The Cows of Sahem: A Story of Ownership and Belonging

A story that circulates in the town of Sahem in northern Jordan, bordering the occupied Golan Heights, which tells of a Syrian family of herders who fled their land to Jordan during the 1967 Israeli invasion.This family left their cows behind on the other side of the border. Israeli farmers annexed the cows, leaving behind the more aggressive ones to roam freely, consequently colonizing both land and mammal.

Over the next 22-years, the cows multiplied in the closed military zone between the three countries. They became feral and a nuisance to Israeli forces patrolling the area as they would ram themselves against and damage the fences and surveillance equipment.

Eventually, and as appeasement for annexing the family’s source of income, Israel reached a deal with Jordan that allowed the owners of the cows and their children to cross the Yarmouk river on foot under the supervision of the Israeli military in order to hunt their cows, butcher them, and carry the meat back to Jordan in the evening.

Syrian refugees who are now Jordanian crossing into parts of Syria which are now Israel to hunt their Syrian cows which are now Israeli in order to protect the borders that keep people and animals from moving freely in that closed military zone.

Whether it is a myth or not, the story is emblematic of the broader identity politics of Jordan. The research will negotiate boundaries between “truth” and myth, while looking into the role of storytelling in reflecting existing realities of annexation, restrictions of movement and identity. Considering the sensitivity of that specific region, photography could be prohibited, and parts of the research will explore the restrictions placed on visual representation. Relying on oral history, sensory walks, walk-alongs and drawing the end result aims to be a graphic novel/artist book.