Enlightening Entertainment
 
A Neighborly Visit to a Palestinian Family (In Arabic)      
Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Arabic, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Welcome warm-hearted viewers. Today, we are going to visit the home of Mr. Ibrahim Musa Muhammad Altaraidh and his family. They were kind enough to invite us to find out a little more about everyday Palestinian culture.

Palestinians always welcome guests, whether announced or not. Food, sweets, coffee, and warm smiles are always ready and abundantly available for visitors. Mr. Altaraidh is a talented merchant and head of his devoted Muslim household.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Ibrahim Musa Muhammad Altaraidh, from Bani Na'im, Hebron province. I am a father of three children. The oldest named Ali, there are two other girls, Fatima and Waed.

Mr. Ibrahim Musa Muhammad Altaraidh’s wife is a homemaker. She explained to us about the traditional Palestinian costumes the family members are wearing.

Peace be upon you, The man over here wears al doshdash and aba over it. then, here comes the front-garment and headband, which is called ekal or hatta. For women, she wears an embroidered dress, like this. then, she wears over it Al lafha. So, the dress will be modest.

We love the Palestinian heritage and the embroidered dress. We are proud of and love it. It is handmade.

The family is very important in Palestinian culture. Usually, the father is in charge of making decisions in family matters and is mainly responsible for providing for the family. Meanwhile, women hold the family together and maintain the household.

We grow plants around houses also like vegetables... All women grow plants in their land…

Palestinian mothers also are primarily in charge of raising the children. Education is very much valued. Education and service to society bring honor to the Palestinian family.

The literacy rate is very high here in Palestine, We care for education to the extent that education has become one of the most important things. Yes, they study and go abroad for education. There are a large proportion of doctors, lawyers and engineers. We take care a lot of our children, to get their education and become good people.

For us, our children attend private schools in order to get a higher level of education. We care a lot of the girls, and thanks God! There are a large proportion of educated girls. I have a large proportion of educated sisters and relatives.

There is no difference between boys and girls, is there?

No. Thanks God! We care more for the girl, and encourage her to get educated to become better.

Arab countries are my homeland Arab countries are my homeland From Sham to Bgdad From Nagd to Yamen To Egypt to Tatwan No border among us No religion divides us Tongue of Daad gathers us As brothers.

Fatima and Waed are typical school girls enjoying a happy family life. While they are expected to someday have a prominent role contributing to society, they also study Islam, and learn traditional arts such as cuisine and embroidery. This is a tree This is grass and... and the spring the bird flies, the birds. The trees are with almond kernels. This is a sparrow on a tree.

Here are Fatima and Waed now singing for the viewers of Supreme Master Television. They are not too shy, and show some singing talent!

In the morning Birds chirp feeling the glee of light saying joyfully what a beautiful light! The river and the flowers And the ... Oh, and rose... Roses and the ...What… The old man The little boy say joyfully what a beautiful light!

Jerusalem is in the heart. Jerusalem is in the heart. In the distance and proximity We are on the path Here we are, Jerusalem! The land of my ancestors and all glories To the plain and valley We will return, O Jerusalem We will return… (Bravo!)

I'm in kindergarten With my friends One, we play, Then, we write I draw a panel with tree on it

My mother calls me Come, Meimeh!

We love embroidery. The Palestinian people love embroidery and make a lot of things, such as these hanging crafts and other things. We also make sheets for beds and tables. As well as al kerna (head cover), and a small pillow for a baby. Everything that we want, we embroider it in an artistic way, like baskets, mirrors. So, we embroider the frame of a mirror and hang it in the house. We also embroider the map of Palestine.

We always love this Palestinian dress, that is, we love wearing embroidered dresses. We make them for big and small girls. When girl grows up, we teach her embroidery. My grandmother taught my mother, and my mother taught me, that is, we have inherited it from one generation to another. My mother taught me, I, in turn, taught my children.

We are proud of Palestinian embroidery. We create many patterns. This one also. First, we write with the color we want, that is, we choose the color and write, “Hearts have rest in the remembrance of Allah.” It is also a Qur’an verse. Then we fill it with the color we want. After completing cutting and wrapping, and it may take approximately one day, we bring pieces of plastic and a fabric to wrap it, one piece after another.

Then, we start sewing here, that is, we make a framework to these pieces. After that, we bring beads and sparkles like this. We start sewing by needle and create beautiful drawings till it becomes like this. The same thing for pillows. we buy a fabric and embroider it. Through the machine, we bring a white fabric and pad it here.

For us, the Palestinian people, when the girl gets married, they prepare an heirloom for her. We embroider al dashdeesh, embroidered rural dresses, and a number of pillows for her to take with her. When I got married 20 years ago, my family gave me embroidered things like this. I have made embroideries which my mother taught me since childhood, and I made embroideries as a little girl.

Here are my two daughters, I love to have them dress in traditional Palestinian clothes. We love it a lot. I embroider it and have made dashdeesh also. These embroideries were measured while they were in kindergarten, that they wore them to perform the debka. They ask for them in the school for concerts. They wear yashmak (veil) also, where they put it here, and we are proud of it a lot, as a part of the Palestinian heritage.

This, too, we make it like a hat. We embroider on it, then, we pad it with fabric to wear it like this, as a Palestinian tradition, for concerts to perform the debka as well. This is the Palestinian heritage which we are proud of. When my daughter grows up, I'll teach her this to do so also.

I'll teach her embroidery, to make what she likes of the Palestinian heritage, because we inherit this from our ancestors and we want to preserve it. If a foreign person would like to have one of our embroideries, we make it for him, as a gift. They love the red dress a lot.

For this fabric, we embroider it first, where we choose the fabric and the color we love, blue or white, according to what we want. Then, we install these embroidered veins, and begin to put a triangle fabric like this, for embroidery, and the same thing is for this chest area. On these sides, we put this, and put over it everything. The color you want, either red or otherwise, As you want, like this.

These are the flowers of spring which grow in the spring, and we pick them from the wild nature, like the anemone.

Chrysanthemum.

Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum)

Cyclamen… and this pinky rose…

All these flowers ...

All theses are the spring flowers. They grow in Palestine.

These flowers grow in the land of Palestine and in large quantities. In the spring, we would like to walk around and sit next to them, as we love the flowers of spring.

Roses are fragrant filling the place.

Do you like roses?

Yes.

Flowers start blooming in the spring. There are almonds in the spring, which are eaten green. Then, in the summer we harvest and eat peaches, apricots, figs, grapes, etc. We make what we want from grapes, like grape molasses, raisins, etc. Yes, we make it from grapes. All this is in the summer period, where one cultivates these trees of peaches, figs, grapes, etc. around one’s house. From our own.

In the spring, There is an area called the wilderness, we go there in this period, for green and flowers to enjoy their beauty. We took our children there, to enjoy the flowers, They like to play in nature. The spring here is special. Yes, it is unique in beauty and nature.

As in most Palestinian Muslim families, prayers are made five times a day, whether at the mosque or at home. Here is the son of the family showing us how he prays sincerely. As the eldest child, he may especially feel a strong sense of responsibility to his family. Usually, Palestinian grandparents and parents later on will rely on the support and care of their children.

Allah is Great Allah is Great Allah is Great, Allah is Great, Allah is Great Allah is Great, Allah is Great I bear witness that there is no God but Allah I bear witness that there is no God but Allah I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah Come to the prayer, Come to Prayer Come to the Success, Come to Success The prayer has highlighted now The prayer has highlighted now Allah is Great, Allah is Great

There is no God but Allah In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, most Merciful Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, The Beneficent, the Merciful Owner of the Day of Judgment Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help Show us the straight path The path of those whom Thou hast favored Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray, amen.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Have We not caused thy bosom to expand And eased thee of the burden Which weighed down thy back And exalted thy fame? But lo! with hardship goeth ease, Lo! with hardship goeth ease So when thou art relieved, still toil And strive to please thy Lord. God Almighty has spoken the truth.

We thank Mr. Ibrahim Musa Muhammad Altaraidh and his beautiful family for inviting us to your home. May the loving and joyful way of Palestinian family life be a cherished one. We wish all Palestinian people peace, prosperity, and happiness, in Allah’s merciful grace.

Thank you for your friendly company today on Enlightening Entertainment. Now, please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May your heart be like a lovely field of flowers.

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