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Disarming Design
from Palestine
تصاميم مجرّدة من فلسطين
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Disarming Design from Palestine
تصاميم مجرّدة من فلسطين
  • Shop
    المحل
  • Stories
    حكايات
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  • Contact
    Thought-provoking designs
    تصاميم لتحفيز الفكر
  • theblacksac

    الحقيبة السوداء
    €199,00
  • Heirloom seeds

    بذور بلديّة
    €7,50
  • Nabulsi soap

    صابون نابلسي
    €6,00
  • Awakening Goggles

    Awakening goggles

    قناع الصحوة
    €25,00
  • State of Palestine

    دولة فلسطين
    €12,00
  • Gaza earrings ‘Love for life’

    أقراط غزة "نُحِبُّ الحياة"
    €175,00
  • ‘I am an Arab’ t-shirt

    قميص "سجِّل أنا عربي"
    €17,00 – €19,00
  • Cactus fruit candle

    شمعة الصبّار
    €8,50
  • Gaza Birdhouse

    Gaza birdhouse

    بيت العصفور الغزّاوي
    €12,50
  • Beyond First Impressions

    Beyond first impressions

    ما بعد الإنطباع الأوّل
    €25,00
  • Measuring inequality

    قياس عدم المساواة
    €35,00
  • Bird plate

    صحن الطّيور
    €30,00
  • Distance to Gaza

    المسافة إلى غزة
    €20,00
  • Coloured Keffiyeh

    Coloured keffiyeh

    الكوفية الملوّنة
    €25,00
  • Tears

    دموع
    €5,00
  • Qastina apron

    مريلة قسطينة
    €30,00
  • Watermelon flag

    علم البطّيخ
    €17,00 – €39,00
  • Face Mask

    Identity = health

    الهوية = الصحة
    €13,00
  • Christmas baubles from Bethlehem

    كرات عيد الميلاد من بيت لحم
    €7,00 – €9,00
  • Leaf Behind Ring

    Leaf behind ring

    خاتم "أترُك خَلفك"
    €45,00
  • Leaf Behind Earring

    Leaf behind earrings

    أقراط الأذن "أترُك خلفَك"
    €45,00
  • Unveiled souls

    أرواح مكشوفة
    €17,50
  • Reworlding Ramallah

    Reworlding Ramallah

    إعادة قولبة العالم : رام الله
    €12,50
  • Subjective atlas of Palestine

    أطلس فلسطين الذاتي
    €24,50
  • Freedom shoes

    أحذية الحرّية
    €145,00
  • Black Keffiyeh

    Black on black keffiyeh

    أسود على كوفية سوداء
    €25,00
  • Hasakah

    الحسكة
    €40,00
  • ‘Everywhere’ fisherman’s box

    صندوق صيّاد السمك "من كلّ مكان"
    €50,00
  • Yellow cab toy

    لعبة السيرفيس الأصفر
    €35,00
  • Watchtowers and water tanks game

    لعبة أبراج المراقبة وخزّانات المياه
    €195,00
  • Checkpoint brush

    فرشاة الحاجز
    €17,50
  • Under construction

    صحن "قيد الإنشاء"
    €20,00
  • Poetic nights

    ليالٍ شعريّة
    €20,00
  • Stress ball

    كرة التّوتر
    €7,50
  • Proudly Made in Palestine

    صنع في فلسطين، بفخر
    €25,00
  • Everywhere Palestine

    فلسطين في كلّ مكان
    €60,00
  • Gaza scarf

    وشاح غزة
    €95,00
  • Disengaged observer outfit

    زيّ المراقب الدّولي
    €75,00
  • Barcelona or Madrid? No, Palestine!

    برشلونة او مدريد؟ لا، فلسطين!
    €0,50
  • Blanco

    القميص الأبيض
    €75,00
Stories
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  • Highlight
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Masters programme Disarming design
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التصميم لأوقاتنا المجرِّدة Onomatopee publishers, 2020
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Facemask from Gaza
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Bags Prince Claus Awards
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Crossing Boundaries lecture
محاضرة "اجتياز الحدود" VCUQatar, Doha, 19-22 November 2019
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إقتراب الآفاق Birzeit, 21–29 august 2019
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جسور من الماضي Birzeit, June – September 2019
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Young artisans market
سوق الحرفيّين الشّباب Birzeit, 2019
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إعادة قولبة العالم : رام الله Birzeit, January – April 2019
  • Highlight
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Thought-provoking December gifts
هدايا محفّزة للفكر في فترة الأعياد Droog, Amsterdam, 6 December 2018 – 6 January 2019
  • Exhibiting
Collective thinking
تفكير جماعي Hosh Jalsa, Birzeit, November – December 2018
  • Learning
My house is your house
البيت بيتك Design Museum Ghent, 16 February – 15 April 2018
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معرض نيوي انستتوت Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, november 2017
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Amman Design Week
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Subjective atlas of Palestine
أطلس فلسطين الذاتي Ramallah, 2007
  • Highlight
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Stories
حكايات

Dream versus reality
الحلم مقابل الواقع

    Tags:
  • Create-shop
Designers from Jordan, Palestine and the Netherlands participating in the create-shop, Amman, 5 September 2017

Disarming Design from Palestine in co-creation with Gaza camp in Jerash
Amman, September 2017
A team of Jordanian, Palestinian and Dutch designers collaborated with local craftswomen and men from the Gaza refugee camp in the Jordan city Jerash, to develop a series of thought provoking products.

On the invitation of Amman Design Week, and hosted by cultural center Darat al Funun, we put together a program where the participants worked in teams to design items and interchange with the artisans. They investigated their process, skills, and made works that could pass on the stories that were shared and could reflect on the complex reality of the camp. Alongside our existing collection of products these items will be internationally exhibited and sold, to address the situation of the refugees. We aim for a continuing relationship through more future orders. Additionally with this workshop we want to reflect upon the function of creative practices in situations of conflict because, as Amman Design Week also states in their program line, “problem-solving, enhancing communities and bringing concepts to life; design has the power to reshape the future”.

Motivation

“The only thing that gets me going is sharing stories.” This is why the Jordanian designer Nour Nsheiwat participated in this program: “in every corner of my life I have pursued a job that included some narrative methodology, I’m into listening to a story told by a product.” “At this moment my perspective on the Palestinian cause is based on western media and stories, I would like to challenge my view with real life experience,” expressed Dutch designer Tessa Meeus at the start of the program. “The questions I ask myself are: what is this state of being like? What do people embrace? What do they hate on a daily basis? What are the values of the place and how can design play a role?” Designer Sherida Kuffour, a Woman of Color from the Netherlands, is particularly interested in anti-colonial, and anti-imperialism movements and how people push back against these strongholds: “I’ve come to realize that, as the ‘colonized’, regardless of race or religion, we share somewhat similar struggles of revolution and pushback.” For Haya Bustami, who is doing the education and community outreach of the Amman Design Week, it was the human centered element of the program that made it special to her: “it creates an enriching and humbling experience to everyone involved”.

Gaza refugee camp

Gaza camp is a refugee camp near Jerash, where almost 40,000 Palestinian refugees are living. They, their parents or grandparents, fled from Gaza in 1967, when Israel invaded the Gaza strip, which was at that time under Egyptian rule. These Palestinian refugees never received Jordanian citizenship. Until today they don’t have a national number and are therefore stateless. As such, they aren’t allowed to work, don’t have access to regular healthcare, and they can’t afford to further their education outside the camp. If they would like to get a job, they need to buy a working permit of 500 JOD (± € 600), which is only valid for 6 months. So for most people this doesn’t make any sense at all. One cannot understand how these people aren’t offered any way out, no right to return, no status, no opportunities, no future. These Palestinian refugees have lived under inhumane conditions for 50 years now.

Although we were aware that we were visiting one of the poorest camps in Jordan, nobody expected that the refugees struggle this much. We were silenced, speechless, saddened, angry, but above all we felt powerless and were struggling how to relate to this uncomfortable truth. Some felt really depressed, others were fighting with feelings of guilt for not taking enough action, and at the same time we felt unease in being part of a van with international visitors, being dropped at places in the camp to visit, watch and leave. It underlined our privileged position and the bubble we live in.

Making

As soon as we were able to spend time in the women’s craft center they started to make things, different stories crossed the tables, humor entered the room, and imagination started to bloom again. We were relating on the basis of strength and creativity, on an individual and human level. We saw the beauty of these women and were particularly impressed by their persistence. This inspired all of us.

The days that followed were full of noise: ticking needles, curious questions, whispering experiments, rhythmic embroideries and a ping pong of ideas. With a touching diligence the artisans soon found ways to accomplish proposals for prototypes, that embodied applied translations of their narratives. Different patterns of olive-trees were made, a doormat was established and all kind of origami shapes were folded with textile.

The people of the Gaza Camp produced incredible things, but resources are limited. With Disarming Design we want to work as much as possible with local and natural materials, but the best textiles and leather used to come from Syria. Most production and export from there has stopped for obvious and horrifying reasons. And Jordan seems to be, as a salesman explained ironically, “a country of consumption, not of production”. So products from China and India dominate the market more and more. But the participating designers were persistent, did their field research and traveled from shop to shop in Amman. With some luck local wool was found, some pieces of leather from Syria, and other useful local and up-cycled materials.

Impact on society

During a tour through Amman where we learned more about the heritage and crafts, we were honored to meet the remarkable ‘Duke of Mukheibeh’, who received us in his Design Center. “It’s easy to make money” he explains to us “but what counts is the impact of what you do on society. Culture brings people together and that is what we should focus on”. The crafts and product designer May Khoury also stressed this in the guest-talk she gave: “Design has a substantial role as a key tool for community development, social engagement and ultimately sustainable economic development”. Originally from Ramallah, May has established an incredible practice in Amman and developed a collection of handmade and up cycled products. She says how in fact the heritage is her national identity and that through the heritage she can emphasize who she is. Architect Reem Marji from Darat al Funun adds: “Design is a global language; a huge platform that contains different backgrounds and cultures, while maintaining the authenticity and identity of each one”.

The designers discuss their first ideas and prototypes with May Khoury and some stories clearly move her. With others she stresses how they have the potential for an extraordinaire beauty. However, she wonders if some of the products are right, since their design emphasizes the unbearable reality and doesn’t leave space for hope and imagination. May seeks to design the final product to still show the extreme misfortune that the people in the camp experience, by framing it differently, which would allow the space for dreaming.

Re-think Palestinian identity

In the specific socio-political situation in Palestine, there is another layer to ‘sensitive’ local design and production. After what Palestinians have experienced in the last century, there is a deep need for a redefining for a new identity, as it has been and is being distorted and transformed after many shocking and drastic changes. Through workshops like this we want to invest in the visual reality of Palestine, into the daily needs and experiences. “When it comes to our collective identity, we’re becoming one-by-one part of a new and dynamic design movement, as we try to tap into the social and political moment and cultural significance of our country,” says Palestinian designer and political scientist Fida Shafi. This workshop made her work harder to redefine the meaning of Palestinian identity as inclusive and all encompassing. She says she is still fighting to express it in different forms through and beyond design.

Identity is not something that is fixed, but something that corresponds to contemporary realities. It is a work in progress and that’s where product design serves part in this rediscovery. Crafts don’t just teach us about how things are made. It’s also a social act that relates to the sense of a place, how a community is built and what its values and rituals are. They are at the heart of who we are. Heritage is not history. It is something that lives. It is something we can learn from and which we as critical designers should activate. According to Disarming Designs production manager, Ghadeer Dajani, art, design, and crafts should all be part of the resistance against the occupation, as an element within a mosaic power against foreign rule: “it has to reflect the beauty and the strength of Palestine, just like poetry and literature are doing.”

 

The designs

After two weeks of deep emotions, intense work, crossing language barriers, and unpredictable design processes in co-creation with the artisans living in unbearable conditions, a new line of ten thought provoking products was presented. They represent the narratives found in the Gaza camp. Despite the difficulties faced by limited means, techniques and resources, and despite a very tight time schedule the designers were able to create magic. Nour Nsheiwat and Rebekka Fries captured the story of Maisa, who had the highest high school scores of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This would allow Jordanian citizens to receive free scholarship for university. However Maisa has no national number and did not receive it. On the contrary, she is obliged to pay international fees and can’t afford to continue her studies. She remained in the camp and diminished her dreams. Nour and Rebekka, in response, made a multi-functional apron of the textile of Jordanian school uniforms. Fida Shafi developed an embroidered baby blanket with the text of the lullabies that were song to the babies back home and the artisans were able to recall. When fleeing from Gaza and in need to protect their children, they sang it. Those memories are now hidden behind the folds of time, as the origami bag from Mariam Shukri and Qusai Saify shows with hidden embroidery behind the corners of the fabric. A large wooden cloth pin reminded Aya Abu-Ghazaleh to what her Palestinian grandmother said, and what she heard back in the camp “we left the laundry outside”, because they thought to be back home soon, 50 years ago. Aya’s pin contains a light, so it can be used for reading after sunset. Sherida Kuffour designed a hat called ‘Under the olive tree’ with embroidered olive branches on the brim, to find protection. To a certain extent all these stories come together in the wooden maze that Rebekka Fries and Nour Nsheiwat developed, with a path on both sides, top and bottom, forming the Arabic words for ‘Dream’ and ‘Reality’. Once the metal ball strolls through the lines of ‘reality’, it suddenly falls into the ‘dream’. Turning the maze around, eventually the same thing will happen, falling back in ‘reality’.

Looking forward

It is our ambition that through these products we can contribute to a greater awareness of the situation of Palestinian refugees as well as the understanding of how design can inspire a better reality. For Tessa Meeus participating in the workshop “changed everything actually”. It made her think a lot about the way The West views Arab people in general and how in Europe “we”, including herself, have programmed prejudice into our system. Mariam Shukri always wanted to experience working with artisans from different communities and this by far was the best experience in her life. Mariam says “the amount of feelings I have towards refugees has increased a lot through the workshop”. It inspired her to design more consciously for a cause.

We hope that the creativity and persistence that has been put into the developed designs, will be reflected though the use of the products. They will travel from exhibitions in Darat al Funun Jordan in October, to the Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam (NL) in November, The Design Museum Gent (B) in February, and further. In addition they will soon be available on Disarming Designs website, investing in more production in the camp. It is now up to the items to speak, while leaving us silenced.

Disarming Design workshop took place from 4–16 September, the accompanying exhibition from 7–15 October at ‘The Lab’, Darat al Funun.

Workshop guidance: Ghadeer Dajani (Disarming Design’s production manager), Annelys de Vet (Disarming Design’s founder), Haya Bustami (Education and Community Outreach at Amman Design Week), Reem Marji (architect, Darat al Funun team), May Khoury (designer), Sara Mahasneh (intern), Isabel Zoetbrood (intern)

Participating designers: Rand Abu al-Sha’r (JO), Architect, Asja Keeman (NL), Master Student Design Sandberg Instituut, Mohammad Ishtay (PS), Product and interior designer, Tessa Meeus (NL), Master Student Design Sandberg Instituut, Fida Shaffi (PS), Political scientist and designer, Sherida Kuffour (NL/GH), Master Student Design Sandberg Instituut, Nour Nsheiwat (JO), Designer, Rebekka Fries (NL), Sandberg Instituut Design alumni, Mariam S. Shukri (JO), Designer, Qusai al Saify (PS), Founder Origami Palestine, Aya Abu Ghazaleh (JO/PS), Artist  and designer.

Acknowledgments to Amman Design Week Co-Directors Rana Beiruti and Abeer Seikaly, Darat al Funun founder Suha Shoman and director Luma Hamdan for making the workshop and exhibition possible. A special thank you to the local crafts women and men from the Gaza camp in Jerash, especially the Amani Charity center.

English editing: Duane Madison

 

Products in our collection from this workshop

Unveiled souls

€17,50

Private: Carrying home

€85,00

Private: In-between

€35,00

Lullaby

€45,00

Memory belt

€35,00

Maisa

€17,50

Identity = health
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Thought-provoking designs
تصاميم لتحفيذ الفكر

Identity = health
الهوية = الصحة

Keffiyeh mask to protect both health and identity

Half a decade before the Covid-19 pandemic، Gaza-born artist Mohammed Musallam created a face mask based on the traditional keffiyeh textile. The conceptual artwork could be seen both as an expression of Palestinian identity and as a means of protection; caring for identity is as important as protecting health itself. It was first used in Gazan hospitals under the Israeli occupation’s siege. Impossible at that time to foresee the impact of Covid-19; this face mask shows the power of artistic imagination. The artwork did not lose any of its meaning; just the contrary.

Gaza’s potentially disastrous combination of widespread impoverishment, densely-packed refugee camps and extremely limited hospital capacity make us even more aware of the catastrophic impact of the Israeli occupation and how fragile life can be. Caring for each other is more important than ever.

Under Musallam’s supervision, the new masks were produced in Gaza City by tailor Abu Alaa Ghaben; to be worn for your safety and as an act of solidarity.

Read review in The Art Newspaper, June 2020

 

Design
  • Mohammed Musallam (PS)

    Mohammed Musallam was born in Gaza in 1974 after his family had been dislocated from the historic Palestine as a consequent of the 1948 war. He holds a PhD in philosophy of Fine Arts, Painting Department, Fine Arts College, Minia University, Egypt. He currently resides in Gaza and works there as a lecturer of “Painting and the History of Palestinian Arts” at the College of Arts, Al Aqsa University. From his first steps as a university student he became greatly influenced by the abstract art processes and approaches. In his Art, he focuses on portraying a range of humanistic issues, which go beyond the limitations imposed by any prevailing time-related matters, which may be oppressive and persistent simultaneously. At the same time, he concentrates on conveying the notion of the preservation of our humaneness amid the harshness of our environment as one of the most important reasons for our existence.

    www.mohammedmusallam.com

Production
  • Abu Alaa Ghaben (Gaza, PS)

    Carpenter living in Gaza City.

  • 2020

    Multi layered face-mask (front side keffiyeh textile, backside white cotton) with elastic straps, washable & reusable

    19 x 9 cm

€13,00

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How can design help counteract unjust realities Rug industry was an essential part of their lifestyle Define what is needed to enhance social, political and emancipatory impact Disarming is an approach that positions design as a cultural tool to oppose oppression Storytelling can be seen as a form of resilience and resistance Giving space to other knowledges through a design process Collective memories highlight relationships that allow a crossing and intermingling between differences. Exploring how design can be a vehicle for political resistance and solidarity Investing in conditions for a learning experience that focuses on economic, political and artistic independence How to present work online and reach the right audience? Extraordinary people working in areas where cultural expression faces challenges The effect of occupation on local design and how it restricts craft and product development What does it mean to be Palestinian today, and how to express that through locally made designs? Overviewing methods and exercises on oral tradition A place for knowledge exchange and community building in relation to contemporary design How can we reflect, integrate and interact with oral tradition? “The only thing that gets me going is sharing stories.” What roles do listening, remembering and going public play in the performance of oral history? Ticking needles, curious questions, whispering experiments, rhythmic embroideries and a ping pong of ideas Supporting students and designers on reviving their industries of handicrafts and innovative production Can we think of freedom beyond a logic of progress? Learning together while doing Creating space for artists to link their designs with local histories. A collaborative process with high emphasis on creativity, collaboration, making and quality We felt powerless and were struggling how to relate to this uncomfortable truth Crafts are a social act that relates to the sense of a place, how a community is built How can we envision a political horizon beyond the realities around us? "Today in Birzeit." What is ‘home’? When and where are we at home? How can we change our surroundings and how can design contribute to the quality of life? Collaboratively developing a series of thought provoking products Showing the disarming reverse side of the black-and-white image
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The design is an invitation to the world to look closely Catalyse a broader view and prevent people from covering Reminding us to bear a greater responsibility towards life The false accusation may have ended, but the occupation has not Caring for identity is as important as protecting health itself Aside from their cultural significance, these seeds carry options for our future survival Catalysing a more open view and preventing people from covering over their own eyes when it comes to Palestine The more time we spend together, and listen, the more stories are unveiled A rapidly growing but comparatively small niche of Palestinian science fiction Sublime landscapes, tranquil urban scenes, frolicking children; who would associate these images with Palestine? “Record! I am an Arab, and my identity card is number 50 000” The Hirbawi factory is one of the only remaining factories to manufacture keffiyeh locally Wearing this unique piece on becomes both a political statement This apron shows what is the one and only recipe for its artist Our roots hold strong and silently in the earth Our trees are like our children The shared taxi is part of the West Bank urban landscape There are no possibilities of movement, since all the squares on the board are occupied Erasing the Israeli checkpoints from the landscape and envisioning a Palestine free from the occupation “We love life whenever we can” An illegal apartheid wall, on a scale impossible to imagine A flourishing craft industry established during the time of Roman rule in Palestine The artist decided to declare the existence of a non-existent state Only two soap factories survive today The occupation also takes part of the body and mind Living under occupation is an attack on people’s mental strength Most importantly they had the “Made in Palestine” tag on them The pattern of this keffiyeh is found and copied in Palestine Shoes have a long tradition as symbols of opposition and defiance You begin to realise that you have become yet another victim of the spell “I felt confused, between humiliation and joy" The birds’ freedom of flight and movement is in sharp contrast Behind each of these numbers there is a personal story The plates connect different locations in the world to Gaza The embroidery on this scarf is based on a traditional scarf in Gaza Travelling with a Palestinian Authority passport is still subject to many limitations Is it even possible to be neutral in situations of oppression? Why do we too rarely address the contemporary reality of this city and region Talking about Palestinian football is rare, although there is a national team This tailor-made garment is fragile Why can’t we be as generous as nature itself?
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The design is an invitation to the world to look closely Catalyse a broader view and prevent people from covering Reminding us to bear a greater responsibility towards life The false accusation may have ended, but the occupation has not Caring for identity is as important as protecting health itself Aside from their cultural significance, these seeds carry options for our future survival Catalysing a more open view and preventing people from covering over their own eyes when it comes to Palestine The more time we spend together, and listen, the more stories are unveiled A rapidly growing but comparatively small niche of Palestinian science fiction Sublime landscapes, tranquil urban scenes, frolicking children; who would associate these images with Palestine? “Record! I am an Arab, and my identity card is number 50 000” The Hirbawi factory is one of the only remaining factories to manufacture keffiyeh locally Wearing this unique piece on becomes both a political statement This apron shows what is the one and only recipe for its artist Our roots hold strong and silently in the earth Our trees are like our children The shared taxi is part of the West Bank urban landscape There are no possibilities of movement, since all the squares on the board are occupied Erasing the Israeli checkpoints from the landscape and envisioning a Palestine free from the occupation “We love life whenever we can” An illegal apartheid wall, on a scale impossible to imagine A flourishing craft industry established during the time of Roman rule in Palestine The artist decided to declare the existence of a non-existent state Only two soap factories survive today The occupation also takes part of the body and mind Living under occupation is an attack on people’s mental strength Most importantly they had the “Made in Palestine” tag on them The pattern of this keffiyeh is found and copied in Palestine Shoes have a long tradition as symbols of opposition and defiance You begin to realise that you have become yet another victim of the spell “I felt confused, between humiliation and joy" The birds’ freedom of flight and movement is in sharp contrast Behind each of these numbers there is a personal story The plates connect different locations in the world to Gaza The embroidery on this scarf is based on a traditional scarf in Gaza Travelling with a Palestinian Authority passport is still subject to many limitations Is it even possible to be neutral in situations of oppression? Why do we too rarely address the contemporary reality of this city and region Talking about Palestinian football is rare, although there is a national team This tailor-made garment is fragile Why can’t we be as generous as nature itself?
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