historical landscape.
Each portrait, each tree testifies to the presence and resilience of the Palestinian people and their relationship with the land. The signed edition of the book includes an insert autographed by the artists and pasted inside the back cover.