Page 32 - aruba-today-20190711

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 11 July 2019

Gaza’s traditional crafts industries rapidly disappearing

By FARES AKRAM just five part-timers.
KHALIL HAMRA Though Israel has lifted the
Associated Press ban on some furniture ex-
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ports, Khalaf said his clients
— When Gazans think of moved to other suppliers
better economic times, im- long ago. Hamas taxes on
ages of clay pottery, color- raw materials have added
ful glassware, bamboo fur- another obstacle.
niture and ancient frame “This is a traditional Palestin-
looms weaving bright rugs ian profession. The official
and mats all come to mind. authorities should make it
For decades, these tradi- a priority,” he said. “They
tional crafts defined the have to support this indus-
economy of the coastal try.”
Palestinian enclave, em- Thousands of unsold clay
ploying thousands of peo- bowls, pots, vases and jugs
ple and exporting across sit in the yard of the Atallah
the region. Today, the in- pottery workshop. On a re-
dustries are almost non-ex- cent day, three employees
istent. shaped clay on the wheel,
While such professions have while two others mixed
shrunk worldwide in the mud. Khairi Atallah, the
face of globalization and pottery maker, said this is all
Chinese mass production, In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, a Palestinian works at a pottery workshop in Gaza City. that remains of the 50 work-
Gazan business owners say Associated Press ers he once employed.
Israel’s 12-year blockade Abu Sido laid off his 15 “In this framework, pi- difficult to resume opera- “The income is no longer
of the territory has acceler- workers and ceased op- lot programs have been tions. Many have lost their enough to get by,” he said.
ated the trend. erations the following year. launched for produc- former business partners. He said he keeps operating
“We have been economi- Israel says the blockade is ing wet wipes, aluminum Not far from Abu Sido’s because his father doesn’t
cally damaged. We are needed to contain Hamas goods, iron doors, toys, workshop is Khalaf’s Car- want the generations-old
staying, but things are real- and prevent it from arming. wooden boards and pentry, known for making business to close during his
ly difficult,” said Abed Abu But the closure, repeated more,” it said. Agricultural prized cane and bamboo lifetime.
Sido, one of Gaza’s last rounds of fighting with Israel products, furniture and tex- furniture. Its living room sets, Mahmoud Sawaf, 73, be-
glassmakers, as he flipped and a power struggle with tiles are now regularly ex- recliners, dining tables and lieves he is the last weaver
through a glossy catalog of the rival Palestinian Author- ported from Gaza through chairs were once shipped in Gaza. With the territory
his products. ity in the West Bank have hit a cargo crossing with Israel, to markets in the West closed to tourists, interna-
At his quiet workshop, lay- Gaza hard. it added. Bank, Israel, Persian Gulf tional aid workers are the
ers of dust covered the few Under the blockade, Israel COGAT said it now has the and America. The business only people keeping him
remaining glass artifacts, has greatly restricted ex- capacity to ship 100 truck- flourished from 1975 until afloat. Cheaper straw mats
requiring him to scrub them ports and limited imports loads of goods through its the outbreak of the second have flooded Gaza, and
to reveal their colors. Card- of raw materials. With un- Kerem Shalom crossing, but Palestinian uprising in 2000. local residents can’t afford
board boxes of unfinished employment over 50%, de- that the Gazans are only Things worsened after the his handmade carpets. But
products and materials mand from the local mar- utilizing about one third of blockade, and owner the foreigners still buy them.
were stacked floor-to-ceil- ket is weak. Israel blames that. Business owners say Tareq Khalaf said he be- “Even at this age I continue
ing. the situation on Hamas, an that after so many years of gan laying off his 30 full- to work,” he said. “I will not
Abu Sido opened his busi- armed group that opposes being unable to export, it is time workers. Now he has give up and quit.”q
ness in the 1980s, selling Israel’s existence.
many of his items to ven- COGAT, the Israeli defense
dors in the popular market- body responsible for Pales-
place of Jerusalem’s Old tinian civilian affairs, said
City. In his heyday, he said exports from Gaza now fre-
he took part in exhibitions in quently make their way into
Europe. Israel, the West Bank and
That changed after 2007, beyond, and that it has
when the Hamas militant worked in recent months
group overran Gaza, and to promote even more ex-
Israel and Egypt responded ports to help develop Ga-
by sealing Gaza’s borders. za’s economy.

In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, a Palestinian works at a In this Saturday, July 6, 2019 photo, Palestinian Mahmoud al-Sawwaf, the owner of a traditional
bamboo workshop in Gaza City. carpets factory, displays his products in Gaza City.
Associated Press Associated Press