Caabu Members' event: Women in Hebron strengthening communities through embroidery

Please join Caabu for a Members' event with Nawal Sleimah, founder and director of Women in Hebron, a  Palestinian women's traditional embroidery cooperative. Nawal will speak about the role that women in Hebron are playing in strengthening communities through embroidery. Nawal will be speaking to Shelagh Weir, former Curator for the Middle East at the Museum of Mankind (British Museum) where she organized exhibitions and published books on Palestinian costume and embroidery.

You will be able to buy some of the products produced by Women in Hebron at the event.

When: Thursday, 26 June, 1:30 pm

Where: Boardroom, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE 

Click here for directions 

Please note that this is a Caabu Members' event. If you're not already a member and would like to become one in order to come to the event, you can do so here. As places are limited, RSVP is essential. Please confirm your attendance with Joseph Willits (willitsj@caabu.org). 

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About Women In Hebron:

Women in Hebron is a Palestinian nonprofit fair trade cooperative under the Idna Cooperative Association for Embroidery and Handicrafts. Idna is a mid-sized Palestinian city of around 25,000 people, located to the southwest of Hebron in the West Bank.

Women in Hebron was established as part of the cooperative association's efforts to provide women in Hebron district the resources to provide for themselves and their families through the production and sales of Palestinian handicraft items. Our work began in 2005, when our founder and director, Nawal Slemiah, began selling items in the Old City souq (market) of Hebron in the occupied H2 sector, a short distance from the Ibrahimi Mosque. Since 2005, Women in Hebron has grown from a small table along the main thoroughfare of the market to a permanent fixture in the Old City. As a result of our handicraft sales through Women in Hebron, The Idna Cooperative Association has been able to open a small community center in the village of Idna, where members of the association can gather together to do their work, take part in educational programs, and socialise with their peers.

The 120 women who produce the items that are sold come from across Hebron district from eight cities and villages. The proceeds from sales provide themselves and their families with additional income that could not otherwise be obtained through part-time employment.

Our work is based on the idea that developing Palestinian handicrafts is more than just an income-generating project. It is in of itself an act of community-strengthening, of honoring the role of women in our society, and a means to show sumud - steadfastness - in the face of the occupation of Palestine and the harm it has done to the people of Hebron.

They Tweet at @womeninhebron. You can also see the Women in Hebron Facebook page.

About Nawal:

In 2006, Nawal had two toddlers to take care of and swas interested in finding work to do from home. Her mother taught her how to embroider in the traditional Palestinian styles that have been used for centuries to adorn apparel and decorative items in every home in Palestine. She wanted to start something that could include other women in a similar position and it was important to her to use a skill that Palestinians already had. Nawal began by doing more and more embroidery with a few friends and then set up a table to sell the items in the Old City of Hebron. 

At that time, it was just a few years after the intifada and then Israel's crackdown on the PA after Hamas won the election, so there were very few shops open in the area. Coming from a small village, Nawal did not know anything about what it would take to open up her own shop, but later became the first woman to do so in the Old City of Hebron. But since that time, with the support of countless friends both in the local community and around the world,

Women in Hebron has grown tremendously and many families in the Hebron area now benefit from the sales of this beautiful embroidery.

If you would like to attend this Caabu Members' event, please RSVP to Joseph Willits (willitsj@caabu.org).