The village of Surif (pop. 15,000) is located alongside
the Green Line (1949 Armistice Line separating West Bank and Israel), in a beautiful
hilly region between Bethlehem and Hebron. About a half of the village
population is refugees from the 1948 war, who fled their homeland that later became a
part of the State of Israel.
In 1950, a group of Mennonite volunteers came
to the village to establish the Palestinian Needlework Program, in order to give the
refugee women an opportunity to supplement their family income and to enhance their
own self-reliance through empowerment. In 1979, the village women took over the
responsibilities to run the project, which, after a period of intensive training, was
reborn as Surif Women's Cooperative, in 1983.
Surif's crafts are
known for their distinct style, using cream-colored cotton fabric instead of the
common black fabric. The fabric they use is made in the Old City of Jerusalem,
woven on an antique handloom by Adnan Fares, a weaver that carries on the centuries-
old tradition. The embroidery patterns are produced by a system of
counting threads, a method that gives the embroidery its striking and exact appearance
on both sides of the fabric. Surif's designs are adapted from traditional
Palestinian dresses and reflect the heritage from different regions of
Palestine.
Contact Surif Women's Cooperative:
Telefax:
+972-(0)2-252-3049
OR through Sunbula:
info@sunbula.org
P.O. Box 8619,
Jerusalem 91086
