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Al Badia Embroideries
Al Badia Embroideries is a commercial outlet for traditional Palestinian embroidery made by women in the refugee camps of Lebanon. Al Badia is the first of the Association Najdeh''s self-help...more..
Cave Arts & Crafts Center (Al-Kahf)
Al-Kahf Arts & Crafts Center aims at reviving the local community’s sense of beauty, strengthening the cultural identity, and cultivating the artistic talents...more..
Costumes from Palestine
On online gallery of traditional Palestinian costumes...more..
Hadeel
Hadeel is a UK based Fair Trade shop which aims to provide a sustainable source of income for crafts people working in community based groups in the West Bank, Gaza...more..
Holy Land Olive Oil
Following the volunteer phase of the project, Holy Land Olive Oil elected to organize as a for-profit enterprise to sustain the market for Palestinian olive oil in the US and...more..
Olive Co-operative
All Olive Co-operative products are bought directly from Palestinian producers in order to benefit them to the greatest possible extent, or are obtained via not-for-profit or charitable organisations in Britain...more..
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)
Over the years, PARC has become the leading organization serving Palestinian farmers and helping them overcome their problems. It has succeeded in reinstating farmers’ confidence in collective work and the...more..
Palestinian Arts and Crafts
Al Badia: Traditional Palestinian embroidery / The King of Jars: Mohammad Taha Nassar, Mosaics and Jars, Jnah, South Beirut / Tentmakers of Cairo: Tentmakers of Cairo from the Aramco World Magazine, November...more..
Palestinian Arts and Crafts Trust (PACT)
Palestinian Arts and Crafts Trust (PACT) offers sales venues for artisans while educating the American public about the rich traditional Palestinian cultural heritage. PACT supports the work of Palestinian artisans...more..
Palestinian Embroidery
The objective of this site and those who created it has been to promote Palestinian culture, especially the art of Palestinian embroidery. Traditional Palestinian cloth articles, in the form of...more..
Palestinian Heritage Foundation
The Palestinian Heritage Foundation is a cultural and educational organization aimed at promoting awareness and understanding of Arab and, specifically, Palestinian culture and traditions. These aims have been pursued through...more..
Palestinian Women Handicrafts Bazaar
Annual Event sponsored by Bat Shalom...more..
Paltime
Paltime offers you the opportunity to choose from a large variety of your most beloved Palestinian products; Food, Olive Wood, and other traditional products...more..
Refugee camp embroidery projects
Embroidery projects to assist Palestinian refugee women with income and maintain and promote traditional Palestinian culture are in need of international markets for their products...more..
Sunbula
Support Palestinian women by buying their handicrafts through Sunbula - a not-for-profit organization in Jerusalem. Sunbula offers a wide variety of Palestinian traditional crafts...more..
Threads of Tradition: Palestinian Traditional Costumes
Online gallery: Threads of Tradition: Palestinian Traditional Costumes, Antiochian Heritage Museum, Bolivar, PA, May 2005 to April 2006...more..
Turath Center
The Turath Center is located in historic Bethlehem, in the heart of the old town and just a two-minute walk from the Church of the Nativity at Manger Square....Bethlehem...more..
Zaytoun
Zaytoun (Arabic for Olives) is a UK-based non-profit project to import olive oil from Palestinian farmers at fair trade prices.Zaytoun was established in early 2004 by four activists as a...more..
Zaytoun UK
Zaytoun is a uk based non-profit project to buy pesticide free fair trade extra virgin olive oil as an act of solidarity with Palestinian farmers. Olive oil is the backbone...more..
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The
Olive Industry under siege in Palestine
David's Reports, BostontoPalestine, October 8 - 20, 2004
Olive Groves in
Disrepair
Today we worked in the olive groves of the village of Hares.
It was a revelation to find out what well-tended olive groves look like. All the
groves I had seen before today belonged to the farmers of Mas-Ha and were beyond
the Annexation Fence (a "Security Fence" if you're Israeli!). They were
overgrown with thistles and weeds, and the terrace walls and boundary walls were
in a poor state of repair. It made the work of picking the olives much more arduous
and dangerous.
In my ignorance I had just assumed that Palestinians don't pay
a great deal of attention to these things, after all it's not unusual for farmers
anywhere in the world to allow groves and orchards to grow quite wild. It seemed
a little strange though, since at some point in the past they had obviously taken
the trouble of building the walls, but having no way to find out more I was left
with my assumptions.
The olive groves of Hares revealed not only my ignorance of
how much the farmers care for their land, but also my lack of understanding of
the impact of the Annexation Boundary Fence on the farmers of Mas-Ha. The groves
of Hares are those classically beautiful terraced groves, rambling down the hillside,
with lovely sandstone terrace and boundary walls, and ploughed and weeded dry
earth. They look so tidy in a very organic and ancient way. They have been here,
looking like this since antiquity. Omar, the man we were working with today, said
that his fields had been in his family for generations, and the trees we were
picking were at least one hundred years old.
The farmers
of Hares do not have to contend with the Annexation Fence, so they can access
and tend their land more often than the farmers of Mas-Ha, who before this week
hadn't been allowed to get to their land for nine months. The farmers of Hares
who have land near the settlement of Revava still cannot get to it as often as
they would like. Omar, the farmer we worked with today, said that he had only
been on his land twice this year, once to plough and repair walls, and the second
time was now - to harvest. His land abuts the settlement boundary fence. Well,
actually the settlement has been built on his land and the land of other farmers
of Hares - stolen from them by the settlers with the complicity and assistance
of the Israeli government. more..
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Bethlehem
Arab Women’s Union (BAWU)
Sunbula, 2005
Products: Embroidered placemats, cushion covers
and bags.
Beneficiaries: 150 women from villages and refugee camps in Bethlehem
area.
The Bethlehem Arab Women's Union (BAWU) has a long history
of community service, dating back to 1947 when it was founded as a first aid center
to care for refugees from the first Arab-Israeli war. Located in the Old City
of Bethlehem, the Union strives to meet the needs of the Bethlehemites of all
ages, organizing luncheons for senior citizens, activities for youth, and income-generation
projects for women through food and craft production. It also runs the Bethlehem
Museum, where one can learn about local cultural heritage.
The Union’s embroidery project aims for the preservation
and revival of Bethlehem heritage and for meeting the economic needs of women
in the area. When the embroidery project was established in 1968 to respond to
worsening life conditions with the beginning of the Israeli occupation, the women
began by collecting old dresses and studying the local embroidery tradition.
According to Elen Eloussie, who runs the embroidery project,
the Christian and Muslim women in Bethlehem historically shared the common heritage
of embroidery. Women identified themselves by their village of origin rather than
the religion, by wearing an embroidered dress with the distinct patterns and colors
of each village. more..
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Artas Lettuce Festival
Kristen Ess, Palestine News Network 4/10/2008
Hundreds of Palestinians spent Thursday afternoon in Bethlehem’s Artas Village, surrounded by the mountains and an Italian-built monastery. The occasion was the annual "Artas Lettuce Festival. "Also on display are tradition crafts. An elderly woman cuts huge heads of lettuce from both outside and inside greenhouses. On a makeshift stage is the Governor of Bethlehem, Salah Tamari, and several other dignitaries. Speeches denounced the occupation and its measures to destroy Palestinian life. Others spoke of the persistence of the Palestinian farmer and the beauty of showcasing local goods. The elderly woman, who says she does not like to talk about politics, said that she sells her lettuce in Bethlehem, and when it’s not lettuce season she does the same with cucumbers and eggplant. This is a pesticide free zone, with organic farming practices being the norm. more.. e-mail
Unique glass mosaic unveiled after restoration in Caesarea
Nadav Shragai, and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/28/2008
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has restored a unique 1,400-year-old glass mosaic, which was discovered in 2005 during excavation of the ancient Bird Palace in Caesarea, Haaretz has learned. Yael Gurin-Rosen, head of the IAA’s glass department, said that the mosaic panel is the first of its kind to be excavated in Israel, and due to the quality of its preservation, given its age, and its gleaming, gilded craftsmanship indicating Christian origins, it is most likely the only one in the world. "It’s a unique find, a piece of art," Joseph Patrich, professor of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "It’s in its original state," Patrich said, "because the panel fell face down, protecting its green, blue and gold facade from debris and damage." "The mosaic is particularly important because the small colored tiles forming... more..
Bethlehem makes best of Christmas despite Israeli policies
Middle East Online 12/19/2007
BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Bethlehem souvenir store owner Mike Canawati is gearing up for his merriest Christmas in years.
A steady stream of pilgrims are trickling into his shop, snapping up olive wood crosses and nativity scenes as keepsakes from the town revered as Jesus’s birthplace.
Business isn’t booming. But sales are brisk, which is good enough for Canawati, who was forced to shut up shop altogether for two years when tourism slumped during the early years of a Palestinian uprising -- or Intifada -- that erupted in 2000 as reaction to Israeli policies and long occupation. The Israeli army exercised excessive use of force to silence Palestinian protest. But this Christmas they showed less hostility against the West Bank.
"More peace means more tourists," said Canawati, wrapping a plastic cherub for a customer as a jazzed-up version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" filtered through the loudspeakers with its message of pilgrimage to Bethlehem. more..
Fires rage throughout western Galilee; arson suspected in some cases
Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz 6/24/2007
Dozens of dunams of fields and groves burned Saturday as brush fires raged throughout the western Galilee. The high temperatures made it difficult for firefighters to put out the blazes, and in some cases the teams were assisted by planes. Fires broke out near the communities of Sakhnin and Karmiel, Dir el-Assad and Abu Sna’an, but did not pose any danger to residents. Amir Levy, spokesman for the firefighter squad in the western Galilee, said that in some of the situations, arson was suspected, but a formal investigation has not been opened yet. In the Kiryat Ata forest and in the olive groves belonging to Kibbutz Yochanan, 60 dunams were ruined. Arson is suspected because of an ongoing dispute between the kibbutz and shepherds from the area over usage of the nearby fields. more..
Iran to buy 5,000 tons of Palestinian olive oil, Palestinian agriculture minister reveals
Ma’an News Agency 2/22/2007
Ramallah - The Palestinian minister of agriculture, Dr. Muhammad Ramadan Al-Agha, has described the agricultural sector as "the backbone of the Palestinian economy". Al-Agha’s statements came during a speech he delivered over the phone in a meeting of the Palestinian Council of Olives and Oil, held in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. Al-Agha also described the Palestinian olive oil as a strategic commodity of the national economy due its high quality taste, color and odor. Consequently, the agriculture ministry has placed great importance on planting olive trees and producing quality olive oil products. He added that the ministry has succeeded, through its communication with local, regional and international bodies, to market large quantities of the Palestinian territories’ surplus olive oil for this year. more..
Winter Traditions in Palestine
By Wilhelmina & George Baramk, This Week in Palestine 2/7/2007
Dear Kyoto, In reply to your letter which we received a few days ago and in which you wrote at length about the traditions of your country, Japan, mainly the ceremonial way of preparing tea, the arrangement of flowers in their simple yet elegant way, and the traditional dishes that accompany religious festivities, we would like to tell you about the many culinary and cultural traditions that we, in Palestine, have. In the cold and gloomy winter season we have a variety of traditional dishes, starting with the crushed lentil (adas majroosh) soup prepared by slightly browning chopped onion in olive oil and then adding the crushed lentils, stirring for a few minutes, adding water, salt and boiling the mixture till well cooked. The accompanying side dish for this soup is the rayyaneh, prepared from simple bread dough cut into 2” balls and spread by hand... more..
Olive season absorbs unpaid employees, reducing unemployment in the 4th quarter of 2006
Ma’an News Agency 2/7/2007
Bethlehem – The report of the "Labour Force" quarterly survey for the fourth quarter of 2006 has been published. During the period of mass worker’s strikes and school closure, many Palestinians found work helping with the annual olive harvest. The full report now follows: Data was collected between 7/10/2006 and 5/01/2007, representing the 4th quarter, 2006. The survey sample of this round is based on the 1997 census (updated 2003). 7,563 households were selected to represent Palestinian society, of which 6,571 questionnaires were completed. Main changes in the labour market: The 4th quarter 2006 testified to dramatic changes in the labour market, which occurred due to the strike of the public sector employees, and at the same time the closure of schools. Countering this, the olive season was prosperous... more..
Economic statistics in the Palestinian territories, sampled during the fourth quarter of 2006
Ma’an News Agency 2/7/2007
Bethlehem - The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, has released the results of its labour force survey, conducted from October to December 2006. The olive season produced jobs, which reduced unemployment in the fourth quarter of 2006. The survey sample of this is based on the 1997 census (updated in 2003); 7,563 households were selected to represent the Palestinian society, of which 6,571 questionnaires were completed. Main changes in the labour market: The 4th quarter of 2006 experienced essential changes in the labour market, which occurred due to the strike in public sector and the closure of schools. Conversely, the olive season was lucrative, which was substituted lost incomes and provided temporary employment to families. more..
Opening "the blessed tree" exhibition at the Plaza marketing center
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2007
Ramallah - Chief of the union of Palestinian chambers of commerce, Ahmad Hashim, has on Thursday opened an exhibition of products of the olive tree, entitled "the blessed tree". The general manager of the Palestinian organization of marketing centers, Zuheir Al-Eseily, also took part in the opening ceremony. The exhibition has been organized by the Palestinian center for economic and social development, in cooperation with other institutions, such as Care international, the Australian agency for development and the Swedish cooperative center. The director of the marketing department in the Palestinian center, Fadi Mousa, said that the exhibition aims to support rural production "and to strengthen the Palestinian attachment to the blessed olive tree." [end]
Palestinian social fund supporting Gaza Strip women and traditional embroidery
Palestine News Network 1/25/2007
The Social Responsibility Fund and the Palestinian Communications Group are making gestures in solidarity with women and traditional crafts. -- The project is based in the Gaza Strip to “protect cultural heritage” and is providing sewing machines, embroidery materials and other essentials for the traditional embroidery sewn by generations of Palestinian women. A delegation included official from the Gaza Social Responsibility Fund, Mohammad Saleem, Rafiq Falouji from the company that supplies the fabric, head of the solidarity mission, Maha Abu Ramadan, and Director General of Cultural Contributions in the Communications Group, Anwar Mahila. The donation comes in support of the cultural sector and for job creation in the sector of heritage and women’s development. more..
Ramallah municipality plants one thousand olive trees
International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2007
Ramallah municipality and the Palestinian pharmaceutical company Bier Ziet organized a campaign on monday to plant one thousand olive trees in the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank. Janet Micha’el, the Mayor of the city said that this action is being taken in order to maintain the healthy and balanced environment of the city, and she added that the action is a part of campaign to make the city green. Micha’el thanked the Palestinian pharmaceutical company Bier Ziet for the donation of the trees and everyone who helped in the action and encouraged the residents of the city to protect the trees and help in keeping them alive. Palestinian pharmaceutical company Bier Ziet sarted a national level campaign recently to plant olive trees all over the Palestinian areas under the slogan of "Lets make Palestine green." more..
The olive harvest in the West Bank and Gaza - Oct 2006
ReliefWeb/United Nations 11/3/2006
31 Oct 2006 -- Olives, a centuries-old mainstay of the Palestinian economy, are in peak season for harvest from the middle of October to the beginning of November. Forty-five percent of Palestinian agricultural land (228,560 acres/914,235 dunums) is planted with olive trees. This year’s olive harvest is a source of hope for a community with over 2/3 of its population living in poverty (less than $2. 7/day). As a bumper crop year, the olive industry promises to contribute over 118 million USD (based on 2003/4 figures) to the fragile West Bank economy - 22 percent of total agricultural production.... Israeli movement restrictions, like the closures and the Barrier, which Israel has stated are meant to protect Israeli citizens, raise concerns over the ability of Palestinian farmers to complete this cycle.... Destruction and Uprooting of Trees... more..
West Bank rain welcomed by olive farmers
Ma’an News 10/27/2006
Qalqiliya - Welcome rain continued to fall in the northern West Bank on Thursday following storms on Wednesday. Following the rain, local farmers in the Qalqiliya governorate were optimistic about the current olive harvest, hoping that the price of olive oil would rise in response. They said that they hoped that the price of one kilogram of olive oil would be between US $3. 5 and $ 4. 5 this year. For most Palestinians farmers, the olive harvest is their primary source of income for the year and the price of olive oil has a significant impact on their livelihood for the whole year. [end]
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A rainbow shines in Shatilla refugee camp
ReliefWeb/American Near East Refugee Aid 3/7/2006
Red, blue, green, yellow, orange... they were adjusted like the colors of a rainbow on a large board hung on the wall. It was Naziha''s panel of threads to sew the designs of the embroidery that Inaash, the Association for the Development of Palestinian Camps, gives to Palestinian women in the camps in Lebanon. Fifty-one years old, a mother of two and living in Shatilla Refugee Camp, Naziha is among the many persons of the camps that Inaash helps with ANERA''s support. One of ANERA''s goals is to increase income-generating opportunities for women and men. Its partnership with Inaash helps provide affordable loans to expand the small businesses of people living on the margins. more..
When life gives you olives
ReliefWeb/Mercy Corps 1/12/2006
Khuloud Qassem used to think that making soap from olive oil required complex chemical compounds and snazzy technology. Now, after taking part in each step of the production process, she knows better. Under the watchful eye of an agricultural engineer, Khuloud learned how to make the soap herself. She also learned how to bottle olive oil and how to package herbs such as sage, thyme and chamomile. Perhaps most importantly, she learned what it takes to sell all these goods in local and foreign markets. Khuloud was one of 20 young women from the West Bank taking part in a Mercy Corps-supported project designed to nurture the entrepreneurial skills of young women, who represent the largest share of the region''s unemployed. more..
A balm of oil
Globes 1/11/2005
The Israel Olive Oil Board and Palestine Olive Oil Council plan to display a joint Israel-Palestinian olive oil brand, to be called "Peace Oil", at international exhibitions. -- With the end of the 2004 olive harvest, the Israel Olive Oil Board and Palestine Olive Board plan to expand cooperation, and to display a joint Israel-Palestinian olive oil brand, to be called "Peace Oil", at international exhibitions, Palestine Olive Oil Council director general Faris El-Jaby has told "Globes". El-Jaby said that in contrast to the past, the olive harvest in the territories was successful and was not disrupted by Jewish settlers. The biggest problem was a large surplus of over 10,000 tons, which could not be marketed. more..
Spreading color and hope in refugee camps
Daily Star 11/24/2004
Palestinian cultural club paints non-violent imagery - Politically independent group argues: ''Our way to fight is not only through weapons. '' -- BEIRUT: Color, creativity and craft are what a group of young Palestinian refugees left on the walls of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. "We are not terrorists," says Mahmoud Halimi, a 17-year-old Palestinian refugee and a member of a newly formed Palestinian cultural club. "Our way to fight is not only through weapons, guns and bombs," he said. "We also know art, and we are talented enough to use art to make our voices heard. " more..
The dying craft of Egypt''s Ramadan lanterns
Daily Star 11/13/2004
Making a fanous is becoming a lost art -- CAIRO: At 72, Ahmed Ali Ghoneim is one of Cairo''s last fanous artists - proud of his tradition but watching his ancestral craft of handmade traditional Ramadan lanterns being threatened by cheap, mass-produced products from Asia. His dimly lit, dusty workshop, stacked to the ceiling with metal scrap, has been in the heart of Islamic Cairo for half a century. The adjacent shop spills a collection of lanterns of all shapes and sizes well onto the pavement. more..
Olive oil production thrice last year''s
Globes 11/3/2004
This year''s olive harvest for oil was expected to total 53,000 tons. -- Israel''s olive oil production will be three times higher in 2004 than in 2003, said olive board general manager Amin Salah. He made the comment at this year''s gala opening of the olive pressing in Acre, in the presence of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Yisrael Katz. Salah said this year''s olive harvest for oil was expected to total 53,000 tons, compared with only 12,000 tons in 2003, and that this year''s olive oil production would reach 8,000 tons. more..
Yasser Barakat Collection of Palestinian Embroidery Preserving Palestine’s Heritage and Art
This Week in Palestine 8/1/2004
It takes non-stop efforts to guard and preserve something that a whole country is trying to conceal. Upon taking a closer look at the rare Palestinian embroidery pieces that Yasser Barakat’s art shop holds, one realizes the beauty and depth of Palestine’s heritage. Yasser, a native Jerusalemite, graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He returned to Palestine in 1972 and later established his business in his father’s shop, teaching mathematics at two of Jerusalem’s premier schools in the meantime. more..
Ancient tradition lives on in Tripoli''s spices souq
Daily Star 8/3/2004
Soap still important part of city''s economy -- TRIPOLI:What do amber, olive oil, ginger and tar have in common? They are all natural ingredients used in fat mixtures that cleanse, smooth and perfume your skin. They are all used in something seemingly banal - modern soap. But for the Hassoun family, which has been boiling oils, drying mixtures, and mixing fragrances for more than 400 years, soap is a deeply rooted family tradition. more..
Palestinians fight to export their olive oil
Alternative Information Center 7/30/2004
Solidarity groups and charities now sell directly to consumers in europe. Up to half of the crop goes to waste. Agriculture in the occupied territories suffers badly from political and economic uncertainty-- LONDON: Given Palestine''s long association with olives, marketing Palestinian olive oil would seem like a simple task. "Not so," say local farmers'' leaders, who reckon that up to half of the current crop goes unsold, due to the combined impact of the Israeli Occupation and long-term under-investment. more..
Soussi Studio: photographing South Lebanon
Daily Star 8/21/2003
Craftsman captured the trials and tribulations of region on film -- In early March, Chafic Ahmed Soussi died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 82. His passing signaled both the end of a life and the end of a celebrated era in Sidon’s rich history. Soussi was a man whose enterprise, skill and initiative changed not only his own life, but also the lives of countless others, and whose 50-year career as a photographer marked a significant period in Lebanon’s historical landscape. more..
Palestinian Embroidery: Tradition Renewed
Miftah 8/1/2003
The art of embroidery is one common to many cultures around the world. But Palestinian embroidery is unique not only for its striking (and almost exclusively) red and black intricate patterns, but also for its cultural and social meaning. Once a traditional craft practiced only by village women, Palestinian embroidery has taken on new meaning as an artful expression of Palestinian identity. more..
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