The Abu Sitteh family is originally from Be'er as-Sabe' and is one of the branches of the Tarabin tribe there. They identify themselves as Bedouin Sheikhs, which means residents of the land as opposed to the nomadic Bedouins. They highlight their Bedouin identity through negation and the intersection with both rural and urban features alike, they are neither village Bedouins nor city Bedouins, but residents who do not move.

The Zaina abu Sitteh Collection includes several photographs of Ibrahim Saleh abu Sitteh and his family, taken in Ramallah, Jericho, Deir Jarir, and Yafa, which chronicle the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Abu Sitteh was the sheikh of this family, and he held this title since he was 18 years old.