Basketry

Basket-weaving is a rutal heritage of Palestine, and has been intrinsic to the farming community for centuries.  Sourcing materials from their surroundings, women weave different colored twigs from olive, almond and terebinth trees into decorative and functional items like baskets, trays and containers.  Qash (Arabic for wheat stalks) is also a popular material, while the decrease of wheat farming and the resulting higher price in recent years have threatened the economic viability of basketry.  Women in rural villages in the north of the West Bank are the main keeper of this heritage today.