One component of Palestinian culture that has fascinated me for quite some time is none other than tatreez, or Palestinian embroidery. As a lover of history, over the years I’ve gradually noticed my natural tendency to gravitate towards the traditional attires of any given culture I happen to be engulfed in at that moment. There may be various reasons as to why I was unaware of Palestinian embroidery for a long time, but its ‘discovery’ has enlightened me as well as allowed for comparisons with other traditional attires as well (ie: Incan, Mayan, African, and Russian traditional attires, to name a few). There is something about exploring the indigenous attire that really seems to transport you back in time by connecting you to the history and culture.

One of the popular designs of Palestinian dress is a long black thob (robe) with a mostly red flower pattern, along with a few other colors like blue, yellow, green, etc., which I saw worn quite often while in Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories. There are of course other dress colors and pattern designs which may be specific to different towns, such as Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, etc. For instance, I have seen robes in white and blue originating from Ramallah (some pictures can be seen here) but black was the only color I saw worn during my stay.

Why the interest in traditional Palestinian embroidery, and other traditional embroideries for that matter?

For starters, the amount of time and work that it takes to make these dresses, decorations and accessories—handmade at that—definitely gets my utmost respect. In a world where almost everything is mass produced somewhere in a foreign factory, the thought that someone made your garment by hand can be very humbling. Also, depending on which garment you may be wearing, it could reveal a lot about you by appearance alone (ie: age, marital status, family/tribe/town origin, etc.). Thus in this sense, traditional attire can sometimes feel more personal than our modern-day attire, at least in the sense that we often choose not to reveal certain personal information through our clothing. Of course, I note that that is not to say that all thobs worn are this ‘revealing,’ especially nowadays. One can wear a black thob with flower pattern all over it, without it revealing said personal details. I suppose it all depends on how ‘authentic’ you want your dress to be, and what you want it to reveal about you.

Also, a detail I like to remember is the fact that there are no differences between Christian and Muslim dress patterns, as they have never been religious in nature. Given that Christian and Muslim Palestinians have lived side by side for centuries, the religious difference had never made itself apparent via clothing. Christian elements do appear in Palestinian embroidery made specifically for the home, and as such many—if not most—Christian Palestinian homes tend to have embroidered scenes from Jesus’s life hanging up on their walls.


*Edit to the above*: apparently that statement might not be completely accurate, at least in terms of the garments made in the past (think early 1900's and prior). I've talked with several people confirming that the garment patterns were specific to different towns, and seeing as religion was a defining factor, it was also incorporated into the clothing. It might be that these days, the dresses are less specific—or not as intent on specifying religion seeing as the majority of Palestinians still living there are now Muslim, and thus perhaps making the Christian population almost "too insignificant" to differentiate from—rendering that distant and perhaps almost forgotten information somewhat confused and/or mixed up.

It has been a dream of mine to have my very own custom-made Palestinian thob someday. Being vertically-challenged prevents me from going to fairs and simply snatching any of the dresses they have on display, as much as I’ve wanted to. Therefore, it has been and will remain a goal I will work towards, since I have heard they can cost anywhere from $400-$600+ depending on the specifics. Yes it may seem like a high price, but knowing what it entails, it’s one which I will gladly pay when the time is right. J

Here are two pictures displaying Palestinian embroidery taken on June 18, 2011 at the Bethlehem Fair Trade Market and a list of some books on Palestinian embroidery, as well as websites of interest:

Books:

Art of Palestinian Embroidery by Laila El-Khalidi

Embroidery from Palestine by Shelagh Weir

Palestinian Costume by Shelagh Weir

Palestinian Embroidery Motifs: A Treasury of Stitches 1850-1950 by Margarita Skinner, Widad Kawar

Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Heritage by Widad Kawar

Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution by Hanan Munayyer

Traditional Palestinian Embroidery and Jewelry by Abed Al-Samih Abu Omar

Websites: 

http://palestinianembroider.tripod.com/

http://palestinecostumearchive.com/

http://www.palestineheritage.org/Costumes.htm

http://www.tatreez.net/

List of worldwide collections of Palestinian costumes: 

http://web.archive.org/web/20061114140432/www.palestinecostumearchive.org/collections.htm 

After spending 3 months in Jerusalem, it’s only natural that I’ve done and observed many things of both religious and secular natures. A byproduct of visiting for a substantial amount of time entailed observing the fashion trends of both Arabs and Israeli Jews, and reflecting on how, at least in some ways, they can be representative of culture and lifestyles.

One trend that sparked my attention involved make-up. A common trend I've seen during my stay—on both Arab and Israeli women-- is that of wearing one eyeshadow color on the eyelid and a different color eyeshadow/liner on the waterline/bottom lash. Clearly, it's one obvious way of wearing two different colors on your eyes at once. For some reason the bottom lash colors I've seen worn often happened to be bright blue. I’ve sometimes seen green, but very often bright blue or turquoise. Since I'm familiar with Arabic/Middle Eastern style make-up and have seen this trend in Arabic wedding and beauty magazines, it may be this influence at work on typical Jerusalemites. They might also be more up-to-date on the European trends than say, the US which—at least in my opinion—sometimes seems more resistant to and less adventurous with foreign fashion influences than other parts of the world.

Another make-up trend I've noticed is... 'straight' eyebrows. By that I mean eyebrows that are drawn/styled almost as a 'straight' line above your eye, instead of having an eyebrow that 'curves' above your eye. I'll admit I'm not a fan of this type of eyebrow, nor do I think it's very flattering, but I’ve definitely seen it a lot during my trip. I've seen it both on people and also in many popular Arab and Turkish-but-dubbed-in-Arabic TV shows. Why?! I have no clue... 

I was also surprised to see a lot of colored hair on Arab women because I assumed it would be deemed too provocative (given it is a more conservative society), especially when the most popular color at the moment happens to be… red. I knew blonde is (and always has been?!) also popular (gah!), but red is what I saw the most, worn by both stylish older women and younger ladies. They sure proved me wrong! I'll admit I often rejoiced when I saw just natural, super black long hair... but I’ll have to say that part of the fun of being a woman is the ability to play with your look if you so choose.

In terms of shoes, I've seen pretty much a lot of the same trends the US has like flats, platforms, heels, boots, etc. But what surprised me was still finding pointy-toed shoes... Wasn't this the trend a few years ago? Or is pointy-toe considered a classic that will never go away?

Now for the clothes. In terms of clothing, I found Arab women to be very feminine and colorful. And it makes sense when I recall the amount of times I've been teased for wearing even just a black t-shirt: "black?! why black?!,” I’d get asked. If only they knew back in the Bay I often wear entirely black outfits; makes sense to me! But mostly, I was reminded how much black is perceived as a mourning color and as such, it’s understandable that some cultures limit the use of that color in their everyday attire.

On the other hand, I saw the Western influence on typical secular Israeli women in that they also wear a lot of black. At Israeli malls and on a daily basis, I’d see working women wearing all-black outfits, just like any American or European would do.

Maybe it's my European upbringing, maybe it's American influence, maybe it's that black never goes out of style and is rather forgiving... but really for me black has always been a default, or most importantly, a color I enjoy. But I’ll admit that after being there for 3 months, I did ask myself a few times if I was indeed wearing ‘too much black.’ Ah, the power society has on you… I like to think my wardrobe is pretty balanced, and at the very least, being surrounded by people who favor colors over black provided me with a different perspective. One which I gladly admit did rub off on at me at least a little bit. J

One thing I found fascinating was the way I saw both religious Arab and Israeli Jewish women incorporate fashion and color in their religious attire. Almost always, I’d see some black combined with colors throughout the outfit: veiled, but colorful and stylish in heels, or Israeli Jewish woman in long skirt with colorful make-up. One of my favorite memories I have involves a woman I once saw who was religious, but who was dressed in such a way that by appearance alone I couldn’t tell if she was Muslim or Israeli Jewish. It was only the spoken Hebrew that I heard as I passed by that revealed her identity. This moment was memorable because, aside from the fact that she was both beautiful and religious, it reminded me of how sometimes similarities can overcome differences between different religious groups. Although it’s clear that religious Muslim and Israeli Jewish women don’t dress the same way, both groups emphasize the importance of covering their hair and wearing loose skirts/loose garments which can at times make the identities blur, as it did in the instance I mentioned. Obviously, this may be more likely to happen in an area where both Arabs and Jews interact, such as in an Israeli mall. It’s a given that in Arab areas you can assume the women are Arab because Israeli Jews do not go there, so there won’t be any ‘confusing the identities’ there. In any case, in both Muslim and Israeli Jewish groups of women, I saw traditional religious attire worn as well as incorporation of fashions into religious attire.

There are a few things I noticed that were particular to Eilat. I definitely saw the ‘beach babe/boy’ trend there, complete with super-brown tanned bodies (which I doubt were all natural tans) and gratuitous tattoo displaying. Women wearing Brazilian bikinis on the beach and at swimming pools were also a common sight. This may testify to the area’s extreme heat, but I think it also highlights the (some say ‘extreme’) laid-back attitude and Western flavor.

Needless to say, I saw a variety of things pertaining to fashion and appearance during my stay. Some attires were secular and fashionable, some more religiously traditional while others defied traditional definitions of religious garb.

Clearly, it can be hard, if not impossible, to identify the sole authority on religious attire and to determine how fashion may—or may not—affect it. Personally I believe that that is for each individual to determine and to apply to their life in the way they best see fit. In my experience, I saw the variety as source of inspiration, and I definitely enjoyed the visual elements that testified to the ‘desert life’ influence, such as harem pants, loose skirts/garments and magic carpet-like shawls and scarves (and yes I did bring a few back home with me; thank you Old City merchants!!).

As my experience reminds me, if one thing is sure, it’s that fashion can allow a person to explore different areas of their identity, or simply to reinforce the aspect(s) of their identity they deem most important in their life.

The last trip I made during my stay in Jerusalem was to Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba in the West Bank. But these days it might be a bit difficult to find these locations under these specific names. These towns were captured, depopulated and destroyed during the 1967 Six-Day War. On top of where once rested the Palestinian villages of Amwas and Yalu, there is now Canada Park, funded by the Jewish National Fund of Canada. Beit Nuba is now Mar Haven settlement.

What did I see? Lots of greenery and open spaces, with the highway stretching nearby... Of course, trees everywhere, and quiet places to roam through… It seemed like a simple, peaceful place where visitors could enjoy themselves, but I’d have to say I didn’t really feel like I could do this there, or even if I should. Although concealed and unkempt, I saw remnants of Palestinian life there, as the remains of 2 wells and a cemetery showed…

And cactuses… Lots and lots of cactuses. I normally wouldn’t think twice about the abundance of these… Until I’m told that cactuses were used by Palestinians as a kind of ‘fence’ between other towns—in lieu of walls—as well as around towns; thus requiring everyone to enter through the city’s main entrance.

Imwas… or biblical Emmaus. Said to be the place where Jesus appeared to two of his disciples following his resurrection.
Was it the place I visited? Does it matter? And then again… how would we know ‘for sure’? Especially when I hear that there are 4 possible places which could have been ‘that’ Emmaus…

I came, I saw, I reflected… I did share time with caring people of various backgrounds while there, even had a hot dog and sat on a bench with the day’s last sunrays right in my face.

Was it a ‘picnic’? Perhaps, although it felt more like a little church service, what with the prayers said, and traditional Arabic songs sung to commemorate previous, unmentioned Palestinian life on that land…

Brief visit. Yet duration is not necessarily tantamount to impact and/or significance. +

My slideshow of a few photos taken there:



A short documentary in 2 parts, posted on YouTube:

A week ago, on Thursday April 21st, my cousin and I ventured to Ramallah... on our own. The experience was a mix of exploring, shopping, cousin seeing her old friend, but eventually, frustration.

As expected, getting there was no problem. We found parking and then started on our walk to check out the shop-filled streets. I bought a dress at a Mango store within 5 minutes of being there... What can I say? I know what I like and I'm a quick shopper LOL =) It wasn't noon yet and the streets were filled with shoppers. It seems people in this country are early-risers, but I've also noticed that when it comes to some foods, some prefer to buy what they need on the day it will be cooked rather than to stock up ahead of time. Guaranteed freshness, right? While I might be used to "getting moving" later on in the day, here the hustle and bustle of life starts quite early.

As we ventured on, all we saw were shops, shops and more shops, many of which have what I consider to be funny English names. It was also interesting to be roaming the rugged, narrow streets only to hear a radio blasting Rihanna and other typical American songs... right. My wandering eyes eventually caught a big green and white label, and I soon realized I was greeted with Ramallah's very own version of Starbucks, renamed... "Stars and Bucks." Yes I did have to laugh at that one, and just had to snap a picture. As anywhere else, you see some dressed in more religious attire and others mixing it up to make it fashionable, with matching colors/purses/shoes, etc. Speaking of shoes. I think out of all the stores we saw, we mostly saw shoe stores... my goodness. No shortage of that here, and of color variety either!!

All went fine, until we decided to head home. The main checkpoint in Ramallah is the Qalandiya checkpoint which is the one that gets the worse traffic and is notorious for ridiculously long waits. It happens to be located off the main street, which we figured wouldn't be so hard to find. Big mistake. We soon realized how much Ramallah is lacking in adequate, if any, road signs, so that we drove around for at least a good 30 minutes, looking for signs leading back to Jerusalem, before realizing that we were heading towards other unknown towns. We asked for directions at least 4-5 different times from people, police and Palestinian soldiers until we finally found the road to Qalandiya. But that in itself was only part of the solution, as there was terrible traffic ahead of us. We knew another, easier checkpoint to go through to get home besides Qalandiya, but required a longer drive, so we realized we'd be sitting in that traffic for some time. The worst part? We needed a bathroom. Sure it sounds silly in retrospect, but things like this just serves to remind you that 1. always look for/use a bathroom when you can because you never know when you'd be able to find one next and 2. in some parts of the world, you can't just 'park your car on the side' and go look for accomodations, etc. The traffic is such that your car is just stuck there and there is absolutely nowhere to go but straight ahead, period. 

So, sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, cringing all the while... We took the longer route and it seemed like we'd finally be reaching home in a few short minutes until the car died... just steps away from the other checkpoint we'd driven all this way to reach. My goodness. It was like the ride home was destined to last forever... We tried to re-start the car several times, without luck. My cousin's husband quickly came to the scene to try to figure out the situation. He stayed on with the car while we drove home fast because yes, we still needed that bathroom and had been waiting an hour by now to use it (really not good for the bladder, in case that's a surprise to anyone). I will say I have never before felt such relief to reach home...

In terms of the car, it seemed it had over-heated and it went unnoticed, so that by the time we had reached the checkpoint, it had reached its limit...?? I'm not sure and this still puzzles me, when we are told this never happened to the car before. Go figure. A nice thing amidst the craziness: while we waited for my cousin's husband to arrive, a car pulled up and a Jewish man came over to try to help us out with the car situation. I already would have been surprised for that gesture back in CA, but here in Israel/Occupied Territories where tensions abound, this stood out even more in a lovely way.

Lessons of the day? Even for my cousin who has lived here her whole life, it may be wise to consider how 'adventurous' one is willing to be. Honestly, I wasn't really frustrated by the whole thing as much because I saw it as part of the experience... Part of me had indeed thought, "hey we might get lost, but we'll just figure our way out..." which we eventually did do. But the bathroom and car dying thing? Would have never seen that one coming in a million years. Next time we go it will surely be with people who know the area... and with our own cars (we had taken someone else's car). The bathroom thing has also been rather painfully noted. Perhaps these issues wouldn't have been a big deal in the States, but here? Where many streets lack names, probably don't appear on a map, with construction being done all over the place, and one hill looking exactly like the next?

Hey, you live and you learn. =)