RAFIF ESLEEM

Gaza- Palestinian women struggling to survive due to Israel’s attacks and blockage on the Gaza Strip miss their lives that have been unfinished. They try to rebuild their life again and again amidst destruction and want to continue where they left off by burying their painful stories somewhere. Before Israel’s war on Gaza, they were interested in the art of embroidery and expressed their feeling through it but now they express their yearning for the past. They transform traditional embroidery into a powerful form of resistance and storytelling. Many projects were carried out in the Gaza Strip to preserve the rich heritage of Gaza's textile and embroidery traditions. However, they were left unfinished due to the war.  

“Traditional Palestinian embroidery is a sophisticated and precious art for Palestinian women,” said Laila Nasr, an employee of the “Lula” Miras Project that aimed to preserve traditional Palestinian embroidery. “Each embroidery design has a meaning and a story. The art of embroidery was a way for women to socialize. ”

The art of embroidery is like gold for Palestinian women, Laila Nasr emphasized. “They pass down this art to the next generation. It was a source of income for many Palestinian women; however, they lost their source of income after the war.”

“I want the war to end’

Since the start of the war, many women have lost their sources of income. They bear the heavy burden of securing a living along with caring for their children amidst suffocating economic conditions. Laila Nasr hopes the war will end soon. “I want the war to end so that the burden will be lifted from their shoulders, enabling them to think about how to return to their work and have their source of livelihood, encouraging them to be interested in this art and make embroidery designs again.”