Description
Embroidered tatreez bottle carrier, red, in various traditional Palestinian design. Made by the Palestinian Embroidery Workshop at the Melkite Centre, Ramallah. The Melkite Palestinian Embroidery Workshop began in 1988 as a response to the desperate need of families at the outbreak of the first Intifada. Women suddenly became breadwinners as men were imprisoned, disabled or deported. Palestinian handcrafts are a symbol of the people and their striving for a normal way of life with a national identity, free of the Israeli occupation of their land. Making beautiful handcrafts gives people dignity and helps them psychologically to survive while living in extremely distressing circumstances.