Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Arab Radio Podcast intro
    • Radio Baladi Detroit
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Toggle search form
  • Mahnoor Ahmad Photo courtesy of her website at AhmadforCongress.com
    Muslim American woman challenges unresponsive Congressman Sean Casten in March 19 Democratic primary Activism
  • Committee to Protect Journalists website. Number of journalists killed in Gaza war now 50
    More than 50 journalists killed in Israel-Gaza war Arab World
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    On World Children’s Day, Israel has turned Gaza into a Graveyard for Children: American Arabs
  • Jewish Defense League members participated in the Washington D.C. rally supporting Israel Nov. 15, 2023. Photo courtesy of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
    Doctors Without Borders condemns deliberate deadly attack on convoy of staff and family members in Gaza Arab World
  • Palestinian protest land grabs by Israel's government from Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Photo courtesy of Peace Now
    Peace Now: Attempt for the Establishment of a New Settlement in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City Arab World
  • Palestinians walk around buildings destroyed during the Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on October 29. (Photo: AP/Hatem Moussa)
    CPJ expresses grave concern over 4th communications blackout in Gaza Arab World
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    Arab American Comedy Festival, 209th Anniversary National Tour returns to New York roots American Arabs
  • The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and nearly 100 human rights, civil rights and civil liberties, immigrant rights, faith based organizations, and ADC’s Volunteer TPS/DED Lawyers Working Group sent a request to Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas urging them to designate Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and/or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Palestinians present in the United States.  
    Nearly 100 Organizations Join ADC in Demanding TPS/DED for Palestinians American Arabs
  • Jewish Defense League members participated in the Washington D.C. rally supporting Israel Nov. 15, 2023. Photo courtesy of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
    Terrorist groups involved at pro-Israel demonstration in Washington D.C. American Arabs
  • Doctors without Borders calls for end to Israeli attacks targeting hospitals in Gaza Strip. Nov. 11, 2023
    Patients and medical staff trapped in hospitals under fire in Gaza Arab World
  • Attorney Sarah Gad
    2024 election battle among Arab Americans shaping up in Ilhan Omar’s Minnesota congressional district American Arabs
  • Palestinian civilians flee their homes as Israel continues its savage bombing and missile attacks against homes, neighborhoods and buildings destroying most of the buildings in most of the Gaza's cities. Photo courtesy of Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights
    US Congress: Reject Bill to Support Forced Israeli Displacement of Palestinians to Third Countries  American Arabs
  • RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia and Francis Godolphin Osbourne Stuart - http://www.uwants.com/viewthread.php?tid=3817223&extra=page%3D1
    Arabs on Titanic: Arabs share the pain but not the glory in ship’s tragic tale American Arabs
  • MedGlobal humanitarian appeal for Gaza violence victims
    Bombing of Al Ahli hospital in Gaza worst attack on healthcare this century  American Arabs
  • IDF soldiers and Israeli settlers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    Israeli Academic Institutions Persecute Palestinian Students for Social Media Posts Amid Offensive on Gaza Christian & Muslim

The Women in Hebron

Posted on September 12, 2015September 13, 2015 By rayhanania 1 Comment on The Women in Hebron
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Loading

International Solidarity Movement human rights monitors spend the afternoon at the Women in Hebron Embroidery Cooperative where Palestinian women are empowering themselves and persisting with grace in a colorful and beautiful way in a community space amidst the horrors of the ongoing military occupation of their home

By Dezeray Lyn

Dezeray Lyn
Dezeray Lyn

Silverware clinks on plates, numerous excited voices float above the large trays of food laid out and loud bursts of laughter punctuate most bites of food.  We are in the colorful and warm ‘Women in Hebron’ embroidery cooperative space in the village of Idna in the Hebron district.  And we are surrounded by the women who keep the business running and the spirit of community and empowerment nearly bursting the center at its very seams.

From the worn hands of an elderly woman rushing her crease-patterned hands through the weaving of a carpet stretching the length of the cooperative itself to the bright eyes of 14 year old Yafa Slemiah whose mother founded Women in Hebron, at this cooperative, there is space for everyone.  

“We welcome everyone here.  People from all over the world have come to work with us.  We open our home to them; there we have an entire floor dedicated for volunteers, three rooms and three bathrooms, they have free food and can travel with us.  …And we teach them embroidery.”

Palestinian women int he West Bank
Palestinian women in the West Bank

From humble beginnings in 2005, the cooperative itself now boasts a beautiful shop in the souq.  The shop is the only woman-run establishment in Hebron and it is rare to pass the richly colorful, craft-filled space without coming in contact with the welcoming smile of Leila, the shop owner, Yafa’s aunt and sister of Women in Hebron’s director, Nawal Slemiah.

Currently, Nawal is traveling through America promoting the cooperative, thus her enthusiastic and kind daughter sits with us as both translator and story teller- conveying what Women in Hebron means to those who are a part of it, creating breathtaking bead-work and embroidered traditional Palestinian dresses for weddings and events, holidays and parties.

download

23 year old Haneen sits beside Yafa, her work with the cooperative began four years ago.  “My mom was sick, pregnant with twins and already had twins.  I had to leave school in the sixth grade to care for her.  There was no work for a woman who is uneducated.  But I knew how to embroider and here I can teach other women.”

And like all other elements of life in the occupied territories, the work of Women in Hebron and Leila’s shop in the souq do not go untouched by the cruelty of their occupiers.  “Shops in Hebron gets lots of water from the rain because the soldiers close the gates separating the settlers from the old city.  Our area floods so the settlers can stay dry.”  This was the reality this past April in Hebron when heavy rains flooded the souq to staggering chest level heights, destroying shelf-fulls of embroidery Leila made by hand at the cooperative to sell at market.

Yafa’s frustration is clear, “Can you imagine making items by hand for months?  Months.  Things that take days to transport to the shop, only to have it flooded out so people who stole your land can stay dry?”   Another way the occupation effects the cooperative is by deporting volunteers with Arabic names or those who come stating that they are visiting the West Bank to do embroidery work.  “The volunteers have to lie and say they are visiting Tel Aviv or they do not get through at the airport.”

For those who do get in, they join a group of women dedicated to keeping Palestine alive.  Haneen describes her commitment to her culture and keeping resistance alive, creatively so, “It’s very…  tradition is very important in Palestine.  It is very important that people know about what is happening in Palestine.

20150912_133035

Through our work, people will know about traditional Palestinian culture.  They will come to know the situation here.  We will let people know we are not terrorists.  I can help make a difference and then I can teach embroidery to my daughters.”

Isma has been at the cooperative for three years.  At 24, with limited education, Isma’s options were few.  “Not only do uneducated women have a difficult time finding work, but also the occupation limits us severely.  We are unable to travel.

We have no airport.  If we want to go anywhere or do anything, we must go through Israel to do it and they do not want to help us.”  Nawal welcomed Isma into the cooperative, allowing her to cook and clean while learning the machines, she is now one of the women who train the volunteers who come in.

20150912_124409

To be a volunteer with the cooperative, you are not only welcomed into Nawal’s home, you learn how to run the website, answer the emails,process the sales- the entire business side of the cooperative is shared alongside the teaching of the handcrafting.  They also have a colorful nursery within the cooperative so women with children can bring them along as they work.

After lunch, Yafa and the others walk us through a room with shelves made bright by their wares.  Shelf after shelf houses beaded wallets, purses, scarves and even bookmarks that can be personalized, all kaleidoscopic, all made by the hands of those who are economically and socially strangled by an occupation that seeks to end them- all binds broken in the process of free creation.  One of the women laughs and holds up a beaded wallet that says “Women can do anything.”  She then turns it over, “Men can do something.”

20150912_124359

Before leaving them to their work, we sit with Yafa a few more moments.   She describes the world she knows, “The occupation has taken over everyone’s lives.  At this moment, if you walked outside and didn’t see a soldier you would wonder why not.  The women working here all have to worry about the occupation when they consider each day they spend at the cooperative.  ‘What if I’m not home and the soldiers raid my home?  What if I’m gone too long?’  Occupation is always the first thing to think about.  In Palestine this is normal.  She can die.  I can die.  The soldiers can kill us and the people may talk about it for one day, one week, but here this is normal life.  During the time the world hears about a Palestinian getting killed, like the 18 month old baby the settlers burned to death recently, three more Palestinians are killed. The occupation makes our lives gross.”

The occupation doesn’t only entail soldier harassment and collective punishments enacted against Palestinians as a whole.  Settler violence is a daily and worsening issue.  “They are building a fence above our homes now because the settlers throw eggs down on us.  They throw rocks. When we are at home in the middle of the night, we do not wear our hijabs, only to have male settlers jump into our homes in the middle of the night and see us this way before running out again.  This can never happen for ‘normal’ people.  You do not see this in Europe or anywhere else.  So this is very different for us.”

20150912_114455

With the occupation ‘coming first,’ the all-encompassing hurdle to be considered by the people who are subjugated and oppressed by it, the Women in Hebron are utilizing a rich and generational tradition to perpetuate their culture and their resistance to a system who would sooner end their lives than to better them.

They are dichotomous existences these women lead of both fighting oppressive social and power structures whilst building and creating a world where all voices are heard, where they see more friends in a day than they see soldiers, where every facet of their lives isn’t stained with the awful truth of a military occupation and near seven decade ethnic cleansing.

The women we share this afternoon with are making more with their hands than what meets the eye.  They are molding an empowering path for Palestinian women, one more elaborate- and accessible- with each passing day.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

Click here to send Ray Hanania email.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Hostages versus Prisoners: Israel war on Gaza is as much a war on weaponizing words - December 1, 2023
  • Muslim American woman challenges unresponsive Congressman Sean Casten in March 19 Democratic primary - November 21, 2023
  • More than 50 journalists killed in Israel-Gaza war - November 21, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
Arab World, Bloggers, Commentary, Editors Picks, Israel, Palestine & Jordan Tags:Hebron, Israeli settler terrorists, Palestine, Palestinians

Post navigation

Previous Post: Mordechai Vanunu: Uncensored and Enshrined
Next Post: Militant soccer fans are on a roll across Eurasia

Related Posts

  • 3 Golden Globe nominations for Mr. Robot American Arabs
  • UAE and France reunite for International Alliance for Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas. UAE Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and French President Francois Hollande. Photo courtesy of PR News Wire
    UAE Embassy celebrates Emirati Women’s Day in DC American Arabs
  • Orthodox Christmas in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania Family Archives
    Arab Americans prepare to celebrate Christmas twice American Arabs
  • Dubai ranked as Number 2 destination for New Year Arab World
  • Steve Bannon’s Legal Battle and The Vatican #CitizenSleuth Arab World
  • Mansour Tadros, who died on March 28, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Tadros family
    Community mourns passing of Mansour Tadros American Arabs

More Related Articles

USS Liberty Survivor Onboard with FREEDOM Flotilla American Arabs
Shimon Peres: State Funeral, Hollywood and Nuclear Mordechai Vanunu Arab World
Cicero Orthodox Church celebrates 20 year anniversary of Miraculous Weeping Icon of the Virgin Mary American Arabs
Rashida Tlaib still has a future in politics American Arabs
David Cameron’s failed policy on terrorism and extremism Arab World
Arab and Muslim protests, photo courtesy Abdennour Toumi Arabs and Muslims would never be whipped again Abdennour Toumi

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • A child stands in front of an apartment building bombed by Israeli using an American made 2000 pound bomb.
    Hostages versus Prisoners: Israel war on Gaza is as much a war on weaponizing words
    December 1, 2023
  • Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib
    Americans rally to support Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib targeted by Islamophobic racism
    November 8, 2023
  • Palestinian parent and child seek refuge as American sanction terrorism by Israel spreads through Gaza Strip Oct 2023
    Some American legislators stand up for justice and against all violence
    October 15, 2023
  • Map of the Gaza Strip, courtesy of Wikipedia
    Israel-Palestine conflict as much about American hypocrisy as it is about violence
    October 11, 2023

Events

  • No events
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Palestinians walk around buildings destroyed during the Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on October 29. (Photo: AP/Hatem Moussa)
    CPJ expresses grave concern over 4th communications blackout in Gaza
    November 18, 2023
  • Racist grafitti a Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace and Boston Islamic Seminary, one of a wave of acts of racism targeting Arabs and Muslims in the wake of Israel's war crimes in Gaza October 2023
    CAIR-MA Calls for Hate Crime Probe of ‘Nazi’ Vandalism Targeting Boston Palestinian, Islamic Sign
    October 11, 2023
  • American Middle East groups oppose granting Visa Waiver approval to Israel Sept. 27 , 2023
    American Middle East organizations protest against granting Israel Visa Waiver approval
    September 27, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced Tuesday (Sept. 19, 2023) the filing of a lawsuit with a dozen plaintiffs seeking an end to the government’s secret watchlist that almost exclusively targets Muslims for harassment and humiliation when they travel.
    CAIR Announces Lawsuit in D.C., Mass., N.J., Mich. Seeking End to Secret Government Watchlist
    September 19, 2023

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • 250-x-250-Ziyad-banner-Ad.jpg
  • NEWS
  • Mahnoor Ahmad Photo courtesy of her website at AhmadforCongress.com
    Muslim American woman challenges unresponsive Congressman Sean Casten in March 19 Democratic primary
    November 21, 2023
  • Committee to Protect Journalists website. Number of journalists killed in Gaza war now 50
    More than 50 journalists killed in Israel-Gaza war
    November 21, 2023
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    On World Children’s Day, Israel has turned Gaza into a Graveyard for Children:
    November 20, 2023
  • Jewish Defense League members participated in the Washington D.C. rally supporting Israel Nov. 15, 2023. Photo courtesy of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
    Doctors Without Borders condemns deliberate deadly attack on convoy of staff and family members in Gaza
    November 19, 2023
grab450

Recent Posts

  • Hostages versus Prisoners: Israel war on Gaza is as much a war on weaponizing words
  • Muslim American woman challenges unresponsive Congressman Sean Casten in March 19 Democratic primary
  • More than 50 journalists killed in Israel-Gaza war
  • On World Children’s Day, Israel has turned Gaza into a Graveyard for Children:
  • Doctors Without Borders condemns deliberate deadly attack on convoy of staff and family members in Gaza
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Comedian Ahmed Ahmed at The Comedy Bar in Chicago June 9 - 11, 2023
    Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performs in Chicago June 9-11, 2023 at The Comedy Bar
    June 9, 2023
  • Ziyad Food item
    Essential recipes and ingredients during Ramadan 
    April 4, 2023
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast
    December 15, 2022
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    “Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life
    October 22, 2022
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2023 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme