Page 32 - AT

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 24 OcTOber 2019
Iconic Palestinian robe fashions a new political symbol

By ISABEL DEBRE many dramas. During the referencing a deep past
Associated Press first Palestinian intifada, or with which people have
JERUSALEM (AP) — The tra- uprising, in the 1980s, the positive associations."
ditional brightly embroi- thobe bloomed with guns, Young Palestinian women,
dered dress of Palestin- doves and flowers. When especially those in the di-
ian women known as the Israeli soldiers confiscated aspora, are adapting the
"thobe" was not the type of Palestinian flags at protests, ancestral dresses to mod-
garment one would expect women wove forbidden ern tastes and trends. Girls
to become a pop political national maps and colors are asking for shorter and
symbol. Now it's gaining into their dresses, accord- less embroidered versions,
prominence as a softer ex- ing to the Palestinian mu- said Rajaa Ghazawneh, a
pression of Palestinian na- seum exhibit. thobe designer in the West
tionalism, competing even Now, Palestinian women Bank town of al-Bireh.
with the classic keffiyeh of all social classes wear Natalie Tahhan, a design-
— the headscarf donned thobes to assert national er based in east Jerusa-
by young stone-throwing In this Feb. 7, 2019 file photo, a woman views traditional Palestin- pride at weddings and spe- lem, produces capes from
Palestinian men protesting ian thobes during the exhibition "Women in Orient" at the Quai cial occasions. digital prints that replicate
Israel's occupation. Branly Museum in Paris, France. "It's a way of defending traditional embroidery
The robe, adorned with Associated Press our national identity," Saca stitches, "connecting tradi-
elaborate hand-stitched villages. diaspora, Saca added. said. The care, toil, and tion with what is new and
embroidery, requires Richly decorated dresses The war, which Palestinians skill that go into making a stylish." Tlaib's now-viral
months of grueling labor. marked milestones in wom- call their "nakba," or ca- thobe prevent the garment Palestinian thobe, which
Some thobes fetch thou- en's lives: onset of puberty, tastrophe, transformed the from becoming everyday the Michigan Democrat
sands of dollars. The tradi- marriage, motherhood. The thobe. streetwear — or protest- called "an unapologetic
tional textiles call to mind a designs varied from village "Suddenly, in the face of
bygone era of Palestinian to village — special three- dispossession and cultural
peasant women sewing on dimensional stitching for appropriation by Israelis,
a break from the fields. the upper class of Bethle- embroidery became an
Last month, Rashida Tlaib hem, big pockets for the urgent task," Dedman said.
proudly wore her mother's nomadic Bedouin women, "The dress was taken up
thobe to her historic swear- orange branch motifs for and politicized."
ing-in as the first female Pal- the orchard-famous city Over decades of conflict
estinian American member of Jaffa, said Maha Saca, that has claimed thou-
of Congress, inspiring mass- director of the Palestinian sands of lives on both sides,
es of women around the Heritage Center in Bethle- Palestinian nationalism has
world, especially in the Pal- hem. Thobe patterns also taken on many forms.
estinian territories, to tweet expressed women's differ- In the early days of Israel's
photos of themselves in ent social positions: red for establishment, it was asso-
their ancestral robes. brides, blue for widows, ciated with calls for Israel's
"The historic thobe conjures blue with multi-colored destruction and deadly at-
an ideal of pure and un- stitches for widows consid- tacks. Armed struggle later In this Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019 photo, designer Natalie Tahhan
touched Palestine, before ering remarriage. gave way to calls for the works in her studio in east Jerusalem.
the occupation," said Ra- While Arab women across establishment of a Palestin- Associated Press
chel Dedman, curator of a the region have worn ian state in the West Bank,
recent exhibit at the Pales- hand-made dresses for Gaza Strip and east Jerusa- wear. But cheaper, mass- display of the fabric of the
tinian Museum focused on centuries, the thobe has lem — lands captured by produced versions of the people in this country" and
the evolution of Palestin- taken on a distinctly Pales- Israel in 1967. Peace talks dress have sprouted up. said it evoked memories of
ian embroidery. "It's more tinian character, particular- have been interrupted by "A woman typically has her mother's West Bank vil-
explicitly tied to history ly since the establishment spasms of violence, and for one thobe to wear on oc- lage, rekindled enthusiasm
and heritage than politics. of Israel in 1948. Hundreds the past decade, a deep casions throughout her life worldwide about the dress.
That's what makes it a bril- of thousands of Palestinians freeze in negotiations. — it's very expensive and "Rashida has become a
liant symbol." either fled or were expelled Today, the internationally impractical," said Maysoun model for Palestinian wom-
The Palestinian thobe trac- from their homes during the recognized autonomy gov- Abed, director of a thobe en everywhere — a strong
es its history to the early war surrounding Israel's cre- ernment of the Palestinian exhibit in the West Bank city woman proud of her na-
19th century, when embroi- ation. Many took only their Authority, which adminis- of Al-Bireh, near Ramallah. tional identity who can
dery was confined to the dresses with them into the ters parts of the West Bank, "But demand for the thobe reach high," said Saca.
continues to seek a two- still runs high as a way of ex- Tahhan agreed, saying
state solution with Israel. pressing patriotism." that "Tlaib's thobe spread a
The Hamas militant group, Although the robe shares beautiful picture of Pales-
which seized the Gaza Strip potent patriotic subtext tine, when usually the me-
in 2007, still seeks Israel's de- and roots in peasant life dia only show the wars."
struction, while many Pal- with the black-and-white For Palestinian women
estinians, particularly the checkered kaffiyeh — born abroad, and refugees
younger generation, now made famous by Palestin- barred from visiting their
talk of a single binational ian leader Yasser Arafat ancestral homes in what
state with Israel in which — the thobe is infused with is now Israel, thobes are a
they would enjoy full equal nostalgic, almost mythical tangible connection to the
rights. associations. land and a way of keeping
Along the way, the thobe "Embroidery evokes the their culture alive.
In this Monday, Jan. 28, 2019 photo, Samiha Jeheshat, displays has grown in popular- timeless connection of Pal- "These dresses are our link
a handmade embroidered Palestinian thobe at her showroom ity and evolved, with dress estinians to the land," Ded- between the past and fu-
in the West Bank village of Idna, north of Hebron.
Associated Press designs reflecting history's man said. "It's a soft image, ture," Saca said.q