The traditional pottery industry is partially recovering in the Gaza Strip after its decline for years, with Palestinians forced to find alternative solutions to compensate for the severe shortage of dishes and dining utensils, in the Strip, which was devastated by Israel’s ongoing war on the Strip for 14 months.
Agence France-Presse quoted Jaafar Atallah (28 years old), the owner of a pottery making workshop, in Deir al-Balah (central Gaza Strip) as saying that he is facing an “unprecedented demand” for dishes and pottery.
After declining in the last decade, it seems that pottery making in the traditional Palestinian way has re-emerged as an alternative that makes the lives of the displaced a little easier with the lack of other options in the region.
Atallah, who comes from a family famous for making pottery, confirms that he works non-stop to meet the growing demand for medicine.
He says that he is able to make about 100 pieces per day, most of which are soup pots and containers in which food is placed or cooked, such as bowls, jugs, and cups.
He added that before the war, he produced about 1,500 pieces of pottery per day in his workshop in the “Al-Fawakhir” neighborhood in the Al-Daraj area, north of downtown Gaza City.
The neighborhood included dozens of workshops and pottery factories before the last war, but almost all of them were destroyed in the ongoing fighting for 14 months.
High prices
The increasing need for pottery led to a significant rise in prices.
Atallah – who was displaced with his family from Gaza City to Deir Al-Balah – says that he sells each piece for 10 shekels ($2.7), approximately 5 times more than its price before the war.
Gaza has been subject to a land, air and sea blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, but the situation has deteriorated significantly since the outbreak of Israel’s war on the Strip.
International relief organizations regularly report significant difficulties in introducing and distributing scarce goods into the Gaza Strip due to Israeli restrictions.
Factories in the Gaza Strip stopped production due to the destruction that befell some of them or due to the war, while others were closed due to the lack of raw materials and the power outage.
The war has paralyzed the industrial sector in Gaza, while hospitals are also struggling to obtain the fuel needed to operate electricity generators to provide the minimum level of health care.
After his displacement, Atallah opened a small workshop in the shade of a blue plastic tent. He gathered the red clay with his hands to make pottery vessels, then left it to dry in the sun and turn into the familiar color of the clay.
In the past, he used to make it using machines and dry it in a special oven.
Innovations for resilience
Despite the availability of metal utensils made of aluminium, glass and ceramic before the outbreak of war, many were keen to acquire clay pots, as some families preferred to prepare traditional foods in them, because they preserve a distinctive taste.
Lara Al-Turk says: “Thirteen months after the war started, I went to the market to buy plates and cutlery, and all I could find was this clay pot.”
Al-Turk (40 years old), a family head who lives in a temporary shelter in the Nuseirat camp, adjacent to the camp and the city of Deir al-Balah, adds, “I had to buy it to feed my children.” She says that the price of a clay pot is now “more than double” what it was before the war.
At roadside markets, the only other option is disposable plates, if available.
In the Gaza Strip, where the water distribution network stopped working due to extensive damage, clay drinking vessels have become popular in the summer, because they keep the water cold and drinkable for a longer period. The displaced obtain this water from a few points provided by humanitarian organizations or local charitable societies.
The war forced almost all of the Gaza Strip’s population, numbering about 2.4 million people, to be displaced at least once during the past year, according to the United Nations. It is noteworthy that about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s population are originally refugees in 1948.
More than 1.5 million of them are now living in tents or shelter centers in UNRWA schools, and thousands of them are on the sidewalks.
After every order issued by the Israeli army to evacuate, hundreds of people set off on the roads, most of them on foot, carrying some of their belongings, which often include aluminum or plastic containers.
As war and displacement continue, people seem to have less baggage.
As a result of several wars, the residents of the Gaza Strip have become accustomed to inventing new ways and means to compensate for the difficulties in order to continue, such as their reliance on donkeys for transportation, amid the scarcity of fuel.