Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Within a marginalized area in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, specifically in the Al-Lahham neighborhood in the Al-Mawasi area, hundreds of poor families live in dilapidated houses made up of iron sheets and asbestos (light sheets made of metals and fibers used in ceilings), and in the middle of these houses are household utensils. It is made of wicker, which is considered one of the ancient Palestinian heritage tools, and is made by a seventy-year-old woman called Fatima, who has been working at it for 56 years.
Inherited by the ladies of the family
Fatima Hassan Al-Laham (71 years old) was born in the old neighborhood of the city of Khan Yunis, into a Palestinian family that worked with the Ottoman rulers in the ancient heritage area of Barquq Castle before the English colonization of Palestine in 1918, but she preserved the legacy of the women of the family in making wicker tools.
She relies on dried palm leaves and the coarse Allafa plant, and brings them from the area in which she lives, which is one of the areas where palm trees are widespread. She determines the shape she wants to make, precisely on an iron sharpener, using a large tailor’s needle and strong plastering thread.
In bright colors
Fatima dyes some wicker in pink, green, brown, and red colors, and to produce special dyes in multiple colors, many tools are made from them, such as pots, trays, cups, ties, coffee pots, scenery and picture hangers, and cooking utensils to put the iron utensils inside and protect what is inside from the external heat.
She says, "I used to sell wickerwork and its various tools in the Wednesday market in the city of Khan Yunis, but today there is no demand for it from merchants in light of the Chinese and other tools that fill the market. However, there is a group of people who travel long distances from the governorates of the Gaza Strip to reach me to buy them and use them at home. They are They return to ancient Palestinian heritage tools, and there are those who collect these tools as a hobby.”
She inherited it from her mother
Fatima learned to make wicker tools when she was 15 years old, and she inherited them from her mother, Maryam, who used to make them and export their products to all the Palestinian cities and villages that were occupied by Israel in 1948. She also exported them to Egyptian merchants who came to Gaza for commercial exchange between 1948 until the year of the setback in 1967. .
She added, "The difference between them and ordinary tools is that they can withstand temperatures, do not break, are light, environmentally friendly, and do not contain materials such as plastic, iron, etc. The original residents of Gaza, who live in the Shujaiya neighborhood and the Olive Quarter, used to get them from my mother and sell them in the Levant and some Palestinian cities in the interior." .
Her daughters rejected her education and was unique
Al-Lahham has five daughters and two sons, all of whom are married, and she has thirty grandchildren, who gather with her during school vacations and weekends to watch her make household tools from palm wicker, and tell them old Palestinian stories, while all of her daughters refused to learn to make wicker tools from them, but her son, Farid ( 31 years) She makes it from her to preserve it from extinction.
But Fatima and her husband have been living in difficult circumstances in a dilapidated house in the Al-Mawasi area for 45 years, and she lived for many years near the settlements “Gush Katif Settlement Complex” spread throughout the governorates of the Gaza Strip before the Israeli withdrawal in 2005.
She recalls, before the withdrawal, when the army searched all Palestinian homes in the area and brought them out at the doors of the houses to prevent stones thrown at them during the evacuation and withdrawal process from the settlements.
“My wife is an example of a steadfast woman
Daoud Al-Laham (73 years old), Fatima's husband, was a carpet maker in the city of Khan Yunis. He worked inside Palestine before the year 2000, but following the second intifada, he was unable to return and became unemployed, and his wife is the one who covers their household expenses.
He says, "We live in difficult economic conditions, but my wife is trying hard to sell and make wickerwork for her customers and provide some household needs. She is an example of a steadfast Palestinian woman who struggles to preserve a cultural heritage despite the lack of demand for it and to preserve her home."
Participation in heritage exhibitions
Fatima participates in national heritage exhibitions with civil society organizations during International Women’s Day, Palestinian Heritage Day, Palestinian memories, and national events. She finds good livelihood in these exhibitions, and many times she is surprised that some young men do not know wicker tools, so she talks to them about these things. Heritage industry and its importance in Palestinian heritage, especially among farmers and Bedouins.
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Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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