RAMALLAH, West Bank —Al-Karmil, the first major newspaper in Palestine, has been legendary when it comes to the history of journalism in the region. Established by Najib Nassar (1865-1947) in 1908, the newspaper staunchly advocated an independent Palestine until its closure in 1944.

A new play by actor and playwright Amer Hlehel named “Saheb Al-Karmil” (“Owner of Al-Karmil”) narrates the story of this newspaper by taking the audience back to Haifa in 1908. In the play, produced by the Palestinian National Theatre,  Hlehel portrays Nassar and Khawla Ibrahim plays Nassar's fearless young wife and co-editor, Sadhij Bahaa Nassar.

The play links the existence of the paper to Najib Nassar's failure at farming. In the early 1900s, Nassar, a Christian Arab Palestinian who was a pharmacist by profession, decides to invest in a five-acre field in the village of Samakh near Tiberias, but his first crop fails. His neighbor, a Jewish settler, suggests he plant bananas the next time and gives him the Jewish Encyclopedia to read about farming. Going through the encyclopedia, the young pharmacist realizes that the settlers aim to create an Israeli state in Palestine in the near future.

Concerned about Palestine’s future, Najib Nassar sells his farmland and buys a printing press in Beirut to provide a voice for the Palestinians. When the second constitution of the Ottoman Empire in 1908 allows publication of newspapers by individuals, he launches the newspaper, calling it Al-Karmil, after Mount Carmel, the highest point in Haifa.