Since the early hours of the morning Palestinian elder Um Farid al-Dalais got ready to take part in the Great March of Return to the east of Al-Bureij refugee camp wearing her traditional peasant dress (Thobe) which she cherishes.
“Today I came to the border wearing my Thobe to demand my right of return to the town of Asdod which I could reach by foot. This is Asdod (pointing with her finger) close to Gaza. I will not give up my right. Palestine is for its people and the Jewish settlers have no homeland here.”
In front of the tents of the Great March of Return to the east of Al-Bureij refugee camp women of different ages wearing the embroidered Palestinian Thobe are moving in and out sending a message of keeping the Palestinian heritage alive and demanding their right of return.
Dozens of women participating in the events of the Great March of Return made sure to wear the Palestinian Thobe with its various types and colors as a form of heritage and arts protest.
Palestinian villages and towns are characterized by different types of dresses each of which acquired distinctive colors and different forms of hand embroidery.
My Thobe is my return permit
Um Farid is proud of her Palestinian dress pointing out that it is an old one and that she had worn several types of dresses throughout her life but she made sure to wear this one during the Great March of Return.
She adds “This is a dress of honor and this is our original dress that we wore throughout our lives. I hope to return to my hometown wearing it. This is my way of expressing my right of return. Why did the occupation take our land? My father owned 100 dunums and now I live in a 100-square meter house.
The strength of will and determination and resistance is the only way to regain homeland and return to the town of Asdod according to Um Farid.
My (traditional) dress is a national message
“Our Palestinian dress demonstrates our heritage” she added. “Today I chose to participate in the Great March of Return wearing this dress which I cherish. It is the heritage of my ancestors.”
Susan joined a group of ladies who started a field trip after leaving their tent near the borderline.
“There are different types of Palestinian dresses. I am from Al-Majdal and our dress is an artistically colored one. I wear it and wear other kinds of hand-made embroidered dresses” she noted.
Children of the Great March of Return
Just as the women and grandmothers were keen to wear the Palestinian dress many of the girls appeared with Palestinian embroidered dresses at the tents of the Great March of Return.
Child Tala Abu Mailek said “I wore a traditional Palestinian dress and I am participating in the Great March of Return in the hope of implementing the right of return to Occupied Palestine.”
Tala and her sister Sarra’ wear Palestinian traditional dresses on most national occasions to express their love for Occupied Palestine.
She concludes “What I know is that there is an occupied homeland and Al-Aqsa Mosque is behind these borders. I tell people (of the world) help us restore our homeland and resistance is our right.”
