Land of Olives

Pictures from the Holy Land

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Aaaah i love your blog sooo much your pictures are bringing back so many memoriesss

thank you so much!

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Dheisheh refugee camp

UN Resolution 194 – refugees have the Right of Return

Young Palestinians practice dabke dancing 

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Naji Al-Ali became one of the most popular cartoonist in the Arab world He was assassinated as he walked towards the offices of Al-Qabas newspaper, July 22 1987 in London Handala is the refugee child who is present in Naji Al-Ali's cartoons, and symbolises the struggle for justice

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Dheisheh Refugee Camp

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Dheisheh refugee camp

"We dream of us no longer being heroes or victims"

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Dheisheh

The refugee camp was set up in 1949, and it was meant to be a temporary refuge for Palestinians from around 50 villages after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

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Overlooking the olive trees and flatroofs of Hebron from a hillock

West Bank

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Through the door under the Yasser Arafat portrait, and into the Kufiyeh shop

Kufiyeh of every colour are everywhere - stacked on shelves, hanging from the ceiling and even adorning mannequin heads. Bags, keyrings and caps are made of the iconic black and white check. The Hirbawis are very hospitable, saying "Ahlan Wa Sahlan", and offer us all biscuits 

A symbol of resistance and solidarity with Palestinians, Kufiyeh were once produced by many factories in Palestine. Due to the Israeli occupation, trade restictions and undercut by the mass production in China, this is no longer the case

In Hebron, West Bank

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Humming engines and weaving machines,

Family-run Hirbawi Kufiyeh factory, West Bank

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Rolls of kufiyeh material

Hirbawi factory, Hebron

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Colourful spools and multicoloured zigzag patterns on Kufiyehs

Woven in the last Kufiyeh factory in Palestine, the Hirbawi factory, Hebron 

[oomkzine-blog]

The Last Kufiyeh Factory Standing

   Aisha Gani visited Palestine in early April 2013. She shares her experience of visiting the last Kufiyeh factory in Hebron with us via oomkzine:

Palestine Diary: Day Three

Aisha Gani

The sun beats down as we walk up a rocky hillock in Hebron on our way to the family-run Hirbawi textile factory. The intensity of seeing a Palestinian woman with shopping bags turned away at a check point, the bullet holes and graffiti on the walls, the welded green iron doors shutting businesses and house doors, the netting over the souk to catch the garbage thrown by settlers living above, still haven’t sunk in.

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The last Kufiyeh factory standing in Palestine

I could hear the distant humming of engines as I walked on the gravel towards the family-run Hirbawi textile factory in Hebron, West Bank

In the steel corrugated factory, I can see that only a few machines are left operating. I am drawn to the back and stand between the machines weaving the iconic black and white and black and red material

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Water tanks and bolted windows

Hebron, West Bank

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An ornate, draping hand-crafted cover creates a make-shift shelter with a TV, nestled in a narrow, winding Hebron street. It is quiet and empty: but you can just imagine how it once was a vibrant meeting place  

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Just off Shuhada St, this Palestinian man poses for the camera, as a child tries to pull the hefty red cart behind him - it was a comic scene   

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This is Islam

He told me how during the Intifada Israeli soldiers stormed his house and killed his younger brother. Islam lifted his shirt to show the bullet wounds on his stomach 

Hebron, West Bank