Leichhardt Friends of Hebron Festival, Sydney

Several Archive staff and volunteers met up at Leichhardt Friends of Hebron's event last Saturday at Leichhardt Town Hall:

At the Archive we sincerely respect the work Leichhardt Friends of Hebron are doing. Here's some info from their website:

"Leichhardt is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, Australia. In 2007 a group of concerned people formed the group Leichhardt Friends of Hebron to build partnerships with local NGOs in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and assist with project support for the people of Hebron and the south Hebron hills. 

"The Friends of Hebron aim to:

• Work in Leichhardt to promote human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations and respect for international law in the occupied Palestinian lands;
• Work in Leichhardt to raise awareness of human rights and humanitarian issues relevant to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands;
• Raise money for vital community projects in the city of Hebron and surrounding areas;
• To work with other municipalities in Australia in building relationships and partnerships with Palestinian communities; and
• Establish a sister city relationship between the Leichhardt Municipal Council and the City of Hebron in the occupied Palestinian lands.

"Friends of Hebron welcomes new members. Membership is open to all residents of Leichhardt, the Inner West and wider Sydney community who support the aims stated above. Contact Leichhardt Friends of Hebron at hebronleichhardt@gmail.com"

For several years now Leichhardt Friends of Hebron has held a Palestinian festival during Refugee Week. This year the festival was held on Saturday 21st June, 2014:

"our fantastic plans for the day include the exhibition,  our ceramics and stalls, our forum, our film, our food and more…. This will be another great event, drawing attention to the world’s longest standing refugee situation and one of the most unjust.  After 66 years Palestinian refugees are still unable to return to their homes. 

"All money raised will, as always, go to support our kindergarten projects  at Umm al Khair, at Khashem al Daraj and especially, Tel Rumeida, as well as our newly identified project in the community of Dkaika, in the Southern tip of the West Bank."

We arrived just after 2pm, and the town hall was bustling:

We greeted other friends and event organizers, and made lots of new friends, especially over discussions of Palestinian embroidery - from the Women In Hebron Group and one of the Bethlehem groups - and Palestinian fair trade products, about which we'll put up another post soon.

Being a fundraiser we wanted to spend as much money as we could, so we had fun wandering around the stalls purchasing Palestinian sweets, zaatar, olive oil soaps, books, posters and raffle tickets:

We also did some real work, purchasing two books for  the Palestine Costume Archive's Research Library and two more kaffiyas from the Herbawi factory in Hebron for the Archive's costume collection:

We spent lots of time in the photographic exhibition "Families Interrupted":

"Through a series of anonymous portraits, this exhibition captures the reality of the many thousands of Palestinian families who are forced to live in the shadows by the Israeli Citizenship Law. By lifting the thin veil of anonymity that envelops them, the images give insights into how the ban turns them into families interrupted, struggling to lead a normal life together. By photographing them in their personal spaces, it offers glimpses of their day-to-day human existence as families."

We'll post more about the exhibition in a later post - apart from being a good exhibition the organizers did a great job installing it on a non existent budget and not even a power point! - but for now here's some info via the exhibition about that law:

"The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (2003) bans family unification where one spouse is an Israeli citizen (in practice almost all of whom are Palestinian citizens) and the other a resident of the OPT (excluding Jewish settler living in the OPT). 

 

"Minor exceptions to the ban were introduced in 2005 allowing the Interior Ministry to make special exceptions to the ban, including in cases where the husband is over 35 years of age or the wife over 25, in special medical or work cases, and for children under the age of 14 to live with the parent inside Israle. An additional amendment in 2007 expanded the ban to include citizens and residents of Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. In accordance with the law, a cabinet decision added further restrictions in 2008 affecting residents of the Gaza Strip.

 

"Although the law was originally enacted as a temporary order, its validity has been repeatedly extended by the Knesset making it in effect a permanent law. Thousands of Palestinian families have been affected by the law, forced to split apart, move abroad or live in Israel in fear of constant deportation."

By now it was time for the forum “Restoring hope through international law – is the right of return for Palestinian refugees necessary for peace?”:

"Our speakers will discuss the sometimes controversial, internationally recognized right of refugees to return to areas from which they have fled or been forced to leave. Should refugees be compensated  for what they have lost? Should they be allowed to return home? Should they be allowed to repossess their properties or should they instead receive compensation and support for resettlement? What if their homes are gone? Have been demolished to make way for an airport? Refugee rights derive from a number of legal sources, including customary international law, international humanitarian law (governing rights of civilians during war), and human rights law"

 The speakers were Samah Sabawi and Dr Marcelo Svirsky:

"Samah Sabawi is an Australian-Palestinian writer, playwright an political analyst with years of experience and special expertise in human rights. Samah was born in Palestine but her family was displaced as a result of Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip in 1967. She lived with her family in a refugee camp, moved into the Arabian Gulf and later migrated to Australia. She still has family living under Israeli siege in Gaza. Her work reflects her passion about her heritage and her desire for a peaceful resolution that is based on justice and respect of human rights for all.  

 

"She is a policy advisor to the Palestinian policy network AlShabaka and has formerly served as executive director and media spokesperson for the National Council on Canada Arab Relations (NCCAR) and as public advocate for Australians for Palestine. 

 

"Dr Marcelo Svirsky is a political scientist who works at the School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, where he  teaches subjects in International Studies.  He grew up in Argentina but moved to Israel where he completed his education at Technion and Haifa Universities. As an activist, Marcelo has long been involved  in the Palestinian struggle for peace with justice. Later this year, Marcelo will walk from Sydney to the Federal Parliament in Canberra to raise awareness about Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, (BDS), in Australia.  

"His research interests are primarily invested on theories and the practice of political activism, revolutionary action, and social transformation. His current research and works in progress include a special issue of the journal Settler Colonial Studies and ‘The Ecology of Interculturalism in Israel’

It was good to have the opportunity to listen to Samah again - we'd last encountered her at the Human Rights in Palestine that we attended at the Australian National University in Canberra last year.

Afterwards we sat up the front to watch the Palestinian fashion parade.

The Palestine Costume Archive's Education Officers often lend a hand with events like this worldwide. They are usually either run by Palestinian diaspora communities or by activist groups who borrow a few garments from their local Palestinian community.  Sometimes we are asked to help with the whole thing, in which case we usually put up one of our small traveling educational displays about Palestinian costume and embroidery at the event. We then also arrange with the local community for a few families to bring some treasured embroidered items in to be included in the fashion parade, which we help identify and provide historical background on.

In the case of last Saturday we were just there with and as friends and not taking part.  But in just being part of the audience we were also fulfilling our role of observing and documenting what cultural knowledge remains in Palestinian diaspora communities. We were looking forward to seeing what type of embroidered garments would be thought important to include by the local community, and what might be said about each garment.

When we'd ask for information about the fashion parade, Leichhardt Friends of Hebron organizers had told us the owner of the dresses loaned for the fashion parade lived in Sydney, but was very unwell and unable to attend.  Which was probably why the text read out during the fashion parade was a bit disjointed and there was no descriptive information at all about the actual dresses on the stage (for example, the only pattern mentioned was the saru, but not a single dress on the stage contained it).

But being a bit short on specific costume details didn't stop the resulting event from being a lot of fun. Kudos to everyone involved, from the MCs

to Samah

to the last minute models (both Palestinian and the many non Palestinians)

and especially Jamal Elayan (who not only burst into song but started the dabke)

 what an amazing half hour we all had, both on the stage and in the audience. What came across is the tremendous love Palestinians have for their culture, in all it's forms. We're so glad we took this short video - watch it and you'll see what we mean :)

We had to leave before the final film of the event, but just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Leichhardt Friends of Hebron for such a wonderful day.  We understand how much this event takes to organize.  We truly do, and we stand amazed by what you've achieved with it over the years.  Keep up the great work in Hebron. And thank you :)

PS:  for Archive staff and Educational Officers:

Here's a quick test: if you had been asked up on the stage at the last minute and these Palestinian garments were presented, what would you have told the audience about them?  We're looking for:

• estimate of date 
• pre 48 village region / post 48 country / refugee camp / embroidery co-op
• fabrics and embroidery thread id
• patterns

Drop us a line at the usual email address and we'll add in the right details as they come in :)

Some responses now in:

Okay 13 of you have responded so far so we can update the photos below.

• 10 points to those of you who replied that you can't confirm date / age of garment / fabrics etc without examining the garments.
• 10 points for everyone who thought all the garments were post 1948 except possibly number 1, but noted you can't confirm it's date without examining the garment

1) This one was too easy lol. 10 points to everyone who identified the dress Samah Sabawi chose to wear as a classic "six branch" style.

10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "Ramallah" style
10 points to everyone who identified the base fabric as (if pre1948) "probably black / indigo linen" or if post 48, "possibly rayon or synthetic".
10 points to everyone who identified the embroidery stitch as cross stitch
10 points for identifying the type of thread as "probably cotton".
10 points to everyone who identified the central motif as a "branches of birds" variation.

2) 10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "shawal" style

10 points to everyone who thought the fabric is "possibly velvet" but you can't confirm base fabric without sighting / examining the dress.
10 points to everyone who identified the embroidery as cross stitch and couching, and the
10 points to everyone who noted the type of thread as "probably cotton".
10 points to everyone who identified the motifs as "modern interpretations" - with the exception of the very top of the qabbeh we can't identify any motifs.

3)  10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "shawal" style

10 points to everyone who identified the embroidery as cross stitch.

10 points to everyone who identified the motifs as "modern interpretations" - we can't identify any motifs.

4)  10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "interesting" lol.

10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "a flag dress" style - we don't think it actually is, but it was a great guess. By linking with this topic you could have raised the subject of political textiles

5 6 7 (on the right side of the photo):

5: 
10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "shawal" style. 
10 points to everyone who identified the base fabric as "probably black linen".
10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "probably 1980s".
10 points to everyone who identified the embroidery as cross stitch.
Extra 10 points to everyone who expanded their identification to discuss how multicoloured shaded threads were popular in the 1970s and early 1980s
10 points to everyone who remembered to mention that these dresses originally had an accompanying triangular embroidered scarf.

6: 
10 points to everyone who identified this garment as a style popular in refugee camps in Jordan in the 1980s.
10 points to everyone who identified the base fabric as "probably synthetic or rayon".
10 points to everyone who identified the embroidery as cross stitch.
10 points if you noted the type of thread as "probably cotton".
10 points to everyone who identified the motifs as floral designs that originally date from the 1940s
Extra 10 points if you remembered there is a very similar one in the Archive's collection.

7: 
10 points to everyone who identified this garment as "Bethlehem" style
Extra 10 points to everyone who went further in their id and explained a bit about the "malak"style
10 points to everyone who identified the base fabrics as "post 48 versions of Bethlehem fabrics ... possibly synthetic velvet".
10 points to everyone who identified the embroidery stitch as couching.
10 points if you noted the type of thread as "possibly cotton and lurex".

Get back to us to confirm your total :)


More Info:

• Leichhardt Friends of Hebron website
• Leichhardt Friends of Hebron group on Facebook
• Leichhardt Friends of Hebron - festival program
• Leichhardt Friends of Hebron - projects

Promoting the Women In Hebron embroidery co-op :)

Want to know more?

• Hebron Embroidery Co-op website here and Facebook page is here

• 2010 video by Fil Kaler on Vimeo here . Also videos and photos on the Co-op's Facebook page.

• Aug 2011 Article by Emily Lawrence in The Electronic Intifada here, with text below

What they are trying to achieve:

From their website:

The objectives of the cooperative are to:

1. Maintain and preserve the Palestinian cultural heritage (and increase awareness abroad).
2. Raise living standards of Palestinian women through economic independence.
3. Support women whose families cannot provide for them - and help the women to deal with such family problems
4.  Obtain basic self-reliance for the women through employment and education within their homes, which gives the opportunity to combine work with family obligations.
5. Encourage resident and commerce steadfastness in The Old City of Hebron in order to preserve the heritage, culture and history in spite of the continuing suffering that settlers and Israeli army are causing to the community.

Want to help?

• There is a useful How to help page on their website.

• Visit them at Hebron "We'd very much like to see you here in Hebron. If you wish we can arrange guided tours in The Old City of Hebron and the city of Idna. If you need accomodation we'd be happy to host you as well!"

• They run an overseas volunteer program - want to help them with English or computer skills?  They'll provide accommodation at their end.    Drop Nawal Salameh a line at nawal@womeninhebron.com or via Facebook

• Want to help with the retail side of thing? This is a really helpful thing to do. One of the biggest problems these projects faced in the past was getting their products out of the region and seen by others, especially overseas. You can really make a difference, providing a contact point for people in your country who want to purchase and help.

• Help spread the word by linking to their Facebook page here

• Donations wouldn't go astray.

****

Preserving Palestinian heritage one stitch at a time

Emily Lawrence 

The Electronic Intifada Hebron 15 August 2011

Nawal Salameh, founder of the Women in Hebron cooperative, 

as featured in the short documentary Hebron Embroidery Co-op.(Fil Kaler)

A walk through the markets of the Old City in Hebron is a sobering reminder of the effects of the Israeli occupation on the everyday lives of Palestinians. Though the city is deep in the occupied West Bank, more than 600 Jewish settlers have established themselves in several settlements inside Hebron’s town center. The streets of the Old City have been caged in mesh and are full of bricks, bottles and garbage hurled down by settlers in the houses above — an act silently authorized under the watchful yet passive gaze of the ever-present Israeli military.

The military has become a formidable presence in Hebron. The often violent settlers are protected by up to 2,000 soldiers and a combination of military checkpoints, watchtowers, roadblocks, iron gates and shop closures have had a dire effect on Hebron’s economy. Movement restrictions have tightened since the second intifada, making trading almost impossible for the Palestinians and turning a once bustling and thriving marketplace into a ghost town. Streets of shops lie empty and padlocked, and soaring unemployment and a dwindling population make this West Bank city one of the bitterest casualties of the continuing occupation.

Yet in these deserted streets, there are flickers of enterprise and hope. A few businesses still survive in the old marketplace, among them Women in Hebron, a shop and cooperative in the heart of the city, selling traditional Palestinian crafts such as kuffiyehs (checkered scarves), embroidered dresses, cushions, bags and wall hangings, along with slightly less traditional items, including purses emblazoned with the slogan “Women Can Do Anything.” All of the products have been handmade by local women, many of whom rely solely on the cooperative for their income.

Emily Lawrence interviewed the cooperative’s founder, Nawal Salameh, about the challenges and opportunities facing Women in Hebron today.

Emily Lawrence: How did you come up with the idea of the Women in Hebron cooperative?

Nawal Salameh: Our project started eight years ago. I was at home without work, and it was the first thing I could think to do without leaving my home and my two small children. I did a lot of embroidery designs and I collected many traditional items, thinking one day I could sell them. In Hebron, even if I finished university it was hard to get a job that I wanted. I had done volunteer work for a long time so I had to do something to bring in money without having to leave my children.

EL: And how did it grow into the cooperative we see today?

NS: I started out by myself and then shared the idea with my friends. I brought together groups of women in the same situation as me to try to help them sell their work. Then I tried to source a place to market our work and found a shop in the Old City. Day by day people started to hear about the only women’s shop in the Old City in Hebron, and many women from the nearby villages came to ask for help. Soon I was selling for 120 women from eight villages around Hebron.

EL: What do you think are some of the most immediate concerns of women in the West Bank and specifically in Hebron?

NS: Women around here are concerned about the occupation continuing. How about our children? Will they suffer like us or will there be peace soon? Will women have more rights than they have now? Some of our women know prisoners. Is there any hope for those in prison? Can we work together to remove the wall? All we want is a free Palestine.

EL: It is obvious to any visitor to Hebron that the Israeli occupation and the presence of settlers have had severe consequences for businesses in the area. What are the main challenges you face in the day-to-day running of the business?

NS: Our shop in the Old City of Hebron has been affected by the occupation, like the whole of Palestine. There is a settler tour every Saturday passing through the old souq [market] to the [Kiryat Arba] settlement. Many times they have created problems, with more than thirty soldiers to protect them from the Palestinians. The other problem is that the shop is close to the settlement, so there are often problems. When the news says there are problems, they scare people from coming to the Old City. It’s a tourist place but there are no tourists, so there is not much business in the Old City. It’s always the same story: don’t go to Hebron because it’s a dangerous place. But I say, come and talk to the people, you will like it very much. We are not going anywhere. This is Hebron and this is the Old City and this is our way to resist all these challenges.

EL: Your website (www.womeninhebron.com) says that one of your main objectives is to preserve Palestinian cultural heritage. Why is it so important that this heritage is maintained? Do you see this cooperative as a form of resistance to Israel’s occupation?

NS: Embroidery is something we take from our mothers and grandmothers. My mother taught me how to do the embroidery when I was small, and she did the same with my other four sisters, to make sure each of us could keep the Palestinian heritage alive. We take the designs from the old dresses of our mothers and our grandmothers. My mother’s work is better than my work. It’s a little different because we do traditional work but we alter it for international taste. I use the same patterns but in a new way.

When we first started to sell we found Hebron’s Old City was closed. A lot of owners had left in the second intifada and had forgotten about it. I liked the idea of staying there, kind of showing our resistance in the Old City.

EL: What next for Women in Hebron? Are your products available internationally?

NS: We are working on opening a new organization in my town, Idna, for women’s handmade products. We will open as soon as we get permission [from the Palestinian Authority]. And we want our organization to be one of the strongest in Palestine, with your help and support. Our work is available internationally and we are ready to come to the UK if someone invites us. We also invite volunteers to stay with us and participate in the work of the cooperative. I love embroidery and that’s why I feel I will succeed in this work. We are planning for a good future.

***

Many thanks for photos and text:

WomenInHebron.com

Fil Kaler

Emily Lawrence

the always amazing EI