Annie's New Letters (& notes): 11/28/21

These images (on this blog post) are only a small sampling of the embroidered panels & information... Please go to original link to see the tapestry in full https://www.palestinianhistorytapestry.org/

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.

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)

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)

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)

Further reading
(Deborah Mullins) “Exploring Tahriri embroidery” →

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)

Further reading
(Wikipedia) “Arab Wedding” →

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)

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)

‘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)

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- 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.

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)

Further reading
(Oxford Human Rights Hub) “Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return in International Law” →
(United Nations) “194 (III). Palestine -- Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator” →

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)

“Handala”, born 1969
Size: 59 x 41 cm
Embroidered by: Jan Chalmers, UK
Inspired by art created by: Naji al-Ali [Palestine]
Sponsored by: Chalmers children UK

(A reminder from my dear friend, Nancy Harb Almendras: "Al Ali's little refugee boy will always have his backed turned until Palestine is free.")

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)

Further reading
(Palestinian journeys) “Land day 1976” →

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)

Further reading
(Wikipedia) “First Intifada” →

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)

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)

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.

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)

Further reading
(Zaytoun) “Plant a tree” →

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.

The Palestinian History Tapestry…

This is a charitable, not-for-profit project in support of Palestinian women: women who live an oppressed existence, who are poor, whose land has been taken from them; many whose families have lived for over half a century in refugee camps throughout the Middle East; women who, like any wife or mother, desperately want to take care of their families but face a daily struggle for survival.

The History Tapestry Project is empowering Palestinian women, enabling them to engage in income generation, whilst telling the story of the villages and towns, the life and heritage of their forebears, the indigenous people of Palestine, through beautiful, skilled embroidery in the Palestinian History Tapestry Project.

https://www.palestinianhistorytapestry.org/

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)