Sydney-based Palestinian activist Khaled Ghannam recently travelled to the occupied West Bank in Palestine and wrote an account of his visit for 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳. This is part four. Read parts 1 here, 2 here and 3 here.
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The Inash Alusrah Association (Family Revival) Museum in Al-Bireh city is a comprehensive heritage museum containing embroidered traditional dresses, various traditional household items, and various agricultural tools, in addition to two rooms designed in the form of an old traditional house. All of these were donated to the association by residents of Al-Bireh city and neighboring villages, and are preserved scientifically.
The museum is open to visitors almost permanently, and school trips are organized to visit it. It is considered one of the main references for the garments of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh region. The association also includes a public library run by Ms Rawand Badra. We met with her and Ms Shahd, and they promised to help me with my future research.
Al-Nawraj Restaurant, the Palestinian home in Birzeit village, is one of the most distinguished projects to preserve ancient homes. It belongs to the Nasser family, and its very ancient foundations date back to the Canaanite era.
Umm Alaa, wife of Minister Walid Assaf, restored it and transformed it into a restaurant and popular inn. She collected furniture, household items, and embroidered garments from various regions of Palestine, and sometimes from Palestinian refugee camps outside of Palestine.
Brother Ramzi Harb and Brother Bakr Abu Bakr accompanied me on a visit to the new building of An-Najah National University in Nablus. Dr Raed Al-Dabai was our guide on a tour that took us through the different 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳, especially the museum, which is one of the most important museums I have recently visited in Palestine.
The museum was built in a distinctive, modern style that included three main 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳: The first showcases the history of An-Najah National University and its contribution to the development of Nablus.
The second section displays a variety of traditional household and agricultural items and fashions in a professional manner. There are multiple exhibits for the same purpose, aiming to demonstrate that handicrafts vary from one craftsman to another and from one village to another. Each craftsman has his own artistic touch, and each village has a different aesthetic taste.
The third section contains a collection of special archaeological finds discovered in the Nablus area, including ancient agricultural tools, pottery and copper vessels, and small statues.
Attached to the first section is a collection of household tools and equipment used during the British Mandate in Palestine, including Palestinian and European industrial products. This section is far more advanced than what I saw at the Hakaya Museum in Madaba, Jordan, or the Museum of Place & People in Muscat, Oman. It showcases the development of local industry and the openness of the Palestinian market to Western products, particularly electrical appliances.
Food culture
As for popular food, it is especially delicious in the company of friends. I had a special breakfast at Al-Lulu'a Restaurant in Al-Bireh city with my friend Ahmed Al-Khatib and his wife May Al-Sarafandy. The breakfast included falafel fingers, a specialty of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh area, Nassrawi hummus with old-fashioned flour, fava beans, and fresh bread.
Compared to a falafel restaurant in Nablus' Khan Market, Ramallah's falafel fingers are less salty and have a lighter oil content, but a higher proportion of cumin spice, while Nablus' falafel is crispier and has a higher proportion of oil.
As for Al-Taj Restaurant in the Old City of Jerusalem, its falafel is salty, rich in parsley, and has a spicy flavour that can be seasoned with a little hot pepper. Al-Ayed Restaurant in Jerusalem is renowned for its falafel stuffed with onions and sumac.
We add to this the popular regional meals, Manakish, from Manakish Bakery in the Balou’ area of Ramallah. It is distinguished by the fact that the oven fire is above the Manakish, meaning that it is like a grill. This means that the Manakish is between two fires, above and below, and is crispy on both sides.
It is a Ramallah tradition to buy meat from the butcher and then give it to a restaurant to grill. Brother Ramzi Harb invited us to eat this traditional way of eating, with fresh bread and delicious appetizers.
Brother Ahmed Al-Khatib insisted that we try Palestinian pizza at Ghawar Restaurant; he insists that the pizza, burgers, and pasta in Ramallah city are a thousand times better than their counterparts in Sydney, Australia.
In fact, the best meal I have ever had was in Hebron at Abu Mazen Restaurant, where the chair of the Palestinian Engineering Association at Ramallah governorate, Engineer Osama Taha invited us and insisted that I eat stuffed lamb necks, while the others ate Zarb, Mandi or Mansaf.
As for the appetizers, they were exceptional, very rich and delicious, but I did not finish my plate because it was too large, and I was unable to taste the Namoura Al-Khaliliyya — a semolina cake with cream and country butter.
As for Mansaf, it is a popular meal in Palestine. We ate at An-Najah University, where Dr Raed Al-Dabai invited us to eat Mansaf Laban (Fresh Yogurt) in the traditional Nablus style.
Two days later, Salah Al-Khawaja and Ramzi Harb invited us to eat Khalil Mansaf at Abu Ammar Qafisha Restaurant. There, I learned about the Fteet dish, which is a sliced shrak bread soaked in Mansaf yogurt.
I must not forget the little girl, Elia, who objected to eating Mansaf with her hands without a spoon. She admitted that this is a traditional method, but it is unhealthy and disgusting.
As for sweets, Nablus Kunafa is at the top of the popular desserts list. My friend Ahmed Al-Khatib invited me to have Kunafa in Ramallah Al-Tahta at a Kunafa kiosk on the road. It was fresh and delicious, even though we ate it standing in the street.
Dr Raed Al-Dabai invited us to have Kunafa stuffed with pistachios, in the traditional Nablus style. When we went to the clinic of our sick friend, Engineer Samir Haidar, we brought with us some Kunafa Al-Aker, which is one of the most distinctive Kunafas in Palestine today.
As for Jerusalem, I had Kunafa at Jafar Sweets, a symbol of Jerusalem’s authenticity. I also had fresh Baklava at Bab al-Amud Market. As for the Fenugreek Namoura, I only eat it at home, and the best one is the one my mother makes. It's crunchy and has a very strong fenugreek flavour.
Generosity and hospitality
Home-cooked food in Palestine is certainly full of delicious flavours, genuine generosity, and hospitality. Sister May Al-Sarafandy treated us to a fried fish dish that was distinguished by its special spices and distinctive taste. Brother Nassif Amireh treated us to a traditional dinner consisting of fried tomatoes, meat and vegetables, and the flavour was wonderful.
Certainly the most wonderful things I ate were the different dishes my mother cooked for me. She cooked most of my favourite Palestinian dishes: Musakhan, Maftoul, Spinach, Maqluba and Mansaf.
Meanwhile, my sister Aisha cooked me a variety of delicious Asian and Western dishes because she never wants us to get tired of traditional food, and she embodies the openness of Palestinian women to other cultures.
My mother insisted on feeding me spring foods even though it was February, winter. Palestinians love to eat wild plants like Akoub (Gundelia or tumble thistle), Lisan (carduus), loofah (Arum palestinum), za'atum (Cyclamen persicum), Hummus (Rumex pictus), Humeedh (Rumex vesicarius), khubeza patties (Malva) and Houweera (Tephrosia), as well as snacks like roasted fresh green chickpeas, sweet potatoes, chestnuts and sahlab.
My mother said: “Climate change has made us eat and drink foods at an unusual time. I even ate summer fruits like prickly pear, figs and watermelon in February. Even when the snow wave came to the region, I expected the streets to be covered in snow and we would play in the snow like we did when we were children. However, the snow did not reach Amman.â€
My sister Aisha took me to the Ajloun Highlands to see the remaining snow, but it had melted in most areas. She told me the ground was still thirsty and needed more snow. In the end, we played in the snow with my nieces, Zainab and Zeina.
Settlements, war and peaceful coexistence
May Al-Sarafandy told me: “Picking Gundelia or tumble thistle and other wild plants is a very big adventure, because they grow in the open areas near Zionist settlements and occupation army camps, and we hear every day about attacks on Palestinians because they approach the Zionist settlements.â€
Ramzi Essam adds: "The real danger comes from the so-called Pastoral Farm Settlements. A Zionist settler brings some sheep and grazes them on Palestinian land. Then the occupation army comes and surrounds the area, preventing Palestinians from entering until the Zionist settler has finished grazing his sheep. Some of these lands are planted with crops or trees, yet the occupation army allows the Zionist settlers to graze them arbitrarily."
During my visit to my village, Ni'lin, we saw one of the Zionist pastoral settlements, even though Ni'lin is considered an area of peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. In the industrial zone in the Muhallal area, we saw Israeli cars performing maintenance work in Palestinian workshops. Some of the workshops even put up advertisements in Hebrew.
On the main street inside the village of Ni'lin, we find many large shops that exceed the needs of the village and its Palestinian surroundings. The reason for the active commercial activity is that the village of Ni'lin is located on the border and is close to the city of Ramla inside Israel. Arab citizens of Israel and Israelis come to shop in the cheap markets of Ni'lin. This commercial activity expanded during the war on Gaza due to the economic recession in Israel.
During my meeting with the members of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, the members explained to me that their work is with all Israeli groups that believe in the rights of the Palestinian people, particularly the right to establish a Palestinian state.
They explained that the work of this committee had achieved great success in previous years, but the right-wing Israeli government had fought the idea and erected obstacles to prevent it from achieving its goals. The Israeli government wants to take everything for free, especially on the economic front, as it seeks to keep the Palestinian economy dependent on the Israeli economy.
Despite all this, there remains a real opportunity for the committee to work, but it operated very slowly until the war on Gaza began, at which point it largely ground to a halt.
However, there are non-governmental organizations that are still working on the concept of coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, and they see the future as one of peace and coexistence.
I met with activist Mohammed Asideh, supervisor of the Rozana project in the occupied West Bank: He explained to me the importance of treating the wounded from the Gaza war within the framework of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. This would contribute to building trust and enhancing the chances for peace. It would also transfer expertise between the two parties, particularly within medical staff training programs and benefiting from the Australian grant to develop medical services for the Palestinian community.