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Text and photos by Matt Horton
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Vol. XXVII, Issue #8 (November 2008)

Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip daily tightens its crushing stranglehold on the Palestinian economy. With Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank increasing from 376 in 2005 to 580 in 2008 (World Bank, March 2008), and the near total closure of the Gaza Strip since 2006, the movement of people and goods is severely restricted. Despite these obstacles, however, Palestinians continue to farm, to produce crafts, and to struggle to maintain their livelihoods.

According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), unemployment among Palestinians in the occupied territories rose to 30.3 percent in 2007, with 68 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Not surprisingly, Palestinians have taken on considerable debt. OxFam reports that in 2007 Palestinian households collectively owed $870 million.

Despite a centuries-old tradition of commerce, Palestine is becoming a welfare state funded by international donors. More than one million Palestinians are dependent on salaries paid to the Palestinian Authority’s some 160,000 employees, and thousands more survive on development projects and charity. Without an independent economy and the ability to provide for themselves, even if some sort of political agreement is reached, peace will remain elusive.

The strangling of the Palestinian economy also threatens to destroy traditional industries central to Palestinian identity and culture. In looking for ways to support their families, fewer and fewer young Palestinians are choosing to learn and carry on their agricultural and artistic traditions. Without a demand for traditional Palestinian products, many of these unique craft traditions may be lost to the world. Imagine if the Nazi occupation of France had destroyed the French wine industry!

While humanitarian relief is essential to help Palestinians survive the extreme conditions under which they live, the American Educational Trust (AET) believes it is important to remember that the Palestinian catastrophe is man-made and requires a political resolution. Humanitarian relief is thus a bandage, not a solution. This is why, for the past 26 years, AET’s primary goal has been to educate and advocate for a just U.S. foreign policy throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds via the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

To bolster Palestinians’ ability to stand on their own two feet when peace comes, to help them make a dignified living while the occupation endures, and to help preserve their craft traditions, the Palestinian Arts & Crafts Trust (PACT) is working to establish an international market for traditional Palestinian products. In addition to a catalog of more than 400 titles, the AET Book Club has added PACT, which now offers North America’s most diverse selection of traditional Palestinian products from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and Palestinian villages in Israel.

The main supplier of offerings to PACT is Fakhoury Pottery of Jerusalem. More than 40 different items, from table settings to home decor, are available in eight different patterns. Lead-free, dishwasher- and microwave-safe, the pieces are striking enough to be used as decoration, but durable enough for everyday use.

PACT also features products from the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children. Made by, and benefiting, the deaf community in Gaza City, PACT’s selection includes brilliantly colored greeting cards, embroidery and ceramics. PACT also carries a variety of embroidery from several other West Bank women’s collectives across the West Bank.

Celebrating the olive as a staple of the traditional and contemporary Palestinian economy, PACT offers fair trade olive oil from Mountain High Imports in Jenin, and seven different types of olive oil soap from Nablus and Bethlehem. Three different gift baskets featuring a 750 ml bottle of olive oil are available.

This holiday season get beautiful and affordable gifts from PACT and help provide a dignified life for Palestinians resisting occupation. Educate your friends and family about the Palestinian people through the beauty of their traditional crafts, and build a market for their products in North America that will sustain these artisans and their crafts into the future.

For more information or to order, call (800) 368-5788 ext. 2, visit www.middleeastbooks.com to browse through and purchase items, or drop in to the newly renovated store at 1902 18th Street NW in Washington DC, open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

For those of you in Washington, DC: See our advertisement on page 75 of the Metro Weekly Fall Arts Preview!

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