Tulkarem Made

Amid Israeli military checkpoints, bulldozed roads, and the constant pressure of the occupation in and around Tulkarem Refugee Camp, MECA is supporting something that Israeli forces cannot erase: Palestinian heritage.

Earlier this year, MECA staff member, Waed, visited Tulkarem in the northern West Bank to see MECA’s partners and get to know new community groups. Whenever we set out to visit our colleagues or partner organizations, we don’t know when the Israeli military will impose closures and checkpoints, or when settler violence will prevent us from reaching each other but we tried to visit as many partners and people as possible on the trip to Tulkarem

One of our stops was to “Tulkarem-Made” also known as “Palestinian Grandma,” a group that supports 35 women, many of whom have been internally displaced multiple times, as they continue the ancestral tradition of tatreez (embroidery). 

When a mother from a refugee camp picks up her needle to stitch patterns passed down through generations, she is asserting that her history and her future cannot be stolen. 

When you purchase these and other handcrafted goods from MECA’s Shop Palestine, you are investing in the protection of a cultural tradition and helping Palestinian craftspeople to support themselves and their families. MECA invests in those who know best what their communities and children need; those who refuse to give up even when everything around them is getting worse; and those who refuse to abandon their land, their heritage and their people.