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A complaint was submitted to the United Nations Security Council on August 28, 1969, by twenty-four Muslim countries due to the attempt to burn Al Aqsa Mosque. Ambassador Mohammad El Farra of Jordan made a statement to the Council in which he stated:
Today, my delegation joins the 24 other members, representing 750 million adherents of the Moslem faith, which requested a meeting to consider another, more serious tragedy, namely of Al Aqsa Mosque, and the fire which severely damaged that historic Holy Place on the morning of 21 August 1969. The Israeli authorities introduced more than one explanation for the start of the fire and at last charged an Australian with the arson.
According to news that originated from Israel sources, the Australian suspect is a friend of Israel who was brought by the Jewish Agency to work for Israel. The Jewish Agency arranged for the Australian to work in a Kibbutz for some months, so that he could learn the Hebrew language and acquire more of the Zionist teaching. The report published in the Jerusalem Post- an Israeli semi-official newspaper-of 25 August 1969 concerning the life of this Australian in the Kibbutz and his dreams of building Solomon’s temple casts doubt on the case and adds to the fears and worries of the Moslems about their holy shrines; it also throws light on who is the criminal and who is the accomplice.
We have not forgotten statements in the early days of the 5 June 1967 Israeli occupation about the future of Jerusalem, nor have we forgotten the report of Menahem Borsh, which was published in Yediot Aharanot of 18 August, 1969, only three days before the burning of the Mosque, emphasizing that the Temple would be built anew in the same spot that “Strangers tried to seize”. The desecration of this holy Mosque by a group of the Bitar members only three days before the arson is a living example of Israeli motives and designs.
Let us see what did and what did not happen on Thursday, 21 August 1969. In the early hours of that morning fire broke out the Al Aqsa Mosque. Moslems praying in the Mosque and others rushed to the scene to remove some of the valuables in the Mosque and extinguish the fire. The Jordanian fire brigade in Jerusalem was called. Moslem religious leaders as well as Jordanian officials within the Israeli-occupied area came to the scene.
To the outside world news of the fire came in Arabic from Radio Israel at 8:30 a.m., that is, one hour and ten minutes after the fire started. The broad cast carried the news of the arson; it did not give any reason for the fire and did not say whether it was extinguished.
Meanwhile, Jordanian fire brigades from Ramallah, and even those from Al Khalil (Hebron) and Nablus, were sent to the scene- and we all know it takes an ordinary car more than one hour to reach Jerusalem from those two cities. With the help of those brigades and the co-operation of the local population, the fire was at last extinguished and contained.
According to Reuters, it took the fire brigades over five hours to extinguish the fire; this, to a certain extent, was substantiated by Israeli authorities. As stated at a press conference that same day by Teddy Kollek, the illegally appointed Mayor, and according to Radio Israel , it took them until 10:30 a.m. to extinguish the fire. We think Mr. Tekoah should have exchange notes with his authorities, with Radio Israel and Mr. Kollek, before coming here to say that it took about one hour. We find it took them until 10:30 to extinguish the fire.
Certainly Mr. Tekoah seems to disagree with the Israeli eyewitness who admitted that there was delay and tried to find justification for that delay. There was no doubt among the inhabitants and eyewitnesses that the arrival of the Israeli fire brigades, in short reach of the scene, was delayed and their job was unsatisfactory.
That same afternoon the commander of the fire brigades told the journalists that the pumping of water was working swiftly and in an orderly manner at the beginning but that eight minutes later something happened-the pumping of the water was interrupted and could not work as before. This is something for every member to ponder. The commander of the fire brigades reported that it had not been indicated whether that was due to a technical mishap or to a premeditated act. It must be remembered, however, that after the Israeli occupation the water system in the city was connected to the western part so that the Israelis would be in full control of the water system. This, among other things, elicited Sharp criticism and apprehension from Arab Mayor Rouhi El-Khatib and the former President of the Moslem Council, Abdul Hamid Es-Sayeh, both of whom were expelled from Jerusalem to the East Bank of Jordan.
Was Rohan, after all, acting on his own initiative? Was he not brought to Israel and sponsored by the Jewish Agency? Where did he get all the money which he offered to the guards of Al Aqsa on the morning of the fire and which the guards declined to take?
According to The Times of London, of 12 September 1969: “On Rohan’s way out he offered each 110 pounds sterling but they declined, Mr. Hilwani said.” The Sheikh, thinking there must be something wrong, then entered into the Mosque and rushed out crying”
“They have burnt the pulpit.” According to the same semi-official Israeli newspaper, The Jerusalem Post of 25 August 1969, Rohan’s foster-parents in the kibbutz said: “He never appeared to be short of money to us.”
After several meetings by the Security Council to discuss the complaint, it adopted on September 15, 1969, Resolution 271 (1969), which condemned the act of destruction and profanation of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque. It states:
Resolution 271 (1969) of 15 September 1969
The Security Council,
Grieved at the extensive damage caused by arson to the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on 21 August 1969 under the military occupation of Israel.
Mindful of the consequent loss to human culture, Having heard the statements made before the Council reflecting the universal outrage caused by the act of sacrilege in one of the most venerated shrines of mankind, Recalling its resolution 252 (1968) of 21 May 1968 and 267 (1969) of 3 July 1969 and the earlier General Assembly resolutions 2253 (ES-V) and 2254 (ES-V) of 4 and 14 July 1967, respectively, concerning measures and actions by Israel affecting the status of the City of Jerusalem.
Reaffirming the established principle that acquisition of territory by military conquest is inadmissible.
1.Reaffirms its resolution 252 (1968) and 267 (1969);
2. Recognizes that any act of destruction or profanation of the Holy Places, religious buildings and sites in Jerusalem or any encouragement of, or connivance at, any such act may seriously endanger international peace and security;
3. Determines that the execrable act of desecration and profanation of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque emphasizes the immediate necessity of Israel’s desisting from acting forthwith all measures and actions taken by it designed to alter the status of Jerusalem;
4.Calls upon Israel scrupulously to observe the provisions of the Geneva Convention and international law governing military occupation and to refrain from causing any hindrance to the discharge of the established functions of the Supreme Moslem Council may desire from countries with predominantly Moslem population and from Moslem communities in relation to its plan for the maintenance and repair of the Islamic Holy Places in Jerusalem;
5. Condemns the failure of Israel to comply with the aforementioned resolutions and calls upon it to implement forthwith the provisions of these resolutions;
6.Reiterates the determination in paragraph 7 of resolution 267 (1969) that, in the event of a negative response or no response, the Security Council shall convene without delay to consider what further action should be taken in this matter;
7. Request the Secretary-general to follow closely the implementation of the present resolution and to report thereon to the Security Council at the earliest possible date.
Adopted at the 1512th meeting by 11 votes to none, with 4 abstentions (Columbia, Finland, Paraguay, United States of America.)
Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.
During the June 1967 war, the Israelis bombarded the Holy City of Jerusalem. The central gate of Al Aqsa mosque was shattered. One of the Al Aqsa minarets received a direct hit and its dome was damaged. After the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, Israelis held demonstrations, dancing festivals and immoral parties in the sacred area of Haram Al-Sherif. The gates of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque were opened for Jewish tourists of both sexes with their dogs. Men and women entered these holy places dressed in shorts and committed acts of indecency, disrespect and desecration.
Israel dynamited 135 buildings and Mosques owned by Muslim Waqfs in old Jerusalem in order to clear the way for a square in front of Al Buraq, the Western Wall of Al Aqsa Mosque.
On August 26, 1967, fourteen Muslim and Christian leaders of Jerusalem submitted a memorandum to the personal representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in which they described the desecration by Israelis of Muslim and Christian Holy Places. Paragraph 7 of that memorandum states:
The Israeli authorities did not respect the sanctity of Muslim and Christian religious shrines and thus forced the custodian of the Holy Places to close some of the churches. Moreover, the Chief Rabbi of the Israeli army. Brigadier Goren, conducted a prayer, together with some followers, in the Haram Al-Sherif (Holy Mosque), thus blatantly offending Muslim susceptibilities and infringing upon their established rights, while the Minister for religions in Israel announced that the Muslim Mosque is Jewish property, and that sooner or later they will rebuild their temple there. Finally, the Minister of religious Affairs announced its intention of expanding the Wailing Wall area by destroying some of the Muslim buildings surrounding it, and constructing a synagogue there, in contravention of the status quo, and in an outright violation of the rights of Muslims and Muslim Waqf.
Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.
• Newspapers, broadcasts and reports from Jerusalem indicated that the Israeli excavations around the holy Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock were continuing and that they threaten to cause cracks and bring down both temples.
• The Jerusalem Post, in its 4,406th edition of August 22, 1981, reported that archaeological teams belonging to the Israeli military occupation authorities were carrying out excavations aimed at discovering the tombs of the kings of Israel.
• The Israeli military occupation radio reported on the morning of Thursday, August 27, 1981, that the two Chief Rabbis in occupied Palestine had visited a tunnel discovered recently under the Wailing Wall– i.e., the Holy Bozak– leading to a sensitive area– i.e., the Sacred Shrine. The next morning, on August 28, the enemy radio announced that the Islamic Organization at Jerusalem had asked the occupation authorities to allow its engineers to explore the site of the tunnel, and to undertake the necessary measures in the light of their discovery. The broadcast further said that the tunnel was no more than an old well and that it had been discovered well over a month earlier.
• The Jerusalem Post reported in its edition of August 28 details of the tunnel excavations carried out a month earlier by a task force belonging to the Israeli Ministry of Religions. The report added that the excavations had begun a century ago, and that a room had been built there for a synagogue. The report further said that the excavations extended for some distance under the Sacred Shrine, and that they were meant to reach the Dome of the Rock.
• The construction engineer of the holy Al Aqsa Mosque, Essam Awaad, released a later report concerning the digging of the tunnel. The report revealed that the excavations started down below the western wall of the sacred shrine in the place known as Matthara, between Sleselah and Kattanin gates, and extended 25 meters east at a depth of 6 meters, reaching a place in front of Kaitbai fountain facing the western part of the Dome of the Rock.
• These excavations, it has been noted, surround the sacred shrine and the Al Aqsa Mosque from the south and the Dome of the Rock from the west. These excavations are an extension of their counterparts and of the incessant encroachment on Islamic cultural buildings adjacent to the western and southern walls of the sacred shrine, as well as the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
• Regardless of the dispute between the religious communities and the Israeli military governors on the site of the first excavations and their allegations that they are the burial places of the ancient kings of Israel and, regardless of their claim that the tunnel they had discovered in the second place was no more than an old well, the Israeli excavations in the said area constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the holy Islamic sites and persistently threaten to bring them down, thus paving the way for their demolition and the setting up of a shrine for Judaism in their stead and in the courtyards of the sacred shrine thereof.
• These excavations constitute a challenge to the Arab and Islamic worlds, and constitute constant violations of the Hague and Geneva Conventions as well as the resolutions of UNESCO, the Security Council and the entire United Nations, and hence deserve attention and action on all levels.
Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.
Reports concerning the following criminal acts by the Israelis were taken from the records of the Islamic Higher Council in Jerusalem:
March 2, 1982 Armed Jewish settlers and students from Kiryat Arba raided the Al Aqsa Mosque from the Silsilah gate, after assaulting the guards. One was injured•
March 30, 1982 Jewish terrorists called the Temple Mount Faithful group, accompanied by two Knesset members, Guela Cohen and Ben Porat, entered the Al Aqsa Mosque yard in a provocative manner•
April 3, 1982 A group of Jewish terrorists tried to raid the Al Aqsa Mosque from the Dung Gate, but were prevented by Waqf (religious Trust) guards. One of the guards was shot•
April 8, 1982 The Temple Mount Faithful group of Jewish terrorists placed a fake bomb and a threatening letter in front of the Aqsa Mosque door. The bomb consisted of a transistor radio and a timing device. The guard of the mosque found and dismantled it•
April 11, 1982 An Israeli soldier, American-born Allan Goodman, entered the Dome of the Rock Mosque and started firing shots randomly. One person was killed and dozens were injured•
May 12, 1982 A sergeant from the Jerusalem municipal police trespassed on Al Aqsa Mosque land. He claimed he was trying to verify allegations made by Geula Cohen that there were illegal buildings in the Mosque area•
May 22, 1982 Jewish terrorists entered the Haram al Sharif area, distributing leaflets and inciting Jews to go to Pray in the Al Aqsa Mosque area
June 4, 1982 Terrorist Jews sent a letter to the Islamic Council threatening the demolition of Al Aqsa Mosque•
July 7, 1982 The Temple Mount Faithful Jewish terrorist group entered the Mosque yard to hold a demonstration in support of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon•
July 28, 1982 Armed Jewish Yeshiva students seized three apartments near the Al Aqsa Mosque, and left only after they were ordered to evacuate by police•
March 5, 1982 An explosive charge was found on the road leading to the Al Aqsa Mosque, near the entrance of Bab al Majles•
January 14, 1984 Israeli tourist guides handed out false maps to tourists showing two Jewish altars in place of the two mosques on Haram al Sharif•
January 27, 1984 At night a group of terrorist Jews entered the mosque with explosives, intending to blow up Al Aqsa Mosque•
March 24, 1984 An terrorist Jewish group publicly declared its intention to perform the Passover prayers and animal sacrifice in the Al Aqsa Mosque•
March 29, 1984 The Israeli Archaeological Department of the Ministry of Religion constructed a tunnel, one meter in length, two meters wide and ten meters deep, near the western part of the Al Aqsa Mosque near the Dung Gate. The tunnel endangered the Islamic Council Building•
April 23, 1984 Terrorist Jews entered the Al Aqsa Mosque yard, holding weapons, during the prayer time. They proceeded to commit immoral and indecent acts on the holy site•
September 25, 1984 Members of the Temple Mount Faithful Jewish terrorist group attempted to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque yard to pray, but were prevented by Waqf guards•
January 8, 1986 Some Knesset members accompanied by other extremist Jews tried to hold prayers in the Al Aqsa Mosque yard•
January 9, 1986 The Temple Mount Faithful terrorist Jews entered the Al Aqsa Mosque yard, after hoisting the Israeli flag at the Dung Gate. Police removed the flag•
January 14, 1986 When Rabbi Eliezer Waldman trespassed into the Al Aqsa Mosque yard, hundreds of Muslim youth demonstrated against his entry. Military forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and arrested 19 persons•
January 19, 1986 The Kach movement, led by Meir Kahane, violently attempted to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque yard. They were prevented by border guards, and detained for one hour and then released•
May 12, 1988 Israeli soldiers opened fire on a peaceful Muslim march at the Haram, killing and wounding about 100 Palestinians•
August 8, 1990 The Israeli authorities committed a grisly massacre at the Al Aqsa Mosque, killing 22 worshippers and injuring over 200.
July 25, 1995 The Israeli High Court of Justice allows Jews to pray at the “Temple Mount”, sparking widespread protests among Muslims.
Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.
The United Nations Security Council was convened in April, 1981, to discuss the new attack and desecration by
Zionists of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque. Dr. Hazem Nusseibeh, the Ambassador of Jordan, described the attack in his statement to the Council in its meeting of April 13, 1982. The following are excerpts of the statement:
On Sunday, 11 April, at 9:20 a.m., a gang of armed Israeli troops directed heavy fire from various directions at the Al Aqsa Mosque…
That Israeli carnage was carried out to give cover to an Israeli soldier– or is he an American? He is in fact both– by the name of Alan Harry Goodman, who was on a murderous journey of death and desecration. He killed in cold blood a 65-year old unarmed Arab guard at the Magharba– Moroccan Gate– evidently unchallenged by the armed Israeli trooper who sits there. He murdered in cold blood two other unarmed guardians and seriously wounded a third at the entrance to the Dome of the Rock, opened up his fire-arms at the worshippers in every direction, for a duration of half an hour. Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that he had a large stock of ammunition on his shoulders, to murder the maximum number of devout worshippers and civilians in the vicinity. Having murdered nine and wounded 40 other in the Mosque, this Israeli-American criminal directed his fire at the Al-Minbar– pulpit– the chandeliers, the mosaic, the marble and the carpets, some of which caught fire. The casualties in that premeditated and well-planned assault totaled at least 100 inside and outside the holy Mosque.
Fearful that the highly provoked victims would capture that gutter terrorist, his accomplices– the Israeli so-called anti-riot police– imposed a total curfew on that historic and ancient City, demolished a part of one of the walls of the holy sanctuary, stormed the Dome of the Rock and ensured the safety of the criminal by firing at the crowd, and then whisked him away to safety in a closed military van…
The Islamic Council in Jerusalem, which has called a seven-day strike throughout the occupied territories, denounced a statement issued Sunday by the office of Prime Minister Menachem Begin which described the Israeli soldier as mentally ill. The criminal, Alan Harry Goodman, formerly of Baltimore, was inducted into the army last month for a brief service customary for immigrants. Of course, he has dual nationality.
The Higher Islamic Council said it was absurd of the Prime Minister’s office to describe the assailant as deranged, because soldiers were supposed to undergo physical examinations. Moreover, the Higher Islamic Council added, the assailant was not alone. It asserted that he had been covered during his attack by fire from many directions. How else could he have continued his shooting spree within the Dome of the Rock for half an hour until he had expended all his bullets?
The Zionist designs against the Islamic Holy Sanctuary are long and infamous. A chronology survey of these activities includes the following:
1.Continuous and sustained deep digging under the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Sanctuary as a whole– structures which are 14 centuries old– began immediately after the Zionist occupation of the Holy City, in addition to the demolition of hundreds of buildings in the area adjacent to it. These deep diggings have reached such depths that entire structures are threatened with collapse.
2.On 21 August, 1969 the Zionists carried out a plot of arson to set the entire Al Aqsa Mosque on fire. The arsonist, Michael Rohan, a Zionist Australian, was declared deranged– not unlike the person in question today– and sent to Australia.
3.On 9 May 1980, 120 kilos of high explosives, scores of bombs, wires and other explosive contraptions were accidentally discovered a mere few minutes away from the time of detonation on the roof of a Jewish school in the Old City, 150 yards away from the target. The Gush Emunim terrorist movement was behind the plan, which aimed at blowing up the Al Aqsa Mosque and other historical buildings. The day was a Friday and tens of thousands of worshippers might have been killed or maimed if that arsenal of explosives had not been accidentally discovered two minutes before explosion.
4.Repeated attempts by Israeli groups to force their way into mosques of the holy sanctuary, leading to numerous clashes.
5.Last year, the Israeli Gush Emunim started digging a tunnel leading to the Dome of the Rock. The attempt was discovered and foiled by the civilian inhabitants.
6.7 April, 1982– that is, three days before the Easter Sunday massacre– explosive charges placed by (Gush Emunim) were discovered at the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque and dismantled. Beside the charges were pamphlets threatening to blow up the Al Aqsa Mosque and physically liquidate the religious dignitaries. The threats were written in broken Arabic and issued from the Kiryat Arba illegal settlement overlooking the City of Al-Khalil (Hebron).
(New York Times correspondent David Shipler revealed the following on 12 April 1982, p.12). He said, referring to the Israeli troops, that “Just before going, one of them, with a laugh, threw a tear gas grenade near the (Al Aqsa) Mosque upwind of the main door. Smoke from the perfectly placed canister blew into the mosque, and worshippers came out coughing and wiping their eyes. One elderly man was carried to an ambulance. A few of the troops walked away laughing.”
If the spot is as sacred to those troops as they claim it is, it is truly incongruous that the soldiers would have behaved with that bellicose and nauseating meanness…
Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.
Some Christian American evangelists and Jewish terrorists have formed an organization with the name 
The Jerusalem Temple Foundation. It has an address in Los Angeles, California, and in Jerusalem. The Board of Directors of this foundation are the following: Terry Risenhoover, Chairman of the Board, is Chairman of Alaska Land Leasing Inc., of Los Angeles, California; Douglas Krieger, Executive Director of Jerusalem Temple Foundation and of Alaska Land Leasing Inc., of Los Angeles, California; Dr. Charles E. Monroe, President, is President of the Center of Judeo-Christian studies, of Poway, California; Dr. Hilton Sutton, Director, is Chairman of Mission to America, of Humble, texas; Dr. James DeLoach, Director, is Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, of Houston, Texas; and Stanley Goldfoot is a Jew from South Africa. He was a member of the Irgun Z’vai Leumi and was one of the four terrorists who placed the bombs in 1946 under the King David Hotel and caused the massacre of the King David Hotel.
The contemplated projects of this foundation as they appear in a brochure printed by it are the following: “1. Jewish Temple Foundation office at the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem. 2. The establishment of a Temple Mount area in Jerusalem. 3. Assistance in land and buildings redemption by Jews in Israel. 4. Freedom for Jews and Christians to worship on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 5. The use of geophysical methods for archaeological surveys in Jerusalem. 6. Preparations for the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem. 7. Preparation of films and video presentations related to the Temple Mount. 8. Other projects as necessary and as funds are made available.”
Source: Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.
Widad Kawar is an internationally renowned collector of Palestinian and Jordanian ethnic and cultural arts. She was born in Tulkarem
but grew up in Bethelem. Widad received her education in the Ramallah Quaker School. She studied at the American University of Beirut.
Ramallah and Bethlehem, both considered significant cultural heritage centers in Palestine, had a tremendous impact on Widad as a young girl.
During some vacations at her mother´s town Widad began to appreciate the nature of Palestinian village life in the 1940s. She started to learn about costumes and embroidery and she felt in love with that art. In the time she spent in Aboud, every day after lunch many women got together and embroider.
With the time she got married and settled in Jordan where she volunteered in Hussein and Wihdat refugee camps. Widad was a member of the YMCA as well as the Women’s Auxiliary of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a special body created after the Palestinian exodus in 1948.
The war of 1967 was an extraordinary human drama and Widad and all the Palestinians saw Palestine occupied. She began to collect geneuine pieces before they were lost or influenced by the new life in the refugee camps.
She collected marriage dresses, cushion covers, home decorations, weaving, pottery, handicrafts, belts, head covers jewelry and straw work.
After the war she began to meet women in different villages and cities in Palestine and she understood the way their roles had changed with the occupation and their position in the family, their attachment to their heritage and their endurance to keep a family together under that situation.
The women whose heritage Widad has collected remain her inspiration. They have honored her by sharing their sad and happy memories of the past with her. They inspired her to pass on their rich cultural heritage to future generations.
Actually, Kawar is known as Umm l’ibas al-falastini—the mother of Palestinian dress.
She has amassed an extensive collection of dresses, costumes, textiles, and jewelry over the past 50 years, seeking to preserve part of the heritage of Palestine. Kawar´s collection is the largest to date of Palestinian traditional dress and accessories comprising more than 3,000 items.
She has made her collection available for public viewing and has mounted exhibits of Palestinian dress around the world.
For her each item fo her collection calls to mind an individual: a wife, a mother, a daughter, a family. Each item reminds her of a place: a village, a town, a house, a market. Each item was worn on special occasions by a special person.
She has written many books on Palestinian embroidery. Recently, she collaborated with Margaret Skinner on A Treasury of Stitches: Palestinian Embroidery Motifs, 1850–1950(Rimal/Melisende). Widad is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Center for Oriental Research.
Her latest and most important book is Threads Of Identity a history of Palestinian women told through aspects of popular heritage, focusing on traditional dresses but also including textiles and rug weaving, rural and urban customs, jewellery, cuisine, and festivities. The interviews with women who lived through the traumas and changes of the 20th century are a contribution to oral history, augmenting standard historical accounts. While most writing about the Middle East concentrates on politics, her book focuses on the dignity of ordinary people, and women in particular, bridging the gap between the major events of history and everyday life. With this book Widad Kamel Kawar pays homage to Palestinian women.
After years of collection, she recently established Tiraz, a home for the largest collection of Arab dress, containing over 3,000 costumes and weavings from the 19th and 20th centuries. Her dream now is to develop the center and keep the traditions of embroidery alive.
Each piece belongs to a particular time, a particular tribe or village, with an individual story to tell.
Tiraz is a place to exhibit and combine these stories for the public in Jordan and the Middle East, as well as for cultural centres and institutions around the world. To be celebrated and understood, and collection must be seen and experienced.
Words alone cannot capture the spirit and immediacy of the embroidered patterns; the sensitivity, diversity and the richness of their forms.
Tiraz will curate, describe and explore these forms, expressed in the seams of each garment, in a way which historians and visitors from all over the world will come to appreciate, and remember.
Awards
- Directorate of Heritage Award of the Government of Sharjah, 2014
- Prince Klaus International Award for culture and development, 2012
- Jordan Tourism Medal for her role in organizing the Seville World Expo, 1992
- King Hussein Medal, 1993
- Medal for Jarash Festival, 1986
List of Publications
The list below includes authored publications as well as contribution towards publications, especially exhibit catalogues.
- Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Culture and Heritage – Amman, Jordan [2011]
- Contribution to BERG Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion Volume Four on Central and South West Asia [2010]
- Bethlehem: From Golden Threads to Cement Blocks – Amman, Jordan [2005]
- Cultural Treasures of Jordan [2001]
- Palestinian Embroidery, Traditional Fallahi Stitch. With Tania Nasir. National Ethnic Museum -Munich, Germany [1992]
- Costumes Speak. With Sally de Vries. Jordan Magazine – Washington, United States
- National Costumes of Jordan. The Art of Jordan. Museum of Mersyside – Liverpool, England
- 2000 Years of color. Kawar Collection and Mosaics of Jordan. Moesgard Museum – Aarhus, Denmark [1991]
- Memoire de Soie. Institute du Monde Arabe – Paris, France [1988]
- Pracht Und Geheimnis. Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum – Munich, Germany [1987]
- Costumes and Wedding Customs in Bayt Dajan. With Shelagh Weir. [1984]
- Weaving in Jordan – Amman, Jordan [1981]
- Costumes Dyed by the Sun – Tokyo, Japan [1982]
Exhibitions
Some of the items of her big collection
Hebron
Jaffa
Gaza
Head Cover Jerusalem Head Cover Galilee
Bracelets Necklaces
Cross Stitch
Pottery
Weavings
Sources:
Further readings:
-Presentation of 2012 Prince Claus Award to Widad Kawar
http://www.princeclausfund.org/es/news/presentation-of-2012-prince-claus-award-to-widad-kawar.html
– Widad Kawar – Every Dress Tells A Story
http://beamman.com/historic-and-cultural/1085-widad-kawar-tiraz
Yasser Barakat is a Palestinian collector and designer who owns The Yasser Barakat Gallery in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Barakat is a native Jerusalemites, graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He started collecting Palestinian dresses and artwork when he was 19 years old. His passion for Palestinian embroidery is one of the reasons why he collected and preserved this heritage from all regions of Palestine.
The gallery was established in 1972 and offers a wide range of old Palestinian artwork, David Roberts lithographs (original 1840s and 1850s pieces), steel engraving and maps from the 16th and 17th centuries. Additionally, there is a magnificent collection of Persian, Turkish, Afghani and Palestinian carpets.
In his search for Palestinian artwork, Barakat grew to understand that embroidery is being lost and neglected. He wanted to do something about it, and created a studio to collect Palestinian dresses and jewellery.
To this day, Yasser continues to search for and buy unique Palestinian artwork wherever he can find it in order to safeguard the history of Palestinian embroidery and artwork.
Barakat believes that each piece of Palestinian embroidery contains a story and heritage. Each dress holds a story behind it, and Yasser can spend hours explaining the meaning behind every piece of embroidery, describing the village in Palestine it came from and the meaning behind each piece. Within its stitches and colours lays stories of Palestine that need to be propagated.
He explains that these pieces were typically done on either black or white linen dresses, which had triangular sleeves and whose length reached the floor.
The embroidered area included a square chest piece, front and back lower panels and side panels running down from the waist. Each colour is chosen with care and with an attention to the meaning it conveys. For example, when embroidery uses green, it is meant to symbolise growth; yellow stands for harvest; brown for earth; blue against the evil eye; and black for widows.
Every woman had the chance to express her creativity with her choice of colours, patterns and fabrics, but generally each area in Palestine had its own distinct embroidery rules.
The dresses were accessorised with headpieces (veils) and each area and village wore different hats. Each hat contained different stitches and silver coins, depending on how wealthy the woman was. Some hats even contained gold coins to denote their wealth.
Women’s accessories also included bracelets, necklaces, nose rings and anklets. Jewellery often had names engraved on it and contained different artwork, depending on the area it came from.
Yasser not only collects Palestinian artwork but he also design and offer art pieces in a newer and preserved manner. All pieces are done with Manjal stitch around the borders, which holds the embroidery and highlights its beauty. The embroidery styles come from dresses and jewellery from all regions of Palestine.
He is doing a great job because old dresses that are ruined and neglected are fixed up, worked on and preserved on newer fabrics and in unique framings.
The gallery offers Palestinian dresses embroidered between the 1890s and the 1930s. All dresses are pure silk embroidered and naturally dyed. The dresses originate from all regions of Palestine, including a variety of Palestinian cities and villages. Dresses were produced for many different occasions such as weddings, everyday dress, and festive/special events.
Palestinian wedding headdresses also tell unique stories and depict different regions of Palestine. Historically, the headdress was a part of the woman’s dowry and the amount of silver or gold on the headdress added to the total amount of the dowry. Each headdress resembles the area it came from such as Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. The headdresses were made in these big cities and then worn in the surrounding towns and villages.
We can find as well table runners, cushions, wedding pillows, wall hangings, bags and clutches, wallets and glasses cases.
Some items of his collection
Front Piece
Dress
Wedding Pillow
Headdress
Source:
www.yasserbarakatgallery.com
Further readings:
– The Yasser Barakat Collection of Palestinian Embroidery Preserving Palestines Heritage and Art
http://archive.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=1029&ed=93
– This Week in Palestine, 27 Feb 2014, “The Yasser Barakat Collection of Palestinian Embroidery Preserving Palestine’s
http://www.fashionembroidery.co.uk/features.php#row1
Abed Abdi is a Palestinian sculptor and muralist. He was born in 1942 in Haifa where he still lives. 
He belongs to the generation of post-1948 pioneering visual artists.
His father Abed el Rahman el Haj, was mayor of the city of Haifa in the years 1920-1927. In April 1948, the family´s artist were uprooted from their home, his father remained in Haifa. They went to live in different refugee camps until they were allowed to go back to Palestine as part of the family reunification program.
He start his love for art during high school where he learned painting and sculpting. In 1962 he was accepted for membership in the Haifa branch of the Israeli Association of Painters and Sculptors becoming the first Palestinian member.
He studied Fine Arts in Germany where he specialized in murals and environmental sculpture.
In 1970 after he received his diploma, he was selected along a group of other graduating students at the academy, to participate in the erection of a huge mural at the Cultural Palace built in 1968 in Dresden. The mural still remains a cultural landmark of this part of unified Germany.
In 1972 Abdi returned from Germany and started working as an illustrator, graphic designer, sculptor, curator and teacher of fine art in colleges and community centers.
After studying in Dresden, Abdi became the first Palestinian to build monumental art on native soil. His allegorical monuments in Galilee, honouring human fortitude and resistance, include a narrative mural. He built a bronze monument dedicated to six Palestinians who were shot on Land Day (1).
In the years 1972 to 1982 he was the graphic designer and graphic editor of the newspaper Al Ittihad and of the literary journal Al Jadid published in Haifa. During this period working there, he created caricatures and illustratios.
In the 1990s he started to change things in his art and he began turning to mixed media and color painting, using materials like glass, copper, wood and aluminium.
The city of Haifa awarded Abed Abdi the “Herman Struck Best Artist of the Year” in 1973 and that year he obtained the Young Artist´s award at the Berlin International Youth Festival.
Abed Abdi has exhibited in Qatar, Israel, Belgium and Bulgaria. He has participated in over 45 group exhibitions, among them the joint Palestinian-Israeli exhibition “It’s possible” which toured the US and Germany between 1988 and 1990.
In 1995 he participated in the second exhibition for Palestinians and Israelis in Germany. His work appeared in the “Solidarity with the Palestinian People” exhibit in Tokyo, Berlin, Brussels, Belgrade and Athens.
He also organized and participated in exhibitions around Palestine in the period between 1980 and 1987 defending the freedom of expression and creativity.
In 1999 for the second time he received the Hermann Struck Best Artist of the Year Prize.
During the years 2001, 2002 he received a number of awards from local Rotary clubs in Haifa and Nazareth.
In 2008 he became the first Palestinian artist living in the illegal state of Israel to win the Israeli Minister of Science, Culture and Sport Award for art and graphic art. In the same year he received a honorary mention from Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures.
In 2010 he received the title of notable citizen of Haifa.
Part of an interview with Abed Abdi, Palestinian painter from Haifa, Feb 2014
Reference
(1) On 30 March 1976, thousands of people belonging to the Palestinian minority in Israel gathered to protest Israeli government plans to expropriate 60,000 dunams of Arab-owned land in the Galilee. In the resulting confrontations with Israeli police, six Palestinians were killed, hundreds wounded, and hundreds jailed. In the intervening years, those events have become consecrated in the Palestinian memory as Land Day.
Abed Abdi ´s work
Memorial at Shafar’
Memorial for the six martyrs of the Day of the Land (1978)
…in Wadi Nisnas for the Feast of the Feasts, in 1998
Majnoune
Sources:
–Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
-Institute for Middle East Understand (http://imeu.org/article/who-are-some-well-known-palestinian-painters-or-other-visual-artists)
-ElectronicIntifada.com
-Jadadiyya.com
-Abedabdi.com
Further Reading:
–Part of an interview with Abed Abdi, Palestinian painter from …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzmQNokv-Yo )
– What is it that Palestinians commemorate on Land Day?(http://electronicintifada.net/content/what-it-palestinians-commemorate-land-day/5039 )
– Abed Abdi and the Liberation Art of Palestine
(http://abedabdi.com/index.php/en/reviews/203-abed-abdi-and-the-liberation-art-of-palestine )
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