Palestinian Rights in Lebanon
In a time where everything is computerized how can
we still find a legal document that is filled manually?
All personal information in Palestinian traveler passports
are still written by human hand writing and not computerized.
Palestinians have no national passport until now, instead they
have refugees travel document such as Palestinians refugees
residing in, Jordan, Syria, Egypt,Lebanon.
Palestinian has limited rights in Lebanon. One of the most
important is that they can’t buy homes; they can’t work in
government corporations where theydo not hold any positions
in the governmental business. In addition, Palestinians have
no medical insurance and they cannot join the military service,
and they do not participate in elections since they are not allowed
to vote.
Palestinian people complained a lot, and they are still complaining,
and they will still complain as long as the situation will stay at is.
Who is listening?? Who should they direct?? Who can do the change??
Who is responsible for this change? Is it the Palestinian government
job or is it the Lebanese government job to help Palestinians??If the
Palestinian situation remained the same would Palestinian still be
treated in the same way with the same available rights?
All these issues will be raised separately in the upcoming posts.
For more information about Palestinian rights,visit UN human rights.
Um El-Ibas Al Falsteni - Palestinian Patterns
Widad Kawar - Costume Collectable
WidadKawar a well know name that is heard frequently , WidadKawar is a Palestinian girl that grew up in Bethlehem and Ramallah two cities that were treasure of heritage and tradition style. Both cities were weaving and embroidery centers, hermotivation started from traditionalclothing that was given to her as a present and from there here her interest in textiles and costume collection increased. Widad started collecting costumes and gather information about customer’s owners, in addition, she added accessories, belts, head cover, household items to the costume collections for she believed that collections reserves heritage.Now days,WidadKawar own the largest collection of costumes, her world acclaimed collection of costumes that is the considered to be the largest in the Middle East; it’s also exhibited in many countries.
From WidadKawar was my inspiration to write about the Palestinian embroidery and to study the variations of pattern. Palestinian embroidery is being considered as an artful expression of Palestinian identity.Palestinian embroidery was influenced by various empires such as (Egypt, Rome, and byzantine).The art of embroidery is common to many cultures all over the world; however, Palestinian embroidery is exceptional for its striking red and black complex patterns and for its cultural and social meaning.People who traveled to Palestine admired the amusing variety of costumes worn, particularly the one’s worn by the village women (the fellaheen), they also admired the beauty of Palestinian textiles done by these village’swomen.Until 1940, Palestinian costumes reflected women’s social status, marital status, and origin. This information wasnoticed from fabric, color, cut, and embroidery of layout.Although the dresses varied in patterns and colors still they shared the loose-fitting cut allowing freedom of movement.These traditional Palestinian women dressesare called “thoub”;they are made by stitching each panel individually and then sewing them all together.Palestinian embroidery shows stitch by stitch, reveals complexity of color and pattern, represents an identity that is passed down from one generation to another through mother to daughter.
Palestinians embroidery is made of blocks of patterns, patterns that are made of both design of geometric shapes and designs which are familiar to Palestinian women as impressions of surrounding.The earliest embroidery combines mainly geometric and abstract pattern (triangles, stars, stripes, squares, and tablets).These patterns usually appeared on chest,sides,and sleeves. The chest is the main attraction of dress. It’s believed that it protects the wearer from evil,badluck, poor health because these patterns symbolize good health,hope, prosperity, and protection.Depending on the region in Palestine, the patterns include representations of cypress tree, grapes, apple tree, cock, rainbow,roses,and birds of paradise.Additionally, geometric designs were given humorous names such as (foreign moon), (cows ege), (mill wheel), (crab), (moon with feathers), (oldman’s teeth), (bakers eye). As for the colors, the Colors were also derivedfrom berries and flowers.
We can find Palestinian embroidery on items such as table cloth, pillow cases, wallets, mobile covers, and cushions.
Personally, as a designer I think designers should participate in workshops with Palestinian embroidery and learn about their work and get inspired from their work. Fashion designers also should benefit from the beauty of this embroidery and these colorful patterns.I think some day and somewhere and someone will build a museum for these pieces, where everyone can come see, and admire the beauty of Palestinian costumes.
Mother of Palestinian Dresses
El Tatreeez kman FAN...
Palestinian has a rich and beautiful cultural heritage that has developed throughout its long history.
The embroidery done by Palestinians is considered the national art of Palestine; it is a language for expression. It first started in the 11th century for women to meet their economic needs and it continued until our daily time. Embroidery was an art with patterns, colors, and types of stitches passed through generations; it was handed from mother to daughter. Its popularity springs from both its beauty and its association with the Palestinian past. The created dense geometric pattern in deep red style makes it distinctly Palestinian.
The embroidery done by Palestinians is considered the national art of Palestine; it is a language for expression. It first started in the 11th century for women to meet their economic needs and it continued until our daily time. Embroidery was an art with patterns, colors, and types of stitches passed through generations; it was handed from mother to daughter. Its popularity springs from both its beauty and its association with the Palestinian past. The created dense geometric pattern in deep red style makes it distinctly Palestinian.
Embroidery was the principal decoration of rural women’s clothing. It was part of a village women’s daily routine and a meaning of showing off her personal skills and social identity. The patterns, colors, and the quality of the dress reflected women’s origin, social standing, marital status, and wealth. Although the technique is the same throughout the country, still each region has its own distinctive color and own style of embroidery characterized by a particular stitch. Such examples can be the Tatreez el Falahi (cross stitch embroidery), the Tahriri (couching stitch embroidery), and the Tashreem (patchwork).
For example technique of Bethlehem embroidery (tahriri couching stitch embroidery) is couching with silver, gold, and silk cord making floral and curvilinear patterns. (tahriri embroidery was used to make the front panel of wedding dresses , side panel of skirts , and the cufs of long traditional dresses. Another technique is tashreem ( patchwork) , it is used for adding luxurious embellishment to traditional Palestinian dresses.The patches are made of silk or satin, they are sewen onto the chest, skirt fonts, or sleeves.The patch work with zigzag edges was called teshreem and was mainly done in Bethlehem.
Embroidered pieces can be found in homes of most Palestinian, in additions it’s also used in items such as accessories, dresses, evening bags, cushion covers, runners, belts, mobile covers, wallets and ceremonial dresses. Cross stitch embroidery is given as gifts and worn by Palestinian worldwide on festive occasions.
Skill, accuracy, patience, time and artistic senses are all needed for this art work. Having the final picture in mind and then drawing each line considering each color and leaving a space and place all these preparations are done. Finally, the Needle work starts, stitches one after one, colored line, then another line, and another color. And that’s where the pattern starts and that’s where the tradition initiates and that’s where the art bursts.
