Embroidering Resistance: Palestinian Tatreez
Image courtesy of PPMG
As seen during Jordaninan Princess Iman bint Abdullah II’s pre-wedding henna party on March 7, 2023, designer Reema Dahbour’s bridal dress gained exceptional feedback both from the fashion world and the Palestinian community. The Princess's mother, Queen Rania, was born to parents from Tulkarm, Palestine who relocated to Kuwait in 1961. Princess Iman’s dress was handmade with tatreez, Palestinian embroidery, to showcase that part of her Palestinian heritage.
Tatreez, the transliteration of the Arabic word تطريز, directly translates to embroidery in Arabic and is often used to refer to the handicraft of Palestinian cross-stitching. Another popular form of Palestinian embroidery is called tahriri, which refers to another technique of the art form – couching. Since it was mostly created by Palestinian farming women from the villages. It is also more traditionally known as the “fallahi” style. The term fallahi stems from the Arabic word for farmers, fallah (فلاح), signifying tatreez’s extensive practice from the central to the south of historic Palestine.
Tatreez’s history stretches back 3,000 years ago to the Canaanites who were living in the region. It was created for the purpose of documenting significant occasions through designs. Like any artistic expression, tatreez carries cultural significance to Palestinian society. However, for Palestinian women who created them, tatreez is more than fabrics with intricate designs on them – it symbolizes the everlasting Palestinian resistance, fuels economic opportunities for Palestinian women, and presents tales of their homeland.
The unlimited colored threads and free rein on fabrics enable one to create an abundance of tatreez designs, making the garments identifiable to others. Taking inspiration from nature, the designs range from animals and plants to moons and eyes. Each village and town in Palestine also have unique designs specific to their region; for example, tatreez in Ramallah is renowned for its use of dark red shades, while the ones in Gaza commonly feature the native cypress tree motifs. Additionally, the quality of threads and fabric could indicate social classes and certain patterns could suggest the marital status of their owner.
During the 1948 Nakba, in which 750,000 Palestinians were exiled by the Israeli military, many documents and textiles with tatreez patterns were lost or destroyed in the process. However, displaced Palestinians recognized the importance of passing on the art form to preserve their heritage, and efforts to keep tatreez alive are still actively being practiced from from generations of women to the next. Since the Nakba, many Palestinian women have started educational institutions and businesses to produce and replicate the knowledge of tatreez. At the same time, such organizations have enabled Palestinians to generate sustainable livelihoods from anywhere in the world. Businesses like Reema Dahbour’s recruit Palestinian women in refugee camps in Jordan to provide them with economic opportunities in Jordan. In the Rashidieh refugee camp located in Beirut, around 20 women are trained to form a tatreez collective, selling their finished tatreez products to Palestine solidarity groups around the globe.
Tatreez garnered political significance during the First Intifada from 1987 to 1993, where a series of Palestinian uprisings broke out in response to Israeli occupation. In 1987, the Israeli government banned all Palestinian national symbols such as the flag, stating in Article 5 of Military Order 101, "It is forbidden to hoist, wave or place political flags or symbols, except by permit of the military commander." However, since the colors of the flag (red, green, black and white) were not banned, Palestinians took liberty in creating motifs that signified resistance through tatreez. Palestinian women embroidered what is known as the “intifada dress” with imagery of maps, flags, and olive or orange trees of Palestine. In such ways, they dedicated their intricate skills and time to oppose Israel’s ban on Palestinian nationalism and identity at the time.
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Today, embroidered pieces such as dresses, decors, and handbags can be found in many Palestinian households in the diaspora and beyond. In 2018, Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was sworn into Congress wearing a Palestinian garment called a thobe, which featured elaborate tatreez designs. Congresswoman Tlaib’s mother, who is originally from the village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa near Ramallah, had hand-stitched the thobe herself. Shortly after being sworn in, Congresswoman Tlaib inspired others to start the hashtag #tweetyourthobe on Twitter, encouraging thousands of Palestinian women from around the world to share their thobes with unique tatreez designs.
Being a Palestinian-Jordanian woman herself, designer Reema Dahbour engages a modern take on her heritage. In tribute to the Palestinian resistance and effort to preserve craftsmanship, Dahbour involves tatreez design in contemporary female occasion wear. On her website, Dahbour refers to an image of a Palestinian woman as “the essence of my culture with all of its sophisticated struggles.” She states that the global fashion industry has been heavily shaped by fashion capitals in the past decades, yet they were “not [her] part of the world, not [her] country, not [her] culture” as Palestine was “forced to be on hold” under occupation and oppression. With hopes to bring tatreez beyond its “traditional” and “confined” milieu, she aspires to encourage a growing presence of Palestinian art for years to come.
In displacement and under occupation, generations of Palestinian women embroider their stories to resist erasure with the art of tatreez, making statements that openly say they are proud to be Palestinian and will always fight against oppression.
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