Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Palestine's many Christmases: Faces of diversity in the cradle of Christianity

The old city of Bethlehem houses numerous convents, chapels and monasteries of different Christian communities are present [Qassam Muaddi / TNA]

As always, please go to the original link to read the story in full, and share it if you can so more people might see and think about it.

Palestine's many Christmases: Faces of diversity in the cradle of Christianity: Christmas celebrations in Palestine culminate on December 25. But inside Bethlehem itself, the diversity of Christian traditions translates into different dates of celebration, for different communities.

Palestinian Christian families visit the Nativity grotto, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, seeking blessings for their children [Qassam Muaddi / TNA]

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/features/palestines-many-christmases-faces-christian-diversity

Thursday, December 16, 2021

UNESCO » Culture » Intangible Heritage » Lists » The art of embroidery in Palestine, practices, skills, knowledge and rituals

The art of embroidery in Palestine, practices, skills, knowledge and rituals

Palestine

Inscribed in 2021 (16.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The art of traditional embroidery is widespread in Palestine. Originally made and worn in rural areas, the practice is now common in all of Palestine and among members of the diaspora. Women’s village clothing usually consists of a long dress, trousers, a jacket, a headdress and a veil. Each of these garments is embroidered with a variety of symbols including birds, trees and flowers. The choice of colours and designs indicates the woman’s regional identity and marital and economic status. On the main garment, the loose-fitting dress called a thob, the chest, sleeves and cuffs are covered with embroidery. Embroidered, vertical panels run down the dress from the waist. The embroidery is sewn with silk thread on wool, linen or cotton. Embroidery is a social and intergenerational practice, as women gather in each other’s homes to practise embroidery and sewing, often with their daughters. Many women embroider as a hobby, and some produce and sell embroidered pieces to supplement their family’s income, either on their own or in collaboration with other women. These groups gather in each other’s homes or in community centres, where they may also market their work. The practice is transmitted from mother to daughter and through formal training courses.

🇵🇸 Another VICTORY 🇵🇸 The minister of culture of UNESCO added Palestinian Embroidery (Tatreez) to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list today

Another VICTORY

The minister of culture of UNESCO added Palestinian Embroidery (Tatreez) to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list today after thieving 'israel' attempted to promote Tatreez as part of the 'israeli' culture (no such thing) during the Miss Universe pageant this past weekend.

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Visualising Return exhibition in London December 2021

Photos shared by Maher Naji followed by some photos from the online visual tour by the Palestinian Return Centre

"Maher's artwork is inspired by his family's memories of Palestine before 1948. He relies on his mother's vast details of her memories, for every line and shape in his paintings, his art is a means of preserving Palestinian culture in the midst of Israeli settler colonial siege. The memories he paints, are also the hopeful visualisations of return." RETURN WEEK

A Girl in a Jerusalem Dress

A Girl in a Jerusalem Dress by Maher Naji

Full digital tour can be found here

https://prc.org.uk/en/album/2/digital-gallery

Sunday, December 5, 2021

The award winning Palestinian History Tapestry uses the embroidery skills of Palestinian women to illustrate aspects of the land and peoples of Palestine – from Neolithic times to the present.

PLEASE GO TO THIS LINK TO EXPLORE THIS MARVELOUS PROJECT IN FULL... but if per chance, the link no longer works, I have tried to include every part of the tapestry seen in 2021.

https://www.palestinianhistorytapestry.org/

The key for return [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Hejar Abu Saleem [Ajjur, district of Hebron], Amman Jordan

When 700,000 Palestinians fled from or were thrown out of their homes during the Nakba in 1948, they took their house keys with them, convinced that they would come back after a week or two and re-open their front doors. The keys have been passed on from generation to generation as a reminder of their lost homes and as lasting symbols of their ‘right of return’. The Palestinian right of return or compensation was internationally recognised by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, adopted on 11 December 1948.

“One lovely word, and two lovely words, my homeland”

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The Palestinian History Tapestry

The award winning Palestinian History Tapestry uses the embroidery skills of Palestinian women to illustrate aspects of the land and peoples of Palestine – from Neolithic times to the present. In the past, Palestinian embroiderers have mainly used cross stitch (tatreez) and geometric designs to decorate dresses and other items.

Although some of these designs have been used in parts of the Palestinian History Tapestry, the Tapestry is a further development of traditional Palestinian embroidery. It shows how the creativity and imagination of Palestinian embroiderers has been used to represent the complicated illustrative imagery required for a history tapestry.

The Palestinian History Tapestry was proposed in 2011 by Jan Chalmers. Jan had worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza and was familiar with Palestinian embroidery. She had also contributed to the creation of a 122-metre South African history tapestry stitched by village women living in poverty on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The Keiskamma Tapestry, as it is known, illustrates 300 years of history leading to the end of apartheid, and it is now on permanent display in the Parliament House in Cape Town.

Jan’s proposal for a Palestinian history tapestry led Palestinians and friends to work together to establish and develop the Palestinian History Tapestry Project. The work of the embroiderers has been funded by charitable donations, and from sales of Palestinian embroidery.

The first phase of the Project was completed in 2018. Formal launch events coincided with the 70th Anniversary of ‘The Nakba’ (‘The Catastrophe’) – the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. This resulted in the forcible removal of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes, and the creation of the State of Israel.

The Tapestry was launched in London on 11 December, the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 194. This resolved that:

“refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and [that] compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to.”

The names of Palestinians who have contributed to the Project are followed [in parentheses] by the names of the places in Palestine from which their families originate, followed by their current locations. Their involvement in the Palestinian History Tapestry is an expression of ‘sumud’ (steadfastness). Their work, done in collaboration with friends, will hopefully draw attention not only to Palestinian history and heritage, but also to the internationally declared right of Palestinians to return to their homes.

—————————————————————————————–

The Palestinian History Tapestry is owned by the Palestinian History Tapestry Project. Images and texts, copyright of the Palestinian History Tapestry Project.

Where not otherwise indicated, material in the Palestinian History Tapestry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Era: Introduction

Neolithic Period (9,500—4,000 BCE)

Introduction of agriculture and the establishment of settled farming communities and villages, with domestication of animals, invention of pottery and the emergence of religious beliefs and cultic practices, as represented in figurines and tools.

Jericho was developed as one of the earliest fortified settlements in the world.

Era: Neolithic Period (9,500—4,000 BCE)

Pre-pottery statue [59 x 41 cm]

Source of image: Google Arts & Culture
Embroidery: Basma Al-Natoor [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

The painted plaster head of a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B statue discovered at Jericho may have represented a divinity, an ancestor, a mythical figure, or one of the deities of a Neolithic pantheon.

Era: Neolithic Period (9,500—4,000 BCE)

Walled Jericho [59 x 77 cm]

Source of image: Dame Kathleen Kenyon, archaeologist
Embroidery: Hekmat Ashour [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine

The Neolithic wall of Jericho dates from approximately 8000 BCE. The embroidered image comes from an artist impression of Neolithic Jericho. If interpreted as an “urban fortification”, it is the oldest city wall discovered by archaeologists anywhere in the world. Dame Kathleen Kenyon was a leading British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She is best known for her excavations of Jericho between 1952 and 1958, and has been called one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century.

Era: Neolithic Period (9,500—4,000 BCE)

Stone-Copper Age (4,000-3,000 BCE)

Development of regional cultures based on pastoral life and agricultural production.

Introduction of copper and richer artistic and cultic traditions.

Era: Stone-Copper Age (4,000—3,000 BCE)

Chalcolithic figurine [59 x 39 cm]

Source of image: Yale University Art Gallery: The Whiting Palestinian Collection
Embroidery: Janet Jameel Hamad [Silwad], Amman, Jordan

This female figure dates from the Chalcolithic Period in Palestine, the period of transition from prehistoric times to early civilization.
The figure’s large head and elongated nose may have been to evoke the idea of “life breath.”

Era: Stone-Copper Age (4,000—3,000 BCE)

Chalcolithic ram [59 x 94 cm]

Source of image: Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Embroidery: Naama al Awawdah [Es Samu], Khalil District, Palestine

The Chalcolithic ram was found in 1895 by farmers ploughing land near the village of Yazur, 6 kilometres east of Jaffa. It is carved from a flat, squarish piece of limestone. It was most probably an important object in the religious life of the community.

Era: Stone-Copper Age (4,000—3,000 BCE)

Bronze Age (3,000 — 1,200 BCE)

Emergence of urban life and the establishment of the first fortified cities under Egyptian rule.

Canaanites, a group of Semitic people, settled in Palestine/Canaan and along the Syrio-Palestinian coast. They established semi-independent city-states, as reflected in Tell al-Amarna Letters; maintained maritime and land trade with the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Mesopotamia; invented the alphabet writing; developed a multi-deity religion common to Semitic peoples of the ancient Near East; and manufactured bronze tools.

Frequent rebellions by Canaanite city states prompted Egyptian military campaigns in Palestine.

Era: Bronze Age (3,000—1,250 BCE)

Electrum jug [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image: Christie's Auction House, New York
Embroidery: Basma Al-Natoor [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

A Western Asiatic electrum jug hammered from a single sheet of bronze. Syro-Palestine, early 2^nd millennium BCE.

Era: Bronze Age (3,000—1,250 BCE)

Beni Hasan mural (1) [59 x 140 cm]

Source of image: Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections
Embroidery: Amina Abu-Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

The temple mural (1892 BCE) at Beni Hasan, Middle Egypt, depicts Asiatic herdsmen with three children coming to trade with a local Egyptian ruler. They are recognisable by their dress, pulled back hair, and short pointed beards. In addition to the humans, the mural portrays donkeys, weapons, goods, and tools. The designs on the women’s clothing are suggestive of designs used by Palestinian women today.

Era: Bronze Age (3,000—1,250 BCE)

Beni Hasan mural (2) [59 x 115 cm]

Source of image: Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections
Embroidery: Amina Abu-Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

The temple mural (1892 BCE) at Beni Hasan, Middle Egypt, depicts Asiatic herdsmen coming to trade with a local Egyptian ruler. They are recognisable by their dress, pulled back hair, and short pointed beards. In addition to the humans, the mural portrays gazelles, weapons, goods, and tools.

Era: Bronze Age (3,000—1,250 BCE)

Iron Age (1,250 — 721 BCE)

Massive population migrations led to the establishment of regional kingdoms in Palestine.

Phoenicians (descendants and heirs of the Canaanites) were seafarers and founded city states along the Syrio-Palestinian coast and maritime colonies along the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

Philistines (after whom Palestine was named) migrated from the Mediterranean, established a confederation of city states along the southern coast of Palestine, and manufactured iron arms and tools .

Hebrews (Israelites), a semi-nomadic Semitic people, settled in the central mountains of Palestine. They were culturally influenced by the Canaanites and were in conflict with the Philistines.

Era: Iron Age (1,250—721 BCE)

Philistine warrior [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image: https://claudemariottini.com/2012/08/15/the-philistines/
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh Lebanon

A Philistine warrior, as depicted in the Luxor Temple in Egypt. The Philistines are believed to have been part of a group of people known as the Sea Peoples, who came to Canaan from the eastern Mediterranean. They ruled the five coastal plain cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath. Philistine civilization disappeared after its cities were conquered by the Assyrian Empire in the late eighth century BCE.

Era: Iron Age (1,250—721 BCE)

Philistine migration to Palestine [59 x 80 cm]

Sketch: Laila Tibi [Taybeh] Palestine
Embroidery: Amine Abu Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Philistines appear in Assyrian sources in the 9th century BCE. Palestine was mentioned in early Greek sources as a place – ‘Palaestina’ – and as a people, ‘Palaistinoi’. Palestine as a geographic name appears in the 5th century BCE histories of Herodotus. Third century BCE Hellenistic sources referred to ‘Palaistin’ to describe the entire area between Phoenicia and Egypt. This panel is based on a sketch drawn by Laila Tibi [Taybeh].

Era: Iron Age (1,250—721 BCE)

Philistine pottery, swans [59 x 92 cm]

Source of image: Decorative motifs on Philistine pottery
Embroidery: Hadeel Abu-Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Decorated Philistine pottery is known for some of the most beautiful motifs on early Iron Age decorated pottery. Stylistic representations of birds in the Mycenaean style were considered to be sacred. They are also featured on the Philistine ships in the reliefs in Ramesses III (20th Dynasty) mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, Thebes (modern Luxor), Egypt. They depict his battle with the Sea Peoples around 1175 BCE.

Era: Iron Age (1,250—721 BCE)

Philistine pottery, bird [59 x 99 cm]

Source of image: Decorative motifs on Philistine pottery
Embroidery: Basma Al-Natoor [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

This panel is based on the largest Philistine bird shard image known, from 12th/11th century BCE, which was found at Tel Miqne-Ekron.

Era: Iron Age (1,250—721 BCE)

Assyrian siege of Lachish, 701 BCE [ 59 x 84 cm]

Source of image: British Museum
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Khawla Dahrouj [Bir Seb’a], Gaza

A set of Assyrian palace reliefs narrate the Assyrian victory over the kingdom of Judah. Lachish was an important city in Judah, second only to Jerusalem. In 701 BCE, the Assyrian army attacked the city from the south because of the steepness of the northern side, where the Jewish defenders situated themselves on the walls.

Era: Iron Age (1,250—721 BCE)

Babylonian/Persian period (721 — 332 BCE)

Palestine was brought under Mesopotamian hegemony, and was conquered in 721 BCE by the Assyrians and in 586 BCE by the Babylonians, who exiled much of the population. During this time, the name Palestine in the form of Plistu appeared for the first time in Assyrian documents.

The Persian emperor Cyrus conquered Palestine and allowed Hebrews to return from exile. Many of the characteristic ideas and institutions, including the term Jews, emerged during this time. Much of the Hebrew Bible was re-written and completed.

The name “Palestine” was mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus and appeared later in the Old Testament in the Hebrew form “Pleshet”, originating from “Pleshteem” (Philistines).

Era: Babylonian/Persian Period (721—332 BCE)

Ba’al, God of Storm Cloud [59 x 38 cm]

Source of image: Damascus Museum, Syria
Embroidery: Janet Jameel Hamad [Silwad], Amman, Jordan
Supported by: Layfield Family, Stroud, UK

Ba’al was a title and honorific meaning “lord” in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities. However, inscriptions have shown that the name Ba’al was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations.

Era: Babylonian/Persian Period (721—332 BCE)

Babylonian destruction of 1st Jewish Temple, 587 BCE [59 x 80 cm]

Source of image: Wikimedia Commons. Nebuzaradan burns down the temple2
Embroidery: Imam Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

The first Jewish temple (Beit HaMikdash), was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. The embroidery is based on an image by an unnamed illustrator of Petrus Comestor’s ‘Bible Historiale’, France, 1372.

Era: Babylonian/Persian Period (721—332 BCE)

Hellenistic Period (332 — 63 BCE)

Alexander the Great conquered Palestine in 332 BCE, bringing it under the influence of Hellenistic culture, which impacted all aspects of life, art and architecture, philosophy and religion.

After Alexander’s death, his Middle East Empire was divided between two of his generals: Syria and Palestine under the Seleucides, and Egypt under the Ptolemies.

Jews led by the Maccabees revolted against the enforced ‘hellenization’, and an independent Hasmonean kingdom was established in 129 BCE. The Hasmoneans forcibly converted the Idumeans (early Arabs of southern Palestine) to Judaism.

Era: Hellenistic Period (332—63 BCE)

Hellenistic rooster [59 x 34 cm]

Source of image: Marisa Tomb Paintings
Embroidery: Alia Abu-Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

One of a pair of roosters, whose heads are turned backwards, straddling a doorway to the main tomb chamber at Tell Sandahannah, an excavated mound one mile south of Beit Gibrin.

Era: Hellenistic Period (332—63 BCE)

Alexander the Great, 356-323 BCE [59 x 104 cm]

Source of image: House of the Faun Pompeii
Embroidery: Alia Abu Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Alexander III of Macedon (356-323 BCE), commonly known as Alexander the Great, created one of the largest empires in the ancient world. He conquered the Persians, who had earlier subjugated Palestine. The land came into his hands with the rest of the Persian Empire.

Era: Hellenistic Period (332—63 BCE)

Roman Period (63 BCE — 325 CE)

Conquest of Palestine by the Romans in 63 BCE and establishment of cities such as Jerusalem, Caesarea, Sabastiya, and Beisan.

Appointment in 37 BCE of a vassal king, Herod the Great (an Idumean Arab), as ruler of Judaea.

During this time the ethnic make-up of the country included Jews, Samaritans, Idumeans and Nabatean Arabs, Greeks and Phoenicians.

Birth of Jesus Christ and spread of Christianity based on his teachings, and creation of the New Testament.

Two Jewish revolts against the Romans were suppressed. The first, in 70 CE, led to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; the second, in 135 CE (the Bar Kochba revolt), led to the razing of Jerusalem and the creation of a Roman colony – Aelia Capitolina – in its place.

Era: Roman Period (63 BCE—325 CE)

Roman Judea [59 x 35 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/76dbbi70
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers UK

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family UK

The Roman conquest of Judea in 63 BCE was solidified when Herod was appointed King of Judea. In 132 CE, the Roman Emperor Hadrian joined Judea and Galilee to form Syria Palaestina, so reviving the ancient name of Philistia, combining it with that of the neighbouring province of Syria.

Era: Roman Period (63 BCE—325 CE)

Roman aqueduct, Caesarea, c. 25–13 BCE [ 59 x 71 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/292je65y
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Mayyada Abu Sitta [Bir Seb’a] Gaza

The aqueduct at Caesarea is on the coastal plain south of Haifa. The town and aqueduct were built by Herod the Great around 25–13 BCE, as the port city Caesarea Marittima. It served as an administrative centre for the province of Judea in the Roman Empire.

Era: Roman Period (63 BCE—325 CE)

Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem [59 x 90 cm]

Design: Hamada Atallah [Al Quds], Al Quds, Palestine
Embroidery: Suhair Handal, Bethlehem; Marcel Rabie, Randa Abu Ghattas, Beit Jala, Palestine

The birth of Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem. “And so it was… that Mary gave birth to a son in a stable. She called him Jesus and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger of hay”.

Era: Roman Period (63 BCE—325 CE)

Roman destruction of 2nd Jewish Temple, 70 CE [59 x 90]

Source of image: The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Embroidery: Amina Abu-Rabia’, Drejat, [Naqab]

The siege of Jerusalem was the decisive event of the first Jewish–Roman War. The Roman army besieged and conquered the city after the Jerusalem riots of 66 CE. The Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, and the Menorah taken to Rome.

Era: Roman Period (63 BCE—325 CE)

Byzantine Period (325 — 638 CE)

Palestine came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire and Emperor Constantine legitimized Christianity and declared it the official religion of the state.

Palestine gradually became Christianized and many churches and monasteries were built at traditional sites associated with the life of Christ, among these the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Beth Lehem. An influx of pilgrims visited the holy sites.

Era: Byzantine Period (325—640)

Helena Augusta [59 x 35 cm]

Source of image: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Helen
Embroidery: Alia Abu Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great, who became Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Constantine honoured his mother by granting her the imperial title “Augusta.”

Era: Byzantine Period (325—640 CE)

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 325 CE [59 x 80 cm]

Embroidery: Barbara Haj Hassan, Jordan
Supported by: Haj Hassan Family, Jordan

Sponsored by: Haj Hassan Family, Jordan

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is believed to have been built on the site at which Jesus of Nazareth is said to have been crucified and buried, and from which he was resurrected. The church dates from 325/326 CE, when Emperor Constantine ordered that it replace a Roman Temple.

Era: Byzantine Period (325—640 CE)

Early Islamic Period (638 — 1099)

Muslim Arabs conquered Palestine and arabised and islamicised the local population. The Umayyads based in Damascus (661–750) transformed Jerusalem (which became the third holiest Islamic city); built the Haram al-Sharif, which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa Mosque; and developed Ramla as capital of Palestine.

Under the rule of the Abbassids based in Baghdad (750–969), the Fatimids in Cairo (969–1073) and the Saljuqs in Damascus (1073-1098), Palestine continued to flourish and Jerusalem became a destination for Islamic pilgrimage and learning.

Era: Early Islamic Period (640—1099 CE)

No God but Allah [59 x 38 cm]

Design: Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Awatif Bader [Karatyya], Gaza, Palestine

Islam was brought to the region of Palestine during the Early Muslim conquests of the 7th century, when armies of the Rashidun Caliphate defeated the armies of Persia and the armies of the Byzantine Empire.

Era: Early Islamic Period (640—1099 CE)

Haram Ash Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), 691 CE [59 x 96 cm]

Sketch: Razan Hassouna [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

The Haram Ash Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque – the third holiest site in Islam – and the Dome of the Rock. The latter was initially completed in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik. It was built on the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which had in turn been built on the site of the Second Jewish Temple, destroyed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Era: Early Islamic Period (640—1099 CE)

Khirbet El-Mafjar, 734 CE [59 x 86 cm]

Source of image: Window in Khirbet El Mafjar
Embroidery: Hekmat Ashour [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine

Khirbet El-Mafjar is an Umayyad hunting lodge 3 km north of Jericho, built in 734 CE. It is known as Hisham’s Palace because it was thought to have been built by the Umayyad Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malek (724-743 CE).

Era: Early Islamic Period (640—1099 CE)

Mosaic at Khirbet El-Mafjar, 734 CE [59 x 90 cm]

Source of image: Mosaic at Khirbet El Mafdjar
Embroidery: Basma Al-Natoor [Samaria], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

The mosaics at Khirbet El-Mafjar, built in 734 CE by the Umayyad Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malek (724-743 CE), are fine examples of Umayyad period art. All of the mosaics are of very high quality. The most famous depicts the “tree of life”, in the diwan of the bath complex.

Era: Early Islamic Period (640—1099 CE)

Crusader Period (1099 — 1291)

The Crusaders (Franks) conquered Palestine in 1099, followed by a process of colonization.

Jerusalem was sacked and its population massacred, and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, along with military orders to protect it.

The Franks established many cities, rural settlements, castles, churches, monasteries and industrial installations.

Era: Crusader Period (1099—1291)

Crusader soldiers [59 x 36 cm]

Source of image: Wikimedia Commons, Siege of Jerusalem 1099
Embroidery: Shayma Waheidi [Bir Seb’a], Gaza, Palestine

Sponsored by: Shayma Waheidi [Bir Seb’a], Gaza, Palestine

On 15 July 1099, the First Crusade reached Palestine and entered the port city of Acre, massacring Jewish and Muslim civilians and pillaging or destroying mosques and the city itself. As a result of this conquest, several small Crusader states were created, notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This lasted until 1291 CE, when its original and last possession – Acre – was taken by the Mamluks.

Era: Crusader Period (1099—1291)

Godfrey de Bouillon and crusaders [59 x 96 cm]

Source of image: Bridgman images, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
Embroidery: Dowlat Abu Shaweesh [Ne’ane], Ramallah, Palestine

The First Crusade began in 1099 when Pope Urban II called for a military expedition to help the Byzantines take control of the Holy Land. This inaugurated a period of two centuries in which Christians and Muslims often fought one another.

Era: Crusader Period (1099—1291)

Ayyubid Period (1187—1250)

Following the Zangids, the Ayyubids waged a ‘holy war’ against the Crusader states in the Levant. Salah al-Din defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hittin in 1187 CE.

Palestine and Jerusalem were recovered, Islamic holy sites were restored and consecrated, and Islamic art and architecture were revived.

In 1229 CE, al-Kamil surrendered Jerusalem to the Crusaders within a peace treaty.

In 1244 CE, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Khawarizmians.

Era: Ayyubid Period (1187—1250)

Ewer of Saladin [59 x 35]

Source of image: Louvre Museum, Paris.
Embroidery: Naama al Awawdah [Samoaa’], Khalil District, Palestine

The Ewer of Saladin is named after Sultan Salah Al Din Yusuf. Saladin was a Kurd, who established the Ayyubid Dynasty, which unified Egypt and Syria under one Sultan from 1171 to 1260 CE.

Era: Ayyubid Period (1187—1250)

Ṣalaḥ ad-Din Yusuf al-Ayyubid, 1187 CE [59 x 83 cm]

Source of image: Artist Amjad Ghannam [Al Quds], Al Quds
Design: Artist Amjad Ghannam [Al Quds], Al Quds
Embroidery: Dowlat Abu Shaweesh [Ne’ane], Ramallah, Palestine

Salah ad Din Yusuf (Saladin) was a Kurd and the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria. His forces defeated the Crusaders in 1187 CE at the Battle of Hittin, and went on to re-capture Jerusalem, which had been seized by the Crusaders from the Egyptians 88 years earlier.

Era: Ayyubid Period (1187—1250)

Mamluk Period (1260—1517)

The Mamluks overthrew the Ayyubids, and ruled Palestine from Cairo. They defeated the Mongols at the battle of ‘Ain Jalut (near Nazareth) in 1260. Baybars conquered most of Palestine from the Crusaders by the time of his death in 1277.

The Mamluks were great patrons of the arts and sponsored a large number of religious and secular buildings, constructed in a distinctive style. They also established an extensive network of khans (caravanserais) and postal stations, linked by a network of roads and bridges.

Jerusalem was further confirmed as a destination for Muslim pilgrimage and a centre of learning.

Era: Mamluk Period (1260—1516)

Armed Mamluk warrior [59 x 38 cm]

Source of image: Wikimedia Commons, Bassin Syrie
Embroidery: Janet Jameel Hamad [Silwad], Amman, Jordan

An armed Mamluk warrior copied from an early 14th century Mamluk brass basin from Egypt or Syria (now in the Louvre), Paris.

Era: Mamluk Period (1260—1516)

Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya Al Quds, 1482 CE [59 x 40 cm]

Source of image: Museum with no frontiers
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon[Tabariyeh]

Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Qaytbay, one of the greatest patrons of Mamluk architecture, founded the al-Ashrafiyya Qaytbay, described as the third jewel of the Haram al-Sharif, after the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem.

Era: Mamluk Period (1260—1516)

Mamluk embroidery, 15th C [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/y2dhkoma
Embroidery: Kifah Kurdieh [Lubya, Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

This panel has been copied from a 15th century fragment measuring 11″x 3-3/8”. Perhaps Mamluk embroidery influenced the patterns used today by Palestinians.

Era: Mamluk Period (1260—1516)

Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

The Ottoman Turkish sultan Selim I conquered Palestine in 1516 CE, and incorporated it in the Ottoman Empire. Under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent an extensive programme of works was carried out, including rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa Mosque.

Palestine was divided by the Ottomans into the districts (sanjaks) of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre. Heavy taxation and repressive measures by the Ottoman authorities led to several revolts, with local leaders declaring ‘autonomous’ rule, such as Zahir al-‘Umar in northern Palestine, with his capital in Acre.

In 1801, a French invasion of Egypt and Palestine led by Napoleon was repelled at Acre by Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar. Muhammad ‘Ali declared independence in Egypt and occupied Palestine (1831-1840).

The first wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine was in 1881. The aim to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine was declared by Herzl at the 1st Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897.

In 1916, the British and French agreed to divide the defunct Ottoman Empire between them. Jerusalem was captured by British forces led by General Allenby in 1917.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Suleyman the Magnificent, 1520-66 CE [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image: Suleiman the Magnificent
Embroidery: Hekmat Ashour [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine

Suleyman the Magnificent ruled the Ottoman Empire between 1520 and 1566, during which time the territory of the Empire doubled in size and reached the apogee of its military, economic and political power. Popularly known as “the Magnificent” or “the Lawmaker,” he was the 10th Ottoman sultan and the 4th to rule from Istanbul. He was religiously tolerant, insisting that the Jewish and Christian sites in Jerusalem should be included within his rebuilt city walls.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Bab al-Amud [Damascus Gate], Al Quds, 1537-51 CE [59 x 73 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/1qd5ykng
Embroidery: Khawla Dahrouj [Bir Seb'a], Gaza, Palestine

Damascus Gate (Bab al-Amud) is one of seven main gates in the walls of Jerusalem. Built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman between 1537 and 1541 the walls are 4,018 meters long, at an average height of 12 meters and average thickness of 2.5 meters. The walls have 34 watchtowers.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Thobe embroidery [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image:Traditional design
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh Lebanon

Palestinian embroidery has a rich history going back at least 200 years. Traditional Palestinian women’s dresses, or thobes, took different forms in different regions of the country. The various stitches, designs and colours of the embroidery indicate the regional origins and in some cases, women’s status. Beyond the beauty of this intricate work, and particularly in the aftermath of the 1948 Nakba, embroidery has played an important role in preserving Palestinian identity, becoming a symbol of heritage and endurance.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Camel caravan [59 x 95 cm]

Source of image: Designer, Alia Abu-Rabia, Drejat, Naqab
Embroidery: Alia Abu-Rabia, Drejat, Naqab

Before the development of modern modes of transport, camels (‘ships of the desert’) were used to transport people and goods to and from Palestine.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Coffee [59 x 35 cm]

Source of image: Designer Alia Abu Rabia', Drejat, Naqab
Embroidery: Alia Abu Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Coffee was on the Palestinian table before breakfast, after lunch and during evening hours, and it still graces all social events.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Napoleon’s failure at Acre, 1799 [59 x 110 cm]

Source of image: Unsuccessful siege of Acre (1799)
Embroidery: Hadeel Abu Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Advancing from Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte tried to capture the key port of Acre between 18 March and 20 May 1799. His plans received a setback when his siege artillery was lost to the British Navy.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

‘The Land of Sad Oranges’ [59 x 36 cm]

Source of image: Inspired by the writings of Ghassan Kanafani
Embroidery: Suheer Abu Rabia, Drejat, Naqab

The title of this image is inspired by a short story by Ghassan Kanafani, a Palestinian writer who was assassinated in 1972 by Mossad, the Israeli secret service. “The Land of the Sad Oranges” describes the influence of deportation on Palestinians when Israeli troops took over their country in 1948. Jaffa oranges were cultivated by Palestinian farmers from the mid-19^th century, and take their name from the port city of Jaffa. Mention of Jaffa oranges being exported to Europe first appears in British consular reports in the 1850s.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Port of Jaffa [59 x 158 cm]

Source of image: An Empire Marketing Board advertisement for Jaffa oranges.
Embroidery: Hadeel Abu-Rabia', Drejat, Naqab

Jaffa oranges were cultivated by Palestinian farmers from the mid-19^th century, and take their name from the port city of Jaffa. Mention of Jaffa oranges being exported to Europe first appears in British consular reports in the 1850s.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Qanun player, Jerusalem, c.1859 [59 x 56 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/yuwsv26h
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers

This image of a Qanun player is based on a woodcut published by William McClure Thomson in 1860 (The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land Vol II, p. 577).

The qanun is a stringed instrument with origins in Assyrian Mesopotamia in 19^th century BCE. The name of the instrument derives from an Arabic word meaning “rule, law, norm, principle”, which is borrowed from the ancient Greek word κανών (rule), canon in Latin. The qanun is either played solo, or more usually as part of an ensemble in much of the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and south eastern regions of Europe. Arabic qanuns are somewhat larger than Turkish qanuns, allowing the three and a half octave range to be extended to include extreme bass and extreme treble strings.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Oud player, Jerusalem, c.1859 [59 x 56 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/e468qsx2
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers

This image of an oud player is based on a woodcut published by William McClure Thomson in 1860 (The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land. Vol II, p. 578).

Instruments of the lute family were known to have existed in Mesopotamia at least as long ago as 3000 BCE. A short almond-shaped lute developed in the Sasanian Empire (224–651) came to be called the barbat or barbud, and this instrument was developed later into the Islamic world’s oud or ud. When the Moors conquered Andalusia in 711, they brought their oud into a country that had already known a lute tradition under the Romans.

During the 8th and 9th centuries, many musicians from across the Islamic world flocked to Iberia. By the 11th century, Muslim Iberia had become a centre for the manufacture of instruments. These goods spread gradually to Provence, influencing French troubadours, and eventually reached the rest of Europe. While Europe developed the lute, the oud remained a feature of Arab and Ottoman music.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

Ottoman Palestine, 1875 [59 x 42]

Source of image: PHT design based on publications by Fred M Gottheil, Nur Masalha, and Salman Abu Sitta
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK

For well over a century it has been suggested that Palestine was “a land without people, for a people without a land”. This claim was repeated despite the evidence that it was a fiction. After a careful assessment of the available evidence, Fred M Gottheil estimated that, around 1875, the population of Ottoman Palestine was 492,675 (Middle Eastern Studies 1979;15:310-321). In addition to Gottheil’s report, the map stitched for the Palestinian History Tapestry draws on a map of “modern Palestine”, represented by the Mutasarrifiyatal-Quds al-Sharif (Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem), which incorporated the sanjaks (provinces) of Akka and Nablus (Nur Masalha. Palestine. 2018. London: Zed, p 262). Palestinian cities, towns and large villages at that time have been identified from Gottheil’s article and Salman Abu Sitta’s Atlas of Palestine. 1917-1966. London: Palestine Land Society 2010. To mark their locations, silk crosses have been added to the embroidered Tapestry panel to indicate the locations (from North to South) of Tarshiha, Safad, Akka, Haifa, Tabariyeh, Nasirah, Beisan, Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya, Yaffa, Ramallah, Ariha, Ludd, al Quds, Yibneh, Ramleh, Beit Lahm, Majdal, Beit Jibrin, Gaza, Khalil, and Bir Saba.

Era: Ottoman Period (1516—1917)

British Military Administration (1917—1920)

1917 The Balfour Declaration promises Palestine to the Jews of the world.

1917 British capture of Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks.

1919 The Treaty of Versailles ends the First World War and marks the defeat of Germany and its allies, including Turkey.

1920 Treaty of Sevres strips the Ottoman Empire of its Arab provinces, including Palestine.

Era: British Military Administration (1917—1920)

Palestine, 1917 [59 x 36 cm]

Source of image: Justin McCarthy. The Population of Palestine. New York: Columbia University Press, 1909.
Embroidery: Almaza Al-Helou [Al A'abasiyeh] Ramallah, Palestine

Palestine had been part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years, but had retained its distinctive regional identity as Palestine, with an indigenous Arab population and culture. In the secret Sykes-Picot agreement, Britain and France separated Palestine from the rest of Greater Syria and designated it for international status.

Era: British Military Administration (1917—1920)

The Balfour Declaration, 1917 [59 x 41 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/1jwa5f2q
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers UK
Supported by: Chalmers Family UK
Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK

In 1917, the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, stated in a letter to Lord Rothschild, a British Jew, that the British government viewed with favour the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people in Palestine”, then an Ottoman region in which only 10 per cent of the population was Jewish, “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

Era: British Military Administration (1917—1920)

Further reading
(Wikipedia) “Balfour Decloration” →

British capture of Jerusalem, 1917 [59 x 83 cm]

Source of image: British capture of Jerusalem, 1917
Embroidery: Janet Jameel Hamad [Silwad], Amman

After the Allied occupation of Jerusalem in 1917, and until the Treaty of Sevres had been signed, Ottoman territories came under Allied military control, commanded by General Edmund Allenby.

Era: British Military Administration (1917—1920)

Embroidery sampler [59 x 27 cm]

Source of image:Traditional design
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

Traditional patterns used in Palestinian embroidery are designs of geometric shapes, but also include designs which were most familiar to Palestinian women as impressions of their daily surroundings. These patterns symbolize good health, hope, prosperity and protection, among other attributes of positive beliefs.

Era: British Military Administration (1917—1920)

British Mandate (1920—1948)

1920 The League of Nations ‘awards’ Britain the Mandate of Palestine.

1920 Increased Jewish immigration and settlement with British support.

1936 — 1939 Palestinian Arab Revolt against British authorities, protesting increasing Jewish immigration.

1940 — 1948 Zionist terrorism and sabotage against the British authorities.

1947 UN Partition Plan to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.

1947 — 1949 Ethnic cleansing of more than 700,000 Palestinians by Zionists – The Nakba (Catastrophe).

1948 Zionist declaration of the State of Israel.

1948 UN General Assembly Resolution 194 declaring right of return to their homes or compensation for Palestinian refugees.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, 1922 [59 x 106 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/1kv1abm3
Embroidery: Hejar Abu Saleem [Ajjur district of Hebron] Baqa'a Refugee Camp. Amman Jordan

In 1922, the newly-formed League of Nations decided the fate of the former Ottoman Empire. It ratified British control of Palestine in the form of a ‘mandate’. This document required Britain to lead Palestine towards independence, and create a ”national home” for Jews, and incorporated the wording of the 1917 Balfour Declaration.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Postage stamp [59 x 36 cm]

Source of image: Postage stamp of Palestine
Embroidery: Janet Jameel Hamad, Amman, Jordan [Jerusalem]

The Palestine postage stamp had English, Arabic and Hebrew text. Hebrew was given equal status to Arabic and English even though the Jewish population was only around 10 per cent. The special treatment of that population was written into the terms of the Mandate with the Balfour Declaration.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Tahriri embroidery [59 x 33 cm]

Source of image:Traditional design
Embroidery: Amari Women's Group Ramallah, Palestine

An example of tahriri embroidery with traditional cross stitch. The tahriri sample here has been stitched by the Amari Women’s Group in Ramallah. The Women’s Child Care Society in Bet Jala is maintaining the traditional Bethlehem tahriri stitching by training local women to produce embroidered items for the tourist market, providing income for women working from home. Tahriri stitching is also known as couching, and is used to preserve golden threads used in the decoration of church raiments.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Palestinian henna party [59 x 112 cm]

Source of image:Traditional design
Sketch: Amal Abu Hussain [Bir Seb’a] Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Ruba Al Behery [Bir Seb’a], Gaza

Palestinian wedding ceremonies start the night before the wedding day, when women from the bride’s family and her friends gather to sing, dance, and apply temporary tattoos with henna, a plant dye. Older women decorate the skin of the bride and her guests with designs that often take hours to complete. Decorations put on the bride’s legs represent the return of the dove to Noah, as evidence that the flood’s destruction was over. The women wear traditional, hand-embroidered dresses, with that of the bride being the most beautiful.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Palestinian wedding [59 x 158 cm]

Source of image:Traditional design
Embroidery: Mothers’ Embroidery Group, Al Deheishe Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, Palestine

This panel displays a typical Palestinian country wedding with its rituals, dabkeh folk dance, the bride on a horse, and traditional music. The dabkeh dance is characteristic of the whole of the Levant, with the music and the dance steps differing slightly from place to place. Palestinian cuisine is the cuisine of the Levant – msakhan, maftoul, kibbeh, hoummous, and mansaf, for example – which have become very widely known and appreciated.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

‘Mawtini’ (My Homeland), 1930s-96 [59 x 87 cm]

Source of image: Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Design: Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Jamela al-Bura’ai [Kawkaba], Gaza, Palestine

‘Mawtini’ is a popular poem written by the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Tuqan. In the 1930s it was set to music composed by the Lebanese composer Mohammed Flayfel. It served as Palestine’s de facto national anthem until 1996, when it was officially replaced by ‘Fida’i’.

Murad Swaity, Mawtini

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

The Palestinian Arab Revolt, 1936-1939 [59 x 83 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Naama al Awawdah [Es Samu], Khalil District, Palestine

The Arab Revolt in Palestine between 1936 and 1939 was a nationalist uprising against the British administration. The revolt began on 19th April 1936 with a national strike throughout Palestine which continued until 12th October. This demanded Arab independence and an end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchase. The general strike lasted from April to October 1936 and initiated a violent, peasant-led resistance movement in 1937. White and black kufiyahs were worn for the first time as a symbol of steadfastness. The rebellion was brutally suppressed. Over ten percent of the adult male Palestinian Arab population between 20 and 60 was killed, wounded, imprisoned or exiled. The revolt caused the British to give crucial support to pre-state Zionist militias.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Palestine population, 1918-1947 [59 x 66 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK

This panel shows the growth in the population of Palestine between 1918 and 1947, and the gradually increasing proportion of Jewish immigrants, referred to as ‘Jewish Palestinians’ during the British Mandate.

Data sources:-

1918: Palestinians – S. Abu Sitta (pers. com.); Jews – J. McCarthy (1990).

1919: Palestinians and Jews – R. Shamir (2000).

1920: Palestinians and Jews – S. Abu Sitta (pers. com.)

1921: Palestinians and Jews – S Abu Sitta (pers. com.)

1922-1946: Total population and Jews – S. Abu Sitta (2010).

1947: Palestinians – S. Abu Sitta (pers. com.); Jews – S. Della Pergola (2001).

Acknowledgements: The Palestinian History Tapestry Project is indebted to Professor Salman Abu Sitta for help in compiling the data on which the embroidered infographic has been based.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Olive harvest [59 x 110 cm]

Design: Hamada Atallah [Al Quds] Al Quds, Palestine
Embroidery: Dowlat Abu Shaweesh [Ne’ane], Ramallah, Palestine

Olives and olive oil symbolize Palestinian land, identity and culture. The olive tree is seen by many Palestinians as a symbol of nationality and connection to the land, particularly due to the slow growth and longevity of the tree. The destruction of Palestinian olive trees has become a feature of the Israeli occupation, with regular reports of damage and destruction by Israeli settlers.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Safad [59 x 96 cm]

Source of image: Designed by Fatma Abu Owda [Hamama], Gaza, Palestine
Design: Fatma Abu Owda [Hamama], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Awatif Bader [Karatiyya], Gaza

Sponsored by: Sabbagh Family, UK

Safad is one of the oldest cities in historic Palestine, and has been home to adherents of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Archaeological excavations of the Crusader castle there uncovered remains of an Iron Age settlement.

THE PLEA (Sue Sabbagh UK)

To find me you must stop the noise;
Silence the guns and the tanks,
The shouted orders
And the shouts of defiance,
The screaming and weeping,
And listen.

My voice is very weak.
You must try to hear it.
You will have to come close
And pick away the tumbled stones
Carefully, gently.

When you find me, lift me out,
Help me to breathe;
Set my broken limbs
But don’t think it’s enough
To give me back a fragile existence.

[Verses on the panel in Arabic]

I need food and water,
I need a home that will last,
Health and hope and work to do.
I need love.

You must embrace me
And take me to your heart.
“My name is Peace”.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

The Hand of Fatima/Mary/Miriam [59 x 48 cm]

Source of image: Selected from traditional designs by Riham Khalil
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

This image is familiar in three religions. Jews refer to it as the hand of Miriam, to commemorate the sister of Moses and Aaron. Levantine Christians refer to it as the hand of Mary, mother of Jesus. In Islam, it is known as the hand of Fatima, so named to commemorate Fatima Zahra, Muhammad’s daughter.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Land ownership, 1946 [59 x 36 cm & 59 x 33 cm]

Source of image: Disappearing Palestine
Embroidery: Almaza Al-Helou [Al A'abasiyeh], Al Amari Ramallah, Palestine

Under the British Mandate, land purchases and Jewish migration increased. In 1946, Jews owned 7 per cent of the land of Palestine.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

UN partition plan, 1947 [_59 x 36 cm]

Source of image: Disappearing Palestine
Embroidery: Embroidery: Almaza Al-Helou [Al A'abasiyeh], Al Amari Ramallah, Palestine

In 1947 the UN Partition Plan allocated the Jewish population in Palestine 55 per cent of the country, including much of the best agricultural land. Unsurprisingly, this division was rejected by the Palestinian population and by neighbouring Arab states. Jerusalem was intended as a ‘corpus separatum’ [‘separated body’] by the Partition Plan, which conferred a special status on it due to its shared religious significance.

Era: British Mandate (1920—1948)

Sumud-Steadfastness, from 1948

Sumud – Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

“The list of Palestinian losses is depressing…. That Palestinians do not give up is precisely what is so historic and inspiring about their resistance. For more than 100 years, the Palestinian people have been resisting and fighting for Palestine, holding on to what they have left of it, clinging on to the hope of one day reclaiming what they have lost.

Attention is often given to the armed resistance, but far more numerous, diverse, and long-standing is the unarmed Palestinian resistance. Labour strikes, boycotts, legal actions, political and community organising, demonstrations, marches, hunger strikes, passing the keys of demolished homes from one generation to the next, the formation of Palestinian societies and cultural groups in exile and refugee camps, lobbying politicians across the world, building creative local and sustainable economies, and everyday acts of resistance are all peppered throughout the history of the struggle.

Resistance also comes in the form of cultural productions that narrate and communicate the suffering of Palestinians; intellectual and academic studies that illuminate the history and lived realities of Palestinians; the development of political manifestoes and ideologies that pave a path forward towards freedom and liberation”.

From: Mark Muhannad Ayyash. ‘Fighting for Palestine’. Al Jazeera Opinion, 10 Oct 2020.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine, 1948 [59 x 85 cm]

Source of image: Salman Abu Sitta
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

Palestinians refer to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine as the Nakba (Catastrophe), illustrated by these maps. One shows the hundreds of Palestinian villages before 1948, the other map shows refugee camps in which expelled Palestinians were forced to live in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. The maps are based on meticulous documentation by Salman Abu-Sitta.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The Lone Refugee [59 x 38 cm]

Source of image: Ahmad Canaan. Artist
Design: Ahmad Canaan, Tamra, Palestine
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

This embroidery is based on a painting by the distinguished Palestinian artist Ahmad Canaan, born in 1965 in Tamra. He now lives in Jerusalem, and his painting of the lone refugee symbolises the Nakba [Catastrophe].

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

UN Resolution 194, 1948 [59 x 45 cm]

Source of image: United Nations General Assembly
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 [53] on 11th December 1948 declared the right of Palestinians, who had be displaced by Zionist forces, to return to their homes or to receive compensation for their losses.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The Right of Return

Source of image: Design by Fatma Abu Owda [Hamama], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Hanan Al-Behery [Karatiyya], Gaza

In the hope of returning to their homes, Palestinian refugees retain the keys to the houses from which they were forcefully displaced during the Nakba in 1948. The key symbolizes the inheritance of successive Palestinian generations of the right of return to their homes and their rejection of the policy of resettlement. This embroidery illustrates the right of return by featuring images of over 30 house keys of different shapes and sizes which Palestinian families have retained over the generations.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Disappearing Palestine [59 x 33 cm]

Source of image: Disappearing Palestine
Embroidery: Almaza Al-Helou [Al A'abasiyeh], Ramallah, Palestine

In March 1948, the Haganah and other Zionist militias began the forcible expulsion of 250,000 Palestinians, destroying their communities. The British Mandate of Palestine ended on 15 May 1948 and Jewish leaders declared the establishment of the State of Israel. War broke out and Israeli forces defeated the Arab armies. At the time that the armistice agreements had been signed in 1949, over 750,000 Palestinians had been displaced and 531 Palestinian villages and 11 urban neighbourhoods had been destroyed. The West Bank and East Jerusalem came under the control of Jordan while the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian control. In June 1967, Israel launched the Six Day War and occupied these territories, together with the Golan Heights in Syria.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

UNRWA founded, 1949 [59 x 85 cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/3htl75um
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Karema Nasser [Barbara], Gaza, Palestine

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) was established in 1949. The following year, it began providing nutritional, health, and educational services to about 750,000 Palestine refugees displaced as a result of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Today, due to lack of international support, UNRWA struggles, to provide services to over 5 million Palestinian refugees.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Pal. Liberation Organisation, 1964- [59 x 75 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964 and has been the embodiment of the Palestinian national movement. It is an umbrella organization comprised of numerous organizations of the resistance movement, political parties, popular organizations, and independent personalities and figures from all sectors of Palestinian life. The Arab Summit in 1974 recognized the PLO as the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”. Since then the PLO has represented Palestine at the United Nations, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and in many other fora.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Check point, 1967- [59 x 85 cm]

Source of image: Hannah Ryggen tapestries
Design: Hannah Ryggen (Norway)
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Karema Nasser [Barbara], Gaza, Palestine

During the 1967 war, Israel occupied what remained of Palestine. Hundreds of military checkpoints were established in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and in Gaza. These are used to entrench Israel’s occupation of all of historic Palestine. Movement of Palestinians is restricted within the occupied Palestinian territory, with dire consequences for access to education, health care, and the economy. The design of this panel is influenced by “The Death of Dreams”, a tapestry woven by Hannah Ryggen at the time of the German occupation of Norway during the second World War.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Popular resistance [59 x 102 cm]

Source of image: Design by Ibrahim Muhtadi
Design: Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain, [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Khawla Dahrouj [Bir Seb’a] Gaza, Palestine

In his 2011 book Popular Resistance in Palestine, Mazin Qumsiyeh documents the many ways in which the indigenous people of Palestine have resisted oppression – by the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, and the Zionist colonial project. Non-violent resistance has been far more common and enduring than violent resistance. It has involved petitions, strikes, demonstrations, civil disobedience, non-cooperation, boycott, divestment and sanctions. Many Palestinian towns and villages have organised resistance initiatives, but the media have ignored most of these. This panel includes the names of some that have been reported.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

“Handala”, born 1969 [59 x 41 cm]

Source of image: Handala.org
Design: Naji al-Ali [Palestine]
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK
Supported by: Chalmers children UK

Despite the suffering endured by Palestinians since the occupation of their homeland, steadfastness and hope for justice survive. These qualities are symbolised in the determined stance of ‘Handala’, a creation of the Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali. In Arabic, ‘handala’ means ‘medicinal bitter desert fruit’. According to Naji, “Handala was born aged ten – the age Naji was when he was expelled from his village, Al-Shajara, in 1948. Handala will remain that age and will become normal again only when the Palestinian homeland is restored. Naji was assassinated in 1987 in London.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Land Day inaugurated, 30 March 1976 [59 x 131 cm]

Embroidery: Haneeyeh Abu Saleh, Galilee, Palestine

Land Day, March 30, is an annual day of commemoration. In 1976, in response to the Israeli government’s announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for state purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns, from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested. This was the first time since 1948 that Palestinian Arabs in Israel had organized a response to Israeli policies as a Palestinian national collective. Land Day is marked not only by Palestinian citizens of Israel, but also by Palestinians all over the world.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

International Women’s Day, 8 Mar 1981 [59 x 45]

Source of image: The Palestinian poster project archives
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

International Women’s Day, in Palestine and the rest of the world, is marked each year in early March. Palestinian women have participated in every stage of the Palestinian struggle for well over a century. They have stood side-by-side with Palestinian men, defying the Israeli occupation. They have had extra responsibilities within Palestinian society to struggle to advance their rights, their daughters’ rights, and women’s roles in the community.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Sabra and Shatilia remembered, 16-18 Sept 1982 [59 x 79 cm]

Source of image: Design by Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Khawla Rubi [Yibne], Gaza, Palestine

On 16 September 1982, right-wing Lebanese militiamen allied to Israel perpetrated the massacre of an estimated 2,000 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in South Beirut. Those murdered were mostly women, children and elderly, and many of the victims’ bodies were found mutilated and raped. Soon after the killing began, Israeli forces surrounded Sabra and Shatila and provided bulldozers that were used to dispose of the bodies of the victims’. Years on, the Sabra and Shatila massacre continues to be commemorated, marking one of the most traumatizing events in modern Palestinian history. Remembering also, the lesser known siege of Tel al-Zaatar (Hill of Thyme) in 1976. As part of a wider campaign to expel Palestinians from Lebanon, a siege of a fortified UNRWA administered Palestinian refugee camp in northeastern Beirut, was carried out by Christian Lebanese militias led by The Lebanese Front. Approximately 50,000 Palestinians lived in Tel al-Zaatar refugee camp and an estimated 4,000 were massacred.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Home schooling, 1987—1992 [59 x 86 cm]

Source of image: Design by Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Khawala Dahrouj [Bir Seb’a] Gaza, Palestine

This panel shows school children being taught at home in Gaza after the Israeli occupation forces had cut electricity supplies and closed schools in response to the first Palestinian Intifada [uprising]. The Intifada, which began in 1987, was a protest against Israeli “beatings, shootings, killings, house demolitions, uprooting of trees, deportations, extended imprisonments, and detentions without trial”. It involved civil disobedience consisting of general strikes, boycotts, of Israeli institutions, an economic boycott and widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli army.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Gaza fishermen and gunboats, 1967- [59 x 109 cm]

Source of image: Design by Adham Jaber [Hirbiya], Gaza, Palestine
Design: Adham Jaber [Hirbiya], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Shireen Fouad Atallah [Gaza, Palestine] Germany

The Mediterranean Sea has, for centuries, yielded its fruits to Gaza fishermen, and fish has been a mainstay of the Gazan diet. Israeli gunships hinder Palestinians fishing off the Gaza coast. This has severely affected both the work of the fishermen and food security for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of people are currently dependent on Gaza’s fishing industry. Israeli naval forces have harassed Palestinian fishing boats that have dared to venture too far from the Gaza coast. Israeli gunboats have made hundreds of attacks on Palestinian fishing boats, forcing them back to shore, detaining those on board, and in some cases sinking the boats.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Parental protection, 30 Sept 2000 [59 x 70]

Source of image: BBC News
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim al Ahmed [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

On Saturday 30 September 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada, 12-year-old Muhammad Al-Durrah was shot dead at the Netzarim Junction, south of Gaza, as he took shelter with his father, Jamal. The image of a father trying to protect his son was captured on camera and sent shockwaves across the world. Muhammad’s father could be seen signalling in an attempt to stop the firing. The result was a burst of gunfire that put a premature end to Muhammad’s life and wounded his father.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Faris O’deh, Standing Alone, 8 Nov 2000 [59 x 74cm]

Source of image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faris_Odeh
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim al Ahmed [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

On 29 October 2000, during the second month of the Second Intifada, a French photojournalist photographed 15-year-old Faris Odeh from the Zeitoun quarter in Gaza City confronting an Israeli tank with a stone at the Karni crossing into the Gaza Strip. Ten days later, on 8 November, Odeh was again throwing stones at the Karni crossing when he was fatally wounded by Israeli troops. The boy and the image subsequently assumed iconic status as a symbol of opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The Separation Wall initiated, 2002- [59 x 76cm]

Source of image: https://tinyurl.com/7qf89tld
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim al Ahmed [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

Since June 2002, Israel has separated Palestinians from their lands and relatives by constructing a wall that stretches for more than 700 kilometers, annexing Palestinian land in the West Bank. On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that construction of the wall was “contrary to international law” because it involves the destruction and confiscation of Palestinian property and imposes severe restrictions on Palestinian movement. Israel claims that the separation wall is necessary for its security. Palestinians use the wall as an artist’s canvas.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions movement inaugurated, 2005 — [59 x 96 cm]

Source of image: BDS Movement
Embroidery: Haya Al-Saadi [Al- Lyd], Ramallah, Palestine

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Campaign is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call for restrictive measures against Israel urges compliance with international law. BDS is now a vibrant global movement made up of unions, academic associations, churches and grassroots movements across the world. BDS challenges international inaction on behalf of Palestinian rights and against Israel’s occupation.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Gaza rooftops [59 x 106 cm]

Source of image: Design by Adham Jaber [Hirbiya], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Hekmat Ashour [Gaza], Gaza

This panel features products of Gaza – oranges, dates, fish and earthenware pots – and the 12th century Sayed al-Hashim Mosque (Masjid as-Sayed Hashim). It is one of the largest and oldest mosques in Gaza, located in the ad-Darraj Quarter of the Old City, off al-Wehda Street.

Long ago in Gaza

To have lived in Gaza is to have loved Gaza. In 1969 and 1970, when I was in my early 20s, I worked for two years in the UNRWA Palestinian refugee camp in Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. It was one the most remarkable and enlightening times of my life. The people were among the most generous, loving and fun people I have ever known.

The land along the length and across the breadth of The Strip was cultivated with every fruit and vegetable imaginable. The soil was lovingly tended by the farmers and their families with what little they had to work with. The sea was plentiful with its fruits. Small family-owned fishing boats could be seen on the horizon all day, and at night, with their lights, they were known as ‘the road to Cairo’. The Gaza Strip was a bustling, busy place with a food market, shops and falafel stalls, and wonderful restaurants with delicious Palestinian cuisine. The beach, with its sparkling yellow sand, was used by all to eat al fresco and spend lazy afternoons sleeping in the sun.

The Strip was under military occupation by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) at that time, following the IDF’s attack on Egypt via Gaza in June 1967. By 1969, the Palestinian people had picked themselves up and had begun to accommodate to the new reality of military occupation. The darker side of life came after 6pm every day when the whole of the Gaza Strip was placed under curfew. The IDF occupation, with its half-tracks, tanks and guns roamed the streets of The Strip like prowling predators. The night and darkness gave up sounds of rolling and roaring tanks and of shooting and bombing. Flares were used to search for anyone who dared to venture out into the streets. The occasional dog bark or human yell would be heard. Of course, we who worked for the United Nations were not subject to the curfew and were allowed to go out at night to visit friends, and we certainly did so. Our UN-registered VW Combi was stopped many times by jumpy, trigger-happy young soldiers who, with shaky hands, took our UN passes to check our permits. The beach – sparkling by day- -was patrolled at night by Israeli soldiers. Every evening, along the whole of its length, the beach was raked by half-tracks. Any footprints discovered by the IDF on this nocturnally forbidden land would lead to attempts to track down the trespassers.

Over the half century since I lived in Gaza, the Palestinian people have been crushed time and time again by Israel – their buildings destroyed, their homes made unliveable, and their streets made dangerous and unpassable. Since 2007, Israel and Egypt have imposed a siege, with the result that there are shortages of food, medicines, water, electricity and fuel, and yet, like a phoenix from the fire, Gaza people rise. Admire them, salute them, and demand their right to live peacefully in their land.

Jan Chalmers, Founder, Palestinian History Tapestry Project. (2021

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Siege of Gaza, 2007 — [59 x 72 cm]

Source of image: Al Jazeera. Life Under Siege
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Safaa Abu-Dalu [Gaza], Gaza

Israel has imposed movement restrictions on the Gaza Strip since the early 1990’s. Restrictions intensified in June 2007 following the election of Hamas in 2006. Israel then imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza, citing security concerns. Despite relaxation of some blockade-related restrictions in recent years, two million Palestinians in Gaza remain ‘locked in’, denied free access both to the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and the outside world. The blockade has undermined the living conditions in the coastal enclave and fragmented the oPt and its economic and social fabric. The isolation of Gaza has been exacerbated by restrictions imposed by the Egyptian authorities on Rafah, its only passengers’ crossing.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Gaza under siege, 2007- [59 x 35 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK.

“Greetings to the one who shares with me an attention to the drunkenness of light, the light of the butterfly, in the blackness of this tunnel.” Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Woman in rubble, Gaza assault, 2008-9 [59 x 88 cm]

Source of image: Peter Rhoades, Artist
Design: Peter Rhoades, Oxford-UK
Embroidery: Basma Al-Natoor [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

On 27 December 2008, Israel launched a 22-day military assault on Gaza, killing more than 1400 Palestinians and rendering homeless thousands who had left their homes before these were destroyed. This new pattern of Palestinian suffering continues decades after the trauma of the Nakba in 1948. The embroidery is based on a drawing by Peter Rhoades, an Oxford-based artist, and illustrates a women sitting on the pile of rubble that was once her home.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Homeless family, Gaza assault, 2008—9 [59 x 92 cm]

Source of image: Peter Rhoades, Artist
Design: Peter Rhoades, Oxford-UK
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon

On 27 December 2008, Israel launched a 22-day military assault on Gaza, killing more than 1400 Palestinians and rendering homeless thousands who had left their homes before these were destroyed. This new pattern of Palestinian suffering continues decades after the trauma of the Nakba in 1948. The embroidery is based on a drawing by Peter Rhoades, an Oxford-based artist, and illustrates a family looking for their belongings in the rubble of Shejayiya, a neighbourhood of Gaza city at the eastern border of Gaza with Israel.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Destruction of Bedouin villages [59 x 72 cm]

Source of image: From a painting by Bashir Abu-Rabia'
Design: Bashir Abu-Rabia (Naqab)
Embroidery: Naama al Awawdah [Es Samu], Khalil District.

This panel draws attention to the cycle of destruction and reconstruction of many Bedouin villages, including Al-Arakeeb, Aum Al-Heran, and threatened Khan Al-Ahmar in the Jordan Valley. These villages have been destroyed by the Israeli Army in a policy of further ethnic cleansing to establish Jewish-only settlements. The panel is inspired by a painting by Bashir Abu-Rabia’, the first Bedouin artist in the Negev, who began featuring Palestinian embroidery in his paintings in 1969.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Palestine becomes UN Non-Member Observer State 2012 [59 x 85]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

On 29 November 2012, the General Assembly of the United Nations accorded Palestine non-Member Observer State status by an overwhelming majority — 138 in favour to 9 against (Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Panama, Palau, United States), with 41 abstentions.

The meaning of the Pan-Arab colours of the Palestinian flag come from the poem ‘al-Fakhr Hillis’ (Boast) by Safi Al-Din Al-Hilli (1278-1349). Safi was a famous 13th century poet born in Hillah, in modern day Iraq.

“Red are our swords, Green are our fields, Black are our battles, White are our deeds”

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Sumud (Steadfastness)

Source of image: Samar Alhallaq [Majdal], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Samar Alhallaq [Majdal], Gaza, Palestine
Supported by: Alhallaq Family, Gaza, Palestine

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails use hunger strikes to protest against prolonged administrative detention without trial. This embroidery, based on an image by an unnamed illustrator, was disseminated widely among activists on social networks in an expression of solidarity with the mass hunger strike. The image endeavoured to raise awareness of the suffering of Palestinian women prisoners and their steadfast determination to attain their rights. The Arabic lettering reads ‘Samedoun’ (‘We are steadfast’). The Hebrew lettering reads ‘Shabas’, the Israeli Prison Service. The panel was stitched in Oxford by Samar Alhallaq in 2013. She was killed by Israeli shelling in Gaza in 2014.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Boys on the beach, Gaza assault, 16 July 2014 [59 x 80 cm]

Source of image: Amir Schiby, Artist, Israel
Design: Amir Schiby, Artist, Israel
Sketch: Shaymaa Abu-Hasanain [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Mayyada Abu Sitta [Bir Seb’a], Gaza, Palestine

During the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza, Ahed Atef Bakr, Zakaria Ahed Bakr, Mohamed Ramez Bakr, and Ismael Mohamed Bakr were playing on the Gaza beach and were killed by fire from an Israeli gunboat. Israeli artist Amir Schiby created an image of the boys to honour their tragically short lives. It depicts a lone soccer ball in the surf, with the shadows of children playing nearby. Schiby wrote on Facebook that the image was created “as a tribute to all children living in war zones.”

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Deaths from Gaza hostilities, 2000-2016 [59 x125 cm]

Source of image: Statistics provided by B’Tselem, Israel
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK

This embroidered infographic displays data on all 6691 Palestinian and 228 Israeli deaths from Gaza-related hostilities between October 2000 and August 2016. The first column (black) displays deaths of Israeli military personnel and definite and possible Palestinian combatants. The other columns display deaths of civilians, from left to right, adult men (deep gray), youths aged 10-17 (mid-gray), women (pale gray), and children under the age of 10 (white).

Acknowledgments:

The Palestinian History Tapestry Project is indebted to B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) for providing these data.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Illegal colonisation of Jerusalem and West Bank, 1967-2017 [59 x 125 cm]

Source of image: Statistics provided by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and B’Tselem, Israel
Embroidery: Jan Chalmers, UK

In 1967, Israel illegally colonised Jerusalem and the West Bank. The panel shows the gradually increasing proportion of illegal colonists in these parts of Palestine.

Sponsored by: Chalmers Family, UK

Data sources:-

1967, 1977, and 1987:

United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD)

1997-2017:

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics; and B’Tselem

Acknowledgements: The Palestinian History Tapestry Project is indebted to Abla Sami (Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University), and B’Tselem (the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories https://www.btselem.org/) for help in assembling the data represented in this panel.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Disappearing Palestine [59 x 34 cm]

Source of image: Disappearing Palestine
Embroidery: Almaza Al-Helou [Al A'abasiyeh] Ramallah, Palestine

Since occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in 1967, Israel has unilaterally declared tens of thousands of hectares of so-called ‘State Land’ for Israeli settlements. In 2005, Israel closed its settlements in Gaza but has maintained its occupation there, controlling airspace, and access by land and sea. Israeli settlements, checkpoints, military zones, the separation wall and other access restrictions have turned the West Bank into a series of disconnected cantons. Over 520,000 Israeli Jews live in illegal settlements, flouting the provisions of the 4th Geneva Convention and international law. Successive Israeli governments have used economic incentives to encourage families and businesses to move to the illegal settlements.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The Great March of Return, 2018- [59 x 81 cm]

Source of image: Inspired from video, (see link below)
Design: Ibrahim Al Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Karema Nassar [Barbara], Gaza, Palestine

The Great March of Return, a series of protests at points near the fence between Gaza and Israel, began on 30 March 2018. The protests were initiated by Palestinian activists independently from Palestinian political factions. The protesters demand that Palestinian refugees and their descendants be allowed to return to the land from which they were displaced in 1948. Many non-violent protesters, including children, medics and journalists, were killed and maimed by Israeli snipers using live ammunition, creating life-long disabilities. The theft of militarily occupied Palestinian land for the use of Jewish Israeli settlers is still ongoing and continuous despite being in violation of international law.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

‘Jerusalem, you are beloved’ [59 x 105 cm]

Source of image: Design by Haroon Haj Amer, Drejat, Naqab
Design: Haroon Haj Amer, Drejat, Naqab
Embroidery: Yasmeen Haj Amer, Drejat, Naqab
Supported by: Haj Amer, Family, Drejat, Naqab

Sponsored by: Haj Amer, Family, Drejat, Naqab

“You have a great place in our hearts. Oh Jerusalem, you are beloved.” From a poem by Lutfi Zaghloul.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The dove [59 x 42 cm]

Source of image: Mary Knoll Office for Global Concerns
Embroidery: Nawal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad [Tabariyeh], Ein al-Hilweh, Lebanon

The dove has been a symbol of peace for thousands of years in many different cultures, including Palestinian culture. It was Pablo Picasso who made the dove a modern symbol of peace when he used it on a poster for the World Peace Congress in 1949.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Olive branch [59 x 40 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Iman Shehaby [Tabariyeh], Ein el Hilweh, Lebanon

The olive branch, a symbol of peace.

Nothing symbolizes Palestinian land, identity and culture as olives and olive oil do. Olive trees are the hallmarks of national pride and the veritable heart of Palestine’s agricultural economy

Palestinian olive oil production contributes millions annually to some of the poorest, most disadvantaged families and communities in the occupied West Bank. It is a primary source of revenue for the economy and nearly half of all agricultural land use is devoted to olive trees. As one of the territory’s major exports, the extent to which olives and olive oil contribute to employment opportunities and income for 100,000 Palestinian farming families cannot be overstated.

Yet, the Israeli government deliberately prevents access to land where olive farms are located.

Physical barriers such as checkpoints and road blocks have restricted the free movement of people and goods within the West Bank and obstructed access for Palestinian agricultural produce, including olives and olive oil, to internal, Israeli and international market.

Settler attacks and harassment against Palestinian olive farmers are common.

The Israeli government overlooks settler violence against the groves and their owners, which includes stealing their fruits, torching or uprooting tens of thousands of trees, and attacking farmers to intimidate them, and prevent them from harvesting their olive crops.

It’s a tragedy that the olive branch – a symbol of peace – has become a casualty of settler violence.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

The key for return [59 x 37 cm]

Source of image: PHT design
Embroidery: Hejar Abu Saleem [Ajjur, district of Hebron], Amman Jordan

“One lovely word, and two lovely words, my homeland”

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

“On this land”, Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian National Poet [59 × 102 cm]

Source of image: Design by Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Design: Ibrahim Muhtadi [Al Quds], Gaza, Palestine
Embroidery: Hekmat Ashour [Gaza], Gaza, Palestine

“We have on this land that which makes this life worth living”. Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian National Poet.

Poetry is popular in all Arab societies. Palestinian families sometimes compete in reciting classical poems, for example, by concluding a verse with a letter from which it is difficult for the next person to continue. Mahmoud Darwish’s poem “On this land those who deserve to live” is well known to Palestinians.

Recitation by: Mahmoud Darwish

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Future of the Palestinian History Tapestry

Development of the Palestinian History Tapestry

Palestinian embroiderers will continue to be commissioned to stitch additional illustrative panels relevant to events and themes, from the Neolithic period to the present. The Palestinian Subcommittee for Panel Image Selection, will remain responsible for prioritizing additional images for stitch.

The Palestinian History Tapestry is owned by the Palestinian History Tapestry Project. Images and texts are copyright of the Palestinian History Tapestry Project.

Where not otherwise indicated, material in the Palestinian History Tapestry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Era: Future of the Project