Ramallah: A.M. Qattan Foundation and Inash Alusra Association
Inaugurate the Exhibition Knitting Fragments: Women, Nation, Liberation
Ramallah (A.M. Qattan Foundation – 27 July 2024):
The A.M. Qattan Foundation, in cooperation with Inash Alusra Association, inaugurated the Knitting Fragments: Women, Nation, Liberation exhibition at its headquarters in Ramallah. The exhibition highlights the experience of Inash Alusra (1965 to present) and delves into its archives. This provides a chance to collectively explore the political and value system changes in Palestinian society and women’s movements, as well as women’s role in the national struggle for liberation.
This exhibition, which will run until 31 October 2024, brings together (under different configurations) photos from the Association’s archive spanning 60 years. It also includes artwork by Rizek Ibrahim, Sliman Mansour, Abdullah Maatan, Maya Khalidi, Maysa Daw, and Jebus, which deconstruct and dissect the impact of Inash Alusra’s various political stages. This includes events and stories that lead to conclusions within an extensive case of working to liberate a colonized, detained, and displaced people.
After a minute of silence for the souls of Palestine’s martyrs, Fida Touma, Director General of the A.M. Qattan Foundation, began her speech at the inauguration ceremony:
Perhaps the world was not as complicated in 1965 (when Samiha Khalil and her partners founded Inash Alusra Association) as it is today, and maybe “Umm Khalil” and her companions experienced a state of disappointment, anger, and frustration after the defeat of 1967, similar to what we are witnessing today in light of the genocidal war in Gaza and the Occupation and settler brutality against our people in the West Bank. But these women decided to continue working despite facing tremendous challenges. And here we are today, examining the [remarkable] experience of this association and its founder, as we go through their archive and see how Samiha Khalil proceeded towards achieving her goal over the course of several decades.
Pivotal historic moments such as the Nakba, Naksa, and the current genocidal war in Gaza are clearly manifested in Palestinian women’s stories. As the Occupation targets these women directly and systematically, the Knitting Fragments exhibition highlights Inash Alusra Association by enabling the collective exploration of its respective archives. This calls upon the public to be aware of the legacy and current role of Palestinian women as bearers and makers of Palestinian culture, identity, and narrative, and also as key players in strengthening the local resistance economy. The exhibition also highlights women’s active participation in the Palestinian national struggle and their role in reunifying families/the Palestinian people, sustaining and reviving the nation, and enhancing its resilience.
The exploration of Inash Alusra’s archives included examining old—and sometimes painful—issues that reveal difficult periods in Palestinian history. The exhibition recounts an intricate experience shaped by hardship and determination, in which women-led charitable associations emerged as a driving force and cohesive factor amidst displacement, fragmentation, and orphanhood. Special emphasis is placed on the personality of the Association’s founder Samiha Khalil. The exhibition also focuses on Association member engagement in the Palestinian cultural, societal, and political scene, to understand it comprehensively through its many components.
In this respect, Yazid Anani, Public Programme Director at the A.M. Qattan Foundation and exhibition curator, emphasized:
According to Umm Khalil and Inash Alusra’s work model, women have several manifestations. One of these manifestations is women as preservers and transmitters of Palestinian heritage, [which is] the basis of Palestinian identity and part of the resistance against Judaizing the land of Palestine. Another manifestation of women according to this model is women’s labor, production, and economic role. A third manifestation of women in this regard is the image of women as managers and givers, reflecting their role in fundraising and aid to support and assist needy households. A fourth manifestation of women [in this framework] is their role as educators, mothers, and conveyors of national values and Palestinian steadfastness. And finally, there is the role of women as political activists and resistors of the Occupation.
Anani added that the exhibition aims to present Palestinian women’s actions from Samiha Khalil’s standpoint, in contrast to (and not complying with) the models and theories of Western feminism, which may reject the Association’s view of women as mothers, child-bearers, and educators, but also view liberation endeavors as “male-dominated projects” in which women merely play a supportive role and do not contribute to political thought.
Anani highlighted this exhibition’s significance by asserting:
After the catastrophic events, we are now searching for a feminist model which is different from the (well-known) post-Oslo women’s action models, the latter of which operate under the assumption of us having a state, as they focus on the “Citizenship” project. Rather, the work model of Umm Khalil and Inash Alusra is a more distinctive one that depends on women and boosts their resilience, thus enhancing Palestinian families’ steadfastness. This is because Umm Khalil saw that most Palestinian men post-1967 were either imprisoned, engaged in the revolution, deported, or martyred. Hence, it was necessary to strengthen Palestinian women’s role in reuniting a society fragmented by Occupation.
President of Inash Alusra Association, Reem Masrouji, stated that:
Similar to many of our youth and older people, Umm Khalil believed that each of us can defeat and counter the Occupation. But she was not on her own, as her leadership abilities enabled her to gain a huge pool of supporters rallying around her, including women and men who firmly believe in her message. . . .Since its creation, Inash Alusra Association graduated 8,900 persons from its educational programs and 3,902 students from its Literacy (“Illiteracy Eradication”) program; as well as providing 3,356 educational scholarships, sponsoring 60,000 orphans, and establishing 843 small projects or enterprises. . . . I conclude with a message to aunt Umm Khalil: I know what you want from us today; you want us to be one strong, united hand, merciful among each other and fierce against our enemy. You want us to be self-reliant and not wait for funding from anyone. Therefore, our secret lies within us. We presently have the seeds of liberation, as we await the soil, water, and air of freedom. We promise that we will continue walking in your path and will keep our pledge and march towards liberty.
Participating artists: Rizek Ibrahim, Sliman Mansour, Abdullah Maatan, Maya Khalidi, Maysa Daw, and Jebus
Project Committee: Islah Jad, Rima Hamami, and Salim Tamari
Exhibition Curator: Yazid Anani
Assistant Curator: Asma Mozayen
Production Team: Bahaa al-Jubeh, Khaled Fanni, Khalil Kahwaji, and Diaa al-Jubeh.