The artist made the connection between the cactus as a national icon – sabra, an Arab symbol for tenacity, with the word “saber” itself meaning patience – and his own experience as an Arab living in Tel Aviv when he saw a potted cactus on the windowsill of a neighbour. That particular plant had been separated from its cluster, removed from the wilderness, and placed in a small pot, and was thus estranged. As a Palestinian studying and living in the Israeli capital, the artist felt his personal story mirrored that of the cactus.